Apr 16 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — Ontario’s provincial parties are in campaign-mode, and new Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford has a tight-knit team in place, stacked with experience at both the federal and provincial levels. “They’ve all spent a ton of time together in the last 10 to 15 years, so even though they were thrown together quickly out of […]
Apr 9 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — Canada’s privacy commissioner, who is conducting an investigation into the Cambridge-Analytica-Facebook scandal and a separate probe into whether Canadian privacy laws were violated by AggregateIQ in order to sway the Brexit vote, says Canada’s federal political parties need to be covered by privacy laws and voters should have the right to find out what personal […]
Mar 26 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — Conservatives and New Democrats say they have never collected private information on Canadians without their permission, or asked to access their Facebook pages to gather information to microtarget voters, while the governing Liberals say they follow a privacy policy and don’t have access to any Facebook accounts beyond their own. The explosive fallout from the […]
Mar 12 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — The government’s approval of Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is expected to cost the party electorally in 2019, but most MPs in the pipeline’s proposed path say the majority of their constituents support it. “This could be one of the major issues in the next federal election, particularly in the Lower Mainland […]
Feb 26 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — The federal Liberal government will pay a political price over its support for the $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion among First Nations and B.C. voters in the next election, say pollsters, but how high a cost remains to be seen. “There will be a political price to pay, and I think there’s an […]
Feb 18 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — NDP members elected a new party president on the last day of the party’s 2018 policy convention, with former Hill staffer Mathieu Vick being elevated to the role after garnering roughly 83 per cent of the votes cast. “I’m here for the same reasons as all of you. We need urgent action on income inequality, […]
Feb 17 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — With more than 1,800 New Democrats gathered in Ottawa to debate and help shape future party policies, NDP strategist and former national director Karl Bélanger says a top priority this weekend is to “galvanize” members and regain the momentum that’s flagged since the leadership race. “The most important thing is to galvanize the activists and […]
Jan 8 2018 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — Liberal MP Alexandra Mendes says MPs should set up an informal, cross-party support system on the Hill to address sexual harassment and sexual misconduct as the #MeToo global movement against misogynistic behaviour hits Parliament Hill. “It’s a bit of perhaps a utopian kind of solution, but [to] kind of start, not a neighbourhood watch, but […]
Dec 18 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — While some members of the Liberal government’s front bench soared this year, others sank, and strategists say Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly were among cabinet’s worst performers in 2017. “Morneau is regarded as strong on policy and weak on politics. You can survive in many portfolios as a minister with that […]
Nov 6 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — The NDP’s court challenge against the powerful House Board of Internal Economy’s 2014 order to repay almost $4-million in expenses continues and in the meantime current and former NDP MPs have paid the money back or are currently doing so by having their expense reimbursements docked. “Every time I ask for reimbursement [for expense claims], […]
Sep 29 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — House security officers have resumed protest actions amid an escalating labour stand between the officers’ union and the Parliamentary Protective Service, with the union last week filing dozens of grievances over what it’s deemed a “cocktail of intimidation, threats and disinformation” from the employer. “The agreement that we signed in order for us to stop […]
Sep 11 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — The splitting up of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada is being called a “game-changer” for Indigenous relations in Canada, but former deputy minister Scott Serson says the government should first issue a royal proclamation to define its new relationship with Indigenous peoples. “They’re saying this is a reflection of an RCAP [Royal Commission on Aboriginal […]
Sep 4 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — The creation of a new portfolio and the splitting of Indigenous and Northern Affairs were the big surprises out of the recent Liberal cabinet shuffle, but also of note was Atlantic Canada’s increased representation on the front bench, says Greg MacEachern, a senior vice-president at Environics Communications.
Aug 21 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — Despite mounting criticism over the progress and process of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, some Indigenous women’s representatives warn that a “hard reset” could result in lost progress on this issue and perhaps be the death knell for the inquiry. “The many families who participated in the Whitehorse inquiry […]
Aug 14 2017 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — From Rolling Stone magazine to CBS Sports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a point of engaging beyond the usual media suspects covering Canadian politics, and it’s all part of a media strategy of what is considered the most image-conscious, communications-driven Prime Minister’s Office ever, say strategists. “The Prime Minister’s Office has an innate understanding of […]