Understanding why the WE contract was just wrong

 ABOVE: (LEFT TO RIGHT) Justin Trudeau, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, sister-in-law Alicia, daughter Ella, and Margaret Trudeau, at WE Day UK, March 4, 2020 (WE Movement via Facebook) If it’s Friday in Ottawa in the summer, it must also be “take out the garbage” day. And so it was this morning that the Government

It’s time to shorten the Cabinet bench

 The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are scheduled to start in two weeks, and we’ll soon hear sportscasters expounding on players’ performances: plumbers – not the best players but those that will go into the corners and do the dirty work; floaters – often the most talented players but not the

Charisma has failed us — and winter is coming

 “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” ―  Margaret Thatcher The next prime minister of Canada will be the most hated person in the country for years to come. Whether Liberal,Conservative on NDP, he or she will have to deal with the financial mess

Hey parliamentary press and national media – wake up!

 Above: RCMP officers physically remove Keean Bexte, a Rebel News journalist, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's daily press conference. Inset, Justin Trudeau and CBC's Rosemary Barton taking a selfie together. When a journalist is arrested at a protest, the free and fair gathering of the news is arrested, too. When a journalist is arrested by

Keep the seatbelt fastened — Turbulence is not over yet

 The last election has showcased the worst set of political leaders in modern Canadian history. In the end, it was the Liberal brand that made the difference and Justin Trudeau was spared the humiliation that many predicted, and which he deserved. However, the return to government might be a problem

The best and the worst from last night’s debate

 Last night Canadian’s had the chance to hear the leaders butt heads over many contentious issues. There were some high points and low points for sure but overall the tone and temperament of the evening was respectful and dignified.  Here is Ottawa Life Magazine’s best and worst from last night’s debate.

Federal Election 2019: Canadians will have unprecedented access to the debates

 Photo credit: Canadian Debate Production Partnership Election day is fast approaching and the six federal party leaders are preparing to go toe-to-toe in the federal election debates! An informed voter is the best kind of voter and this year, Canadians will have access to the debate on an unprecedented scale.

The politics of guilt by association

 It’s an understatement to say that political campaigns have changed over the past 25 years. A form of campaigning that is becoming all too popular is guilt by association, a tactic where politicians are criticized for their familiarity with questionable figures. If a politician associates with someone that is not

Let’s try this again

 Over the past few years alone, the concept of feminism has morphed and changed exponentially. Although the key to feminism simply being ‘equality for all, no matter their gender’ has remained the same throughout generations, how that is viewed in the eyes of society has all but remained fluid. For this,

Carbon tax and new green deal solutions

 Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash All of Canada’s major federal and provincial parties have flawed versions of carbon tax, cap-and-trade or climate change policies and new-green-deals. Both Justin Trudeau’s Liberal and Andrew Scheer’s Conservative climate change policies exempt the largest CO2 emitters in the highest polluting sectors between 70 and 80-90%

Obfuscation, shameless louts and trickery

 Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Qualtrough take part in the National Youth Forum on an Accessible Canada in Ottawa (Photo credit: PMO Photo by Adam Scotti, 2016) There is a game that is played in Ottawa. It’s called obfuscation and it is a technique used by clever politicians, politicos and

Glamour and Trudeau

 Photo credit: Adam Scotti (PMO) “The course of true love never did run smooth.” That’s from a Midsummer Night’s Dream, not a campaign boiler room. The loss of favour has been dramatic. While his splendid victory was delivered by a grateful nation, less than four years into Trudeau’s majority mandate,

A Conversation About Electoral Reform

 Photo credit: D’Arcy Norman “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.” That was the Liberal Party’s 2015 campaign promise. Four years later we are finding ourselves heading towards the next federal election which will be done through, as one

Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, sues CBSA, RMCP and the federal government

 Photo credit: Handout/Reuters Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei alleged that her constitutional rights were violated when she was taken into custody. She has filed a claim and now suing the Canadian Border Services Agency, the RCMP and the federal government seeking damages for false imprisonment based on multiple alleged failures

Ethics Commissioner must conduct investigation into alleged political direction in SNC-Lavalin prosecution

 Photo credit: Sean Kilpatrick (The Canadian Press) Today, Democracy Watch released the letter it has sent to federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion calling on him to delegate an inquiry into whether Prime Minister Trudeau or anyone in the PMO violated the federal government ethics law by trying to

Trudeau on taxes: What has changed since Harper

 Since coming to power in 2015, the Trudeau government has touted their commitment to middle class Canadian families. Trying to tie together low income and secure households, they have made sweeping changes as part of their overall campaign on tax reform. So what has really changed since the Harper government?

Justin Trudeau — Genuinely insincere

 "Because it’s 2015.” Remember that missive by our “feminist” Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau? Two key pillars in his election platform were his commitment to women’s issues and his commitment to Indigenous people in Canada. After becoming Prime Minister, Trudeau anointed himself as the spokesperson for women’s empowerment and declared to

Debating democracy, eh?

 Canada’s proposed rules for leaders’ debates organized by the new federal election commission entrench our biased polling and follow-the-leader horse race based party politics at the expense of real democracy. Newly nominated debates commissioner and former Governor General David Johnston has little flexibility in the mandated rules to organize two

Alberta pro-pipeline rally making its way to Parliament by February

 Photo credit: Twitter via @Energy_Citizens Pro-pipeline rallies continue throughout Canada, and there is great speculation that these protests will eventually extend to Ottawa. Starting in Alberta, protesters are rallying against Bill C-48 and Bill C-69 in an attempt to pressure the federal government to get a move on with pipeline

Heather Gray at the end of her rope – no help from Regina Police Service or Minister Goodale

 Since the article came out in Ottawa Life Magazine (OLM) in the fall about bullying and harassment in the Regina Police Service things have gone from bad to worse for the article’s subject, Heather Gray. When Gray first met with Regina Police Chief Evan Bray back in May 2018, she

An Illegal Push by Trudeau has led him to a lawsuit with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers

 The Canada Post workers are officially launching a suit against the Trudeau Government. After weeks of an on-going strike effecting parcels everywhere, the union of postal workers is filing a constitutional challenge over last months back-to-work legislation. Also known as Bill C-89, the federal government initiated the legislation at the

Issues set to arise for the Opposition Party in the upcoming Federal Election

 Photo credit: Andrew Scheer/Flickr With the upcoming 2019 Federal election, tensions are arising as parties begin to build their platform. In a survey conducted by Abacus Data, approximately 2,000 Canadians aged 18 and older were polled online. It was found that over 57% prefer a change in the current government, bearing

Message to Trudeau government – pipelines make sense

 “Until the federal government gets its act together, Alberta ispulling out of the federal climate plan”  – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Aug.30, 2018.   Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s anger at the Trudeau government’s mishandling of Canada’s multi-billion Trans Mountain Pipeline was a wakeup call to Canada about just how badly the country’s

Democracy Watch challenges Justin Trudeau’s biased, secretive appointment of new Lobbying Commissioner

 Photo credit: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada via pm.gc.ca (DC) Today, Democracy Watch is in Federal Court in Ottawa for the hearing of its case challenging the Trudeau Cabinet’s appointment in December 2017 of the new Lobbying Commissioner. Democracy Watch argues that the Cabinet was biased and in a conflict of

Justin Trudeau and the Peter Principle

 Photo credit: Adam Scotti (PMO) The former Stephen Harper government was very competent but lacked a soul. After nine years, Canadians tired of this prickliness and wanted change. Justin Trudeau was the change. The son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, one of Canada’s most transformative prime ministers whose 1982 Charter of