To win, Conservatives first need to see Red

 The starting gun has been fired on the Conservative Party leadership race. Questions of ‘who’s in’ and ‘who’s out’ are swirling. The leadership race is also bringing to the fore another important, perhaps more consequential question: what does it mean to be a Tory today? Maclean’s Paul Wells recently touched

What Democracy, Eh?

 By: Greg Vezina We have lost our most basic fundamental, democratic rights to biased-polling based, follow-the-leader, horse-race, media-manipulated, divide-and-conquer, major party, and partisan politics. A few decades ago, MPs and MPPs were listened to by their leaders, they by and large represented their constituents, and political party names were not

Goldie Ghamari is the smart choice for the new riding of Carleton

 Goldie Ghamari is Authentic, Intelligent and Impressive Doug Ford and the Ontario Provincial Conservatives have some impressive candidates running in the national capital region in the June Election. Golsa (Goldie) Ghamari is at the top of that list. She is campaigning for the seat in the newly created provincial riding

PC Leader Patrick Brown Denies Participating in Sexual Misconduct

 Patrick Brown has resigned as Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader in response to two allegations of sexual misconduct. The decision to step down has come just in time for the 2018 federal election on June 9th of this year. In response to these allegations, Brown has released a statement declaring their

Carleton Professor Says Minister and MPs are Failing the RCMP and Canadians

 Feature image: Former Commissioner of the RCMP Bob Paulson It appears the new tactic of dozens of Members of Parliament when they don’t want to deal with an issue is to just not respond to the inquiry. Either that or they answer an inquiry with a non-answer, or worse, answer

Why the Federal Government Needs to Keep its Promise to End Income-Splitting

 Children’s Health More About Good Social Policy than Medicine Alone. More of Canada’s children are living in poverty than ever before. A new report reveals that child poverty rates in Canada remain unconscionably high. Almost one-third of children in Toronto live in low-income households. Population measures of child health in Canada are also troubling,

Change

 Photo courtesy of Jean-Marc Carisse. Voters Decided It Was Sunny Ways Rather Than Rainbows and Unicorns Ten years is a long time for any government to be in power. Stephen Harper led Canada through some tumultuous times. He deserves a great deal of credit for guiding Canada through the 2008

Pharmacare is for Kids Too

 Written by Avram Denburg and Steve Morgan You are the parent of a sick child. You have a limited budget and you must decide to buy the medicine the doctor prescribed for your child or provide food and shelter for your family instead. What do you do? Sadly this dilemma is one too

What You Need to Know About the Election

 On your marks, get set, go! The race is on. The federal election to determine Canada’s 42nd parliament and leader has begun. Set to end with the October 19 election, this campaign will be the longest in over a century (since 1872), running for a full 78 days. In Canada,

Light-Rail gets $1 Billion Boost from Feds

 The existing O-Train passes over the Rideau River. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. In a letter to Mayor Jim Watson dated July 22, Orléans MP Royal Galipeau announced his party’s intention to give $1 billion to support Stage 2 of Ottawa’s light-rail plans. That money will make up one third

What Do Canadians Need from Pension Reform?

 A gentle policy nudge to enhance coverage and pension contributions—here’s how.  Pension reform continues to hold interest across the country, especially given the willingness of the federal Conservatives to at least talk about expanding the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Pundits and politicos are weighing in now with blunt talk of

The Church and State Debate

 By Michael Coren Oh Mr. Lunney, whatever are you playing at? Long-time Nanaimo MP James Lunney announced recently that he was leaving the Conservatives because he could no longer speak as a Christian while being part of the party caucus. There was, he said, a nasty sense of religious persecution

Publisher’s Message: Poilievre Deserves A Shot

 Pierre Poilievre was first elected to Parliament in 2004 for the riding of Nepean-Carleton at the young age of 25, upsetting then Liberal Defence Minister David Pratt. As a parliamentarian, he has demonstrated an unwavering loyalty to Prime Minister Harper, Conservative values and a centre-right ideology. He has been very

Compulsory insurance does not create affordable access to prescription drugs

 By Steve Morgan New Brunswick has opportunity to reduce pharmaceutical drug prices dramatically with a single payer system. The Liberal government of New Brunswick appears to be stepping back from the brink of mandatory prescription drug insurance. And so they should. The Conservatives had pitched the drug plan as a

Pipeline Construction – The Federal Stance

 Energy exports, particularly oil and gas, are a key pillar of the Canadian economy, support hundreds of thousands of jobs in Canada and provide great wealth to the nation. With the 2015 Federal election just around the corner, Canadians are focused now more than ever on the three major federal

Citizens and Parliament Must be Consulted on Election Rules

 The Harper Government’s Bill C-23, Fair Elections Act is currently before the House of Commons, and it should come as no surprise that the Conservatives are using the bill to manipulate the rules that govern how Canadians vote. After all, the Harper Government has been at odds with Elections Canada

New Democrat Olivia Chow Wants Harper’s Conservatives to Put the Safety of Canadians First

 Protecting Canadians is one of the most basic responsibilities of our government, and this principle applies to our transportation system. As the NDP critic for Transportation and Infrastructure, I am convinced that our federal government could be doing a lot more to improve the safety on our roadways while preventing

Political Power Brokers of the National Capital Region

 "It would not take long for a future tax-and-spend government to imperil the economic stability Canada enjoys": An Interview with Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton) As told to Harvey F. Chartrand Pierre Poilievre is the 34-year-old Minister of State (Democratic Reform) and four-term Conservative Member of Parliament for Nepean-Carleton. After

Stephen Harper’s Assault on Democracy

 Last November, hundreds of delegates from across Canada gathered in Ottawa for the 93rd Annual General Meeting of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). Discus- sions focused on the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s ongoing cuts to programs and services that continue to jeopardize the

Publisher’s Message May 8, 2011

 On election night my friend, a long-time Liberal, called me and said, “well, that’s what happens to a Party that tries to be everything to everyone and stands for nothing at all.” The great Liberal Party of Canada, the Party of Laurier, King, St. Laurent, Pearson and Trudeau had been

Capital Notes: The numbers tell the whole story

 By John Robert Colombo This month's column is something different because it does not deal with quotations about Ottawa or questions about the National Capital Region. Instead, it offers a short discourse on numerology as it relates to Ottawa. Numerology is the study of the relationship between numbers and letters