Tag Archives: Parliament
Politics Then Is Politics Now
A flashback for you today – one of my early posts from September 2014. One of the fun things about a vacation, for me anyway, is traveling to locations that can bring history alive in a new way. That was Dunwich, a village in Suffolk County on England’s North Sea Coast. I had never heard […]
Speak – or Remain Silent?
What do you do when you see an injustice? Do you publicize it? Attempt to correct it? Confront those responsible? What if in doing so you make the situation worse? What if innocent people are harmed by your corrective measures? For Canadian Parliamentarians this isn’t an academic question. On Monday they voted in favor of […]
Quacking Like A Duck
“Stephen Harper used prorogation to avoid difficult political circumstances. We will not” – Justin Trudeau, 2015 So much for promises. Again. The funny thing is, Canada’s Prime Minister has good reason to prorogue (reset) Parliament. A new plan for the COVID-19 era makes sense. It’s the timing that makes it look so bad. He appears […]
Rolling The Dice
Political junkies in Canada are watching an unusual story unfolding in Parliament today. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to appear before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about his latest ethics scandal. The general rule of thumb is that Prime Ministers don’t appear before committees, especially not ones investigating them. That Trudeau is ignoring this […]
Integrity Versus Elect-ability
It was hardly a secret, but it became official on the weekend: Peter MacKay is running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. He seems likely to win – and I can’t think of a worse choice. It appears the party is confronted with a simple choice: integrity or elect-ability. McKay may […]
Breaking With Tradition
I was rather curious as to how Canada’s Parliament was going to handle its opening Thursday, as for the first time in more than 150 years the Senate and the House of Commons are meeting in different buildings. Traditionally the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod has walked to the Commons Chamber from the Senate […]
View From The Terrace
Berne (also spelled Bern), the Swiss capital, reminded me a lot of Canada’s capital, Ottawa when I visited in 2018. Both cities have a relaxed feel, big enough to have whatever you want/need – without the traffic. I only have vague memories of my first visit to Berne, in 1986. I remember seeing the famous […]
Remembrance Day 2019
Canada remembers its war dead today, as it does every November 11th. It was on this date in 1918 that the “Great War,” the “War To End All Wars” came to an end. Today we know that the First World War was just the beginning. Most years of the 20th century saw war being […]
Decision Chamber
Made a quick visit to downtown Ottawa last week, as I realized I had yet to see the new chamber for Canada’s House of Commons, which relocated to West Block earlier this year. Centre Block is undergoing a ten-year renovation/restoration, and a new place had to be found for the House to meet. So they […]
The Rules
As crimes go, it was a minor offense. He was eating a chocolate bar. I had to wonder though if it said something about attitude. If it was a subtle reminder that rules are for other people. Or maybe I’m being influenced by past behaviour, by the alleged groping of a female reporter years ago, […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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