Jan 11 2021 — Michael Coren — iPolitics — If anything characterizes last week’s grotesque attempt to storm the Capitol building in Washington, it’s an almost surreal degree of paradox: Alleged patriots roaring their hatred of their country’s essence were joined by ostensible supporters of the police attacking cops — in one case, killing one — while supposed Christians, followers of the Prince of […]
Dec 3 2020 — Michael Coren — iPolitics — Derek Sloan, the Conservative MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, is quite the star among the hard line conservative right. Earlier this year he questioned the national loyalties of Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, and now he has sponsored a parliamentary e-petition that questions the safety of the much-anticipated coronavirus vaccine. The petition […]
Dec 1 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — What a difference a week makes. Just about exactly that long ago, Process Nerd was reassuring readers that, even amid the ongoing grumbling from the opposition benches over their collective dissatisfaction with the minority Liberal government, there was little chance that it would trigger a snap election before the House of Commons shuts down for […]
Nov 23 2020 — iPolitics — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the latest leader to be pranked by Russian YouTubers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who are also known as Vovan and Lexus. Earlier today, the prankster tandem released an animated video on Youtube of a telephone conversation they had with Trudeau last January, days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 […]
Nov 10 2020 — iPolitics — A new poll shows Canadians continue to support medical assistance in dying (MAiD) but have concerns about expanding the bill. Last month the federal government reintroduced medical assistance in dying, Bill C-7, to remove “the requirement for a person’s natural death to be reasonably foreseeable in order to be eligible for MAiD” and “introduce a […]
Nov 10 2020 — Jolson Lim — iPolitics — Federal parties have together collected nearly $2.9 million through the emergency wage subsidy, according to figures provided to iPolitics. The Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat and Green parties have all received funds from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program this year, although the Liberals and Conservatives have chosen to stop collecting it. The Tories are […]
Nov 2 2020 — Michael Coren — iPolitics — The old adage about never mixing religion and politics is about as inane as it is ubiquitous. In North America, it’s applied mainly to Christianity, but Christianity is political, and has to be, because it was founded by a man who roared against injustice, and spoke of a better, more equal, and more communal world. […]
Oct 28 2020 — Michael Coren — iPolitics — A picture tells a thousand words, or at least conveys the attitude of a few dozen people. And the photo of Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff crowded in a restaurant with around 40 other people, all of them standing close together and not a soul wearing a mask, rather suggests that nobody involved had very […]
Oct 28 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — As the minority Liberals brace for yet another politically charged, opposition-controlled House debate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can at least take comfort in the fact there’s virtually no way the ensuing vote can be viewed as a confidence test. Not as far as it relates to his government, that is. Depending on the outcome, it […]
Oct 27 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Like so many of our less flashy parliamentary traditions, it was all overshadowed by the latest round of frantic will-they-or-won’t-they election speculation, but private members’ business is officially back on the daily House program — eight months late, but moving fast (with apologies to Douglas Adams). For anyone now guiltily realizing they hadn’t even noticed […]
Oct 27 2020 — iPolitics — A month after the return of Parliament, the Liberals continue to hold a two-percentage-point lead over the Conservatives, according to the latest Mainstreet Research poll. When asked which party voters would support if an election was held today, results from a Mainstreet telephone survey of 1,328 Canadian adults conducted on Oct. 21, showed the Liberals […]
Oct 20 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — During a pre-sitting press conference a few minutes ago, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole suggested that his party may be putting forward a revised motion that, among other changes, would remove ‘anti-corruption’ from the name of the special committee. This analysis is based on the original motion, but will be updated to reflect the new text. […]
Oct 13 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — The Liberals may have pulled the plug on an eyebrow-raising plan to put WE Charity in charge of divvying up half a billion dollars in student-volunteer funding, but their cross-aisle adversaries are still using every available parliamentary lever to push for a full investigation into the now-nixed contract — which now includes, not one, but […]
Oct 5 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Given the near-constant power struggles that play out in a minority House setting, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, let alone a card-carrying Process Nerd, to learn that the first procedural skirmish of the fall sitting is already well underway. The latest battleground: The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which […]
Sep 30 2020 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — With the minority Liberals having now made it through not one but two confidence tests with their claim on government intact — with the most recent taking place well after midnight and ending with a unanimous vote — here are three oft-cited tenets of minority parliament politics that Process Nerd would dearly love to see retired […]