Apr 21 2021 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — The Canadian government maintains it hasn’t made up its mind on a waiver that potentially could allow increased vaccine production around the world, a delay some say is equivalent to opposing the initiative. The waiver was brought forward to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) last October […]
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 […]
Apr 18 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The government’s April 19 federal budget, the first one to be released in more than two years, will lay the foundation for the next election battle, say pollsters, but some Liberal MPs want it to focus on boosting the economy, not the Liberal Party’s political fortunes. “I don’t think it should be a very political […]
Apr 14 2021 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — As Canadian citizens remain in Kurdish custody in northern Syria, experts say the Canadian government is using the pretence of the security conditions on the ground to cover up a lack of political will for repatriation. It is believed that there are at least 23 Canadian children in the Kurdish-controlled detention camps. The Canadian government […]
Apr 12 2021 — Peter Mazereeuw — Hill Times — Ignore Filipino-Canadian candidates at your own peril: that’s the message a new political action group is sending to federal parties, as jockeying for nomination races for the next election gets underway in earnest. The Filipino community could be a decisive political force for whichever party manages to rally it, say two of the founders of […]
Apr 7 2021 — Hill Times — Despite a string of controversies since its December 2019 launch, Conservative Alberta MPs say the province’s energy war room is an important support and voice for the energy sector. The Canadian Energy Centre’s website describes its mandate as being in place “to promote Canada as a supplier of choice for the world’s growing demand for […]
Apr 5 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are either behind or in two-way or three-way dead heats in 13 of the 14 rural ridings that reduced them from a majority government in 2015 to a minority in the 2019 election, say pollsters. Some former Liberal MPs say the governing party cannot win another majority without winning rural […]
Mar 31 2021 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — MPs are once again calling for government documents requested by a House committee to not be blacked out in advance. For its study on arms exports, MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee supported a motion to have Global Affairs submit documents on behalf of itself, the office of the foreign affairs minister, the Prime Minister’s […]
Mar 29 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Barring a major surprise from opposition parties, a potential spring election is now off the table on the upcoming budget because of the spread of COVID variants in Canada, the slow and sluggish vaccination rollout, and the possibility of a third wave hitting Canada in the coming weeks, according to last week’s national Liberal caucus […]
Mar 24 2021 — Neil Moss — Hill Times — A group of Canadian Parliamentarians held their first meetings with members of the new U.S. Congress last week during which they raised concerns about the future of the Line 5 and Keystone XL pipelines, as well as worries over potential Buy American provisions. Thirteen MPs and Senators in the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group held 23 virtual […]
Mar 22 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The 13 ridings that deprived the Liberals of winning a majority government in the last federal election are still too close to call and will be key battlegrounds in determining the outcome of the next election, say pollsters. “What stands out from the list is that the Liberals are still short of a majority,” said […]
Mar 21 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Robert Batherson, a two-term national councillor and a former Hill staffer, was elected president of the Conservative Party of Canada on Sunday after the party’s virtual policy convention, succeeding Scott Lamb who did not seek re-election. “It was a good mandate and credit to the other candidates, Bert Chen, and Peter Aarsen, for standing,” said […]
Mar 17 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The Conservatives have started the proceedings to dissolve the Ontario federal riding association that had endorsed ex-Conservative MP Derek Sloan during his 2019 election bid. Carlo Petracca, the president of the Hastings-Lennox and Addington, Ont., riding association, told The Hill Times the Conservative Party recently served a notice of intent that it was initiating the […]
Mar 17 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Previously unsure about seeking the federal Liberal nomination in the coveted Toronto riding of Don Valley East, Michael Coteau, who was the runner-up in the 2020 provincial Liberal leadership contest and represents the same riding provincially, says he is now “very open” if and when the nomination process opens up. “So many people in the […]
Mar 15 2021 — Anne Butler — Hill Times — It’s no surprise that recent Canadian spending and purchasing habits have been impacted by the pandemic. Not only are Canadians spending less overall, they’ve also become more conscious about how they pay at the checkout. Recent survey results from Payments Canada show that many Canadians are avoiding using cash and avoiding shopping at places that […]