Jun 13 2022 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — To mask or not to mask. That is the question. As the provinces move to end requirements for wearing masks in public places, the federal government continues to insist that COVID rules will not be loosened. As passengers return to air travel, they are continuing to experience massive delays, the blame for which is falling […]
Feb 21 2022 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — At the end of the day, from city hall to Parliament Hill, there is no winner coming out of this so-called “Freedom Convoy.” The truckers will claim victory, because several premiers announced a relaxation of their vaccine requirements at the height of the tension. But when the dust settles, the story of Canada’s trucker siege […]
Apr 20 2018 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Thousands of Liberals from across the country will descend on Halifax this weekend to plan their path to a potential electoral victory. It will be the final national meeting in advance of the next election and, in keeping with conventions of a party in government, will likely be non-controversial and inclusive. Most raucous conventions, where […]
Feb 13 2017 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Canada shares the longest open border in the world with the United States. Canadians would obviously like to keep it that way. The Monday meeting between the prime minister and U.S. President Donald Trump will be key to that outcome. At first blush, the two leaders are very different. Not only are they separated by […]
Dec 12 2016 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — I took the MyDemocracy.ca voting test and discovered what I already knew. According to the online government survey, managed by Vox Pop, I am a pragmatist. The pragmatist in me says electoral reform is dead. Its public interment by the minister responsible for democratic reform was not a pretty sight. Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef […]
Aug 24 2015 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Will Ray Novak really end up as the last man standing? Notwithstanding Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s protestations to the contrary, it seems inevitable that Novak will eventually follow in the footsteps of Nigel Wright. In fact, when asked specifically whether he had confidence in his current chief of staff, Harper left himself a bolt-hole large […]
Nov 10 2014 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Sex and politics can be a toxic mix. I hesitate to wade into the harassment allegations emanating from Parliament Hill because last week I committed a grievous personal lapse in judgment. Upon reading Jian Ghomeshi’s explanation of his firing from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, I took to the Twitterverse in his defence. Without taking the […]
Oct 13 2014 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Canadians like to take pride in the transparency of our political processes and the right of citizens to free speech. But those freedoms are being compromised as we speak. Our government regularly threatens domestic not-for-profit organizations with loss of tax status under the guise of independent audits. The audit teams created to go after left-leaning […]
Sep 1 2014 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Kathleen Wynne has moxie. The premier of Ontario demonstrated last week just how she withstood an appetite for change and secured a Liberal majority. People like her and they believe she speaks from the heart. That quality shone through when she became the first premier to weigh in on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s refusal to […]
Aug 25 2014 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is under fire again, this time for lobbying city hall on behalf of clients seeking government business. Ford’s response is that he cannot be in conflict because his family company is connected to hundreds of Toronto businesses. Ford’s lawyer, in response to a Globe and Mail investigation, claimed there is no […]
Aug 11 2014 — Sheila Copps — Hill Times — To this day, I have not heard a logical explanation of why a spouse’s presence is bona fide but a minor child’s is not. Alison Redford’s heady ride is over. I do not know the woman, but cringe at the character assassination she is suffering at the hands of so-called former friends. The former Alberta […]
Jun 10 2013 — Sheila Copps — Copps: The only caucus that must be salivating over the prospect of the AG’s review is the NDP. The NDP stands to be the direct beneficiary of an ugly Senate audit. And ugly it will be.