Feb 17 2022 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — National security experts agree that Ottawa was simply not prepared for the incursion of hundreds of trucks and thousands of protestors that have dominated the Parliamentary Precinct and surrounding streets for weeks now.
Feb 2 2022 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — Nearly two years into the global pandemic that has changed day-to-day lives, the frustration around an uncertain exit strategy is hitting Canadians hard. And according to polling—and more visibly, from the “Freedom Convoy” that recently took over downtown Ottawa, pandemic fatigue is setting in. Despite public health measures changing as often as they have, with […]
Jan 10 2022 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — The COVID-19 pandemic that has come to define the day-to-day lives of Canadians for nearly two years now continues to stubbornly stick around with the emergence of the Omicron variant, with MPs saying their constituents are frustrated, exasperated, and confused with the public health crisis that seemingly has no end in sight. And Frank Graves, […]
Oct 19 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — In the wake of preliminary results suggesting that the province of Alberta’s referendum on equalization payments has passed, the authors of the Free Alberta Strategy say that it is time for Ottawa to stop “attacking” the province and come to the negotiating table to craft a better deal that respects its sovereignty. “We’ve been subjected […]
Oct 15 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — With Parliament set to return five weeks from now, some Senators and MPs say all Parliamentarians should be fully vaccinated before returning to in-person sittings in both the House and the Senate, after many months of hybrid sittings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. NDP MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) said he believes the one thing […]
Jul 21 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — With election speculation swirling and party leaders beginning to criss-cross the country, strategists and political observers say that although Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole may not have a lot of time left available to further endear himself to voters, an election call will wake Canadians up from a pandemic political slumber. This could benefit the opposition […]
Jul 14 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — The legal team representing hundreds of current and former Black federal employees now part of a proposed multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit against the federal government has filed a motion in federal court for the government to implement a $100-million mental health fund to address mental injuries and ongoing challenges faced by Black public service workers. The […]
Jul 12 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — From the early warnings about what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, to the public health restrictions in March 2020, the WE Charity scandal, hundreds of billions of dollars of approved spending, and most recently, a contempt of Parliament motion, Canada’s historic and unprecedented 43rd “hybrid” Parliament has been unlike any other, says MPs and politicos. […]
Apr 19 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — Canada’s most populous province is facing an increasingly uphill battle in reining in the pandemic with new cases of COVID-19 hitting all-time highs last week, intensive-care units stretched to capacity, and what a number of Ontario MPs describe as confusion, frustration, and anger with the vaccine rollout among their constituents. Ontario recorded 4,250 new COVID-19 […]
Mar 8 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — More than 520 current and former Black federal public servants are now part of a $900-million class-action lawsuit that is alleging decades-long government discrimination, lack of advancement opportunities, and harassment. Three months ago, there were 12 representative plaintiffs. After three months of waiting to hear from Ottawa, the suit’s leading lawyer says the government has […]
Mar 1 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — The probe into the explosive allegations against the country’s former top soldier of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female subordinate may finally address the sexist culture in Canada’s military, say experts, but some say the culture change won’t happen overnight and one says the rank-and-file of the Canadian Armed Forces “expect to have leaders […]
Jan 18 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — Multiple Conservatives, including party leader Erin O’Toole, have publicly condemned the violent insurrection that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and left five dead. But Canadian strategists, pollsters, and experts say the party still has work to do to address some of the Trump-style, divisive politics within its ranks and that it has to […]
Jan 4 2021 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — Knowledge about elections is an “absolutely fundamental” aspect of citizenship, says Greg Tardi, long-time public servant, legal scholar, and author of the new book, Anatomy of an Election: Canada’s Federal General Election of 2019 Through the Lens of Political Law. “If you’re going to be a member of society, then I think the best way […]
Dec 31 2020 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — As accelerating climate change continues to radically alter this country’s vast, disparately populated, and resource-rich Arctic landscape, Canadians, politicians and policy-makers should no longer view the region as a “distant tundra,” according to security expert Irvin Studin, who argues that Canada should be regarded as a “major Arctic country” with a “serious border that we must […]
Dec 28 2020 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — First elected in 2015, Canada’s federal Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Bardish Chagger has blazed a few trails. She was the first female politician elected in her riding of Waterloo, Ont., the first female government House leader, and is now the first-ever minister for diversity and inclusion and youth who’s in charge of […]