National Newswatch

What’s next for the Conservative bid to ‘block the budget’? An old-school filibuster by Pierre Poilievre

Jun 7 2023 — Kady O'Malley — For a few hours, it had all the makings of a classic mid-June cross-aisle cliffhanger — a high-stakes standoff over the legislative package containing many of the big-ticket measures laid out in the latest budget. Accompanied by a full contingent of his front bench critics, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre hit the House of Commons Foyer […]

New poll suggests voters view Poilievre as harder worker than rivals, while Trudeau seen as more likeable

May 31 2023 — Marco Vigliotti — A new poll has the Conservatives narrowly ahead of the governing Liberals in voting intentions, with Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau neck-and-neck in the choice for best prime minister. The online survey, designed by Earnscliffe Strategies and conducted by Leger, also asked respondents for their impressions of the four major party leaders, using questions based […]

Ottawa axes controversial cultural diplomacy ‘slush fund’

May 29 2023 — Teresa Wright — The Mission Cultural Fund program, which operated under Global Affairs Canada, aimed to support ‘cultural diplomacy’ activities to help advance Canada’s foreign policy priorities. Ottawa has quietly shuttered an arts and culture funding program that has drawn controversy for financing some provocative initiatives and was flagged by a federal evaluation over transparency concerns. The Mission […]

What could public hearings into the China interference claims accomplish?

May 24 2023 — Kady O'Malley — Those who, not unlike Process Nerd, tuned into yesterday’s press conference fully expecting to hear the prime minister’s handpicked “independent special rapporteur” David Johnston side with those calling for a full public inquiry into allegations of attempted political interference by China can take some comfort in knowing that, back when he first took up the […]

What will the committee looking into the Chong privilege breach actually be able to investigate?

May 16 2023 — Kady O'Malley — Before diving in, a quick behind-the-scenes programming note: Initially, Process Nerd had planned to take a closer look at just how the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs could investigate the prima facie breach of privilege brought forward by Conservative MP Michael Chong last week. After just a few minutes of pre-writing brainstorming, however, […]

Conservatives filibuster Liberals’ budget bill, raise concern about use of omnibus bills

May 9 2023 — Teresa Wright — The Liberal government’s omnibus budget bill is getting a rough ride from Conservative MPs who have been filibustering it at committee for over 20 hours and raising questions about why so many non-spending measures are included in the 430-page document. Bill C-47, the government’s budget implementation bill, includes proposed changes to over 50 laws. When […]

Why MPs should back NDP bid to codify confidence convention (but shouldn’t expect it to fix everything)

May 9 2023 — Kady O'Malley — Before we get rolling, let the record show that, if Process Nerd had a vote, she would exercise it — emphatically and enthusiastically — to support New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie’s backbench pitch to formalize the “confidence convention.” She would not, however, expect it to be a one-click workaround to the inherent instability of a […]

It was Chretien’s night, but it’s Trudeau’s party

May 7 2023 — Stephen Maher — The emotional high point of the Liberal convention that concluded in Ottawa on Saturday was not the speech Thursday night from Justin Trudeau, or the question and answer session with Hilary Clinton and Chrystia Freeland on Friday, but Clinton’s opener — former prime minister Jean Chretien, who is in fine form at 89. As with […]

Senate set to drop fight to rewrite broadcast bill — but not without putting its concerns on the record

Apr 25 2023 — Kady O'Malley — Barring a truly exceptional eleventh-hour delay — which, when it comes to parliamentary business, can never be entirely ruled out as a hypothetical possibility — the government’s years-long push to overhaul the broadcasting regime to cover online and streaming platforms is finally going to reach the legislative finish line this week. It will happen a […]

NDP won’t support back-to-work legislation to end public servant strike

Apr 18 2023 — Marco Vigliotti — Leader Jagmeet Singh on Tuesday said he told the prime minister the NDP is a “workers’ party” and would never support legislative action curtailing the right to strike. The NDP won’t back the Trudeau Liberals if they introduce back-to-work legislation to end a prospective strike of more than 150,000 federal public servants, though it’s unclear […]

So, the budget has landed. What next? (Procedurally, that is.)

Mar 29 2023 — Kady O'Malley — For starters, let’s drop the suspense and fast-forward to the seemingly inevitable finale: Barring not just one, but an intricate, interlaced sequence of unexpected events, there’s virtually no chance that the upcoming back-and-forth over Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest budget will end on a cliffhanger: namely, the minority Liberal government losing a confidence vote Such […]

It’s not a confidence crisis, it’s a confidence opportunity!

Mar 22 2023 — Kady O'Malley — Unless (or until) one of the key players spills the details in their eventual memoirs, we’ll probably never know just how close the Liberal-New Democrat supply-and-confidence pact came to collapsing on the floor of the House of Commons just one day shy of its first anniversary. We don’t even know for sure whether Prime Minister […]

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