Hill Times

Oct 28 2020 — Samantha Wright Allen — Hill Times — By the end of the summer, the government had only inspected half of employers who hired migrant workers despite launching remote inspections in April and returning to in-person site visits for “egregious” cases in late August, according to documents tabled in the Senate. Between April 24 and August 21, Service Canada completed 1,118 of the […]

Oct 28 2020 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — A former foreign affairs correspondent seeking the Conservative nomination in an Ottawa-area Liberal-held riding wants the government’s handling of the Canada-China relationship to be an election issue. Traditionally, foreign policy issues have played a marginal role in Canadian elections. “They say foreign policy never is a big deal in Canadian elections since the Second World […]

Oct 26 2020 — Peter Mazereeuw — Hill Times — The RCMP has not yet completed its review of the controversial carotid neck hold used by its officers to subdue people, four months after Commissioner Brenda Lucki pledged to reassess the use of a technique that can sometimes render those on whom it is used unconscious, and five months after George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black […]

Oct 26 2020 — Hill Times — As tens of thousands of federal public servants across the country continue to work remotely, the government is keeping a close eye on the resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country as department-by-department plans are made for employees to return to their physical worksites. But as public health authorities continue to signal that physical distancing […]

Oct 22 2020 — Lisa Van Dusen — Hill Times — There is no cliché about Canada’s relationship with the United States more over-flogged than the famous Pierre Trudeau quote about how living next to America is like sleeping with an elephant. I’ve used it myself more than once—go ahead, Google it. But because it lends itself so well to Trumpification based on a number of […]

Oct 21 2020 — Laura Ryckewaert — Hill Times — If you’ve tuned into a House of Commons debate in the last decade, chances are high you’ve seen Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux on his feet speaking in the House Chamber. The four-term MP, who’s been parliamentary secretary to the government House leader since 2015, has consistently led the pack for most interventions in the House—a […]

Oct 21 2020 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — In the final months of the 42nd Parliament, Global Affairs seemingly misled the House Defence Committee, telling MPs that a key Canadian peacekeeping capability was registered with the United Nations. The UN and Global Affairs told The Hill Times that a Quick Reaction Force capability is not registered. The Quick Reaction Force was one of […]

Oct 19 2020 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — Politicians, policy-makers, and health-care professionals have been too busy focusing on beating back the pandemic and trying to ensure Canadians are shielded from the worst of the economic fallout while there are six larger, systemic crises that have the potential to dwarf the trauma already experienced in this country if left unchecked, according to Irvin […]

Oct 19 2020 — Peter Mazereeuw — Hill Times — The federal government should make more details about its historic, multi-billion-dollar pandemic spending plan public, including information about money set aside for yet-to-be announced measures, the expected debt and deficit by year’s end, and what the Liberals will use as a new fiscal “anchor” now that a declining debt-to-GDP ratio is unreachable, says Canada’s Parliamentary […]

Oct 14 2020 — Samantha Wright Allen — Hill Times — The Senate’s new Audit and Oversight Committee features external members who are selected, non-voting, and in a minority, making it ripe for conflict of interest concerns says the Senate’s first ethics officer, while even its critics in the Senate call it a “step forward.” Members of the Senate’s two largest groups—the Independent Senators’ Group and […]

Oct 14 2020 — Erica Ifill — Hill Times — What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving? If you were lucky enough to spend it with your family, complete with the illustrious feast featuring a cornucopia of traditional food items, count your blessings. There are many people who weren’t able to do so and the structural discrepancies between the haves and have-nots are growing during […]

Oct 12 2020 — Mike Lapointe — Hill Times — With the ‘second wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic confronting the highest levels of leadership in both politics and in the health community, as confirmed cases continue to increase in jurisdictions across Canada, both MPs and experts say that “this is the time when we need to work for the health and safety of every Canadian,” […]

Oct 12 2020 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole won’t be able to keep his leadership campaign promise to return candidates’ election rebates the party received in 2019 back to the riding associations, the chair of the Conservative Fund told associations across the country, because of the possibility of a fall or spring election. James Dodds, the newly appointed chair […]

Oct 8 2020 — Lisa Van Dusen — Hill Times — During the last two major global clashes between democracy and totalitarianism—unleashed by the rise of fascism that produced the Second World War and of communism that produced the Cold War—ideology was at the core of the battle, at least in theory. The process of seducing human beings as adherents until the obliteration of democracy makes […]

Oct 7 2020 — Beatrice Paez — Hill Times — An ad blitz to amplify the government’s efforts to help Canadians struggling amid the pandemic vaulted Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos to the top of the list as the House of Commons’ biggest spender in the first fiscal quarter. Mr. Fragiskatos said he paid for a series of billboards to run across his riding of London […]