The Insite ruling

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 9:53 AM - 41 Comments

Brian Howell/Maclean's

(This post last updated at 7:46pm)

The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Insite safe injection facility—a unanimous ruling in the facility’s favour—is here.

 The Minister made a decision not to extend the exemption from the application of the federal drug laws to Insite. The effect of that decision, but for the trial judge’s interim order, would have been to prevent injection drug users from accessing the health services offered by Insite, threatening the health and indeed the lives of the potential clients.  The Minister’s decision thus engages the claimants’ s. 7 interests and constitutes a limit on their s. 7 rights.  Based on the information available to the Minister, this limit is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.  It is arbitrary, undermining the very purposes of the CDSA, which include public health and safety.  It is also grossly disproportionate: the potential denial of health services and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users outweigh any benefit that might be derived from maintaining an absolute prohibition on possession of illegal drugs on Insite’s premises.

Early reads from the Globe, Canadian Press, Postmedia, Star and CBC.

10:33am. Libby Davies, whose riding includes the Insite facility, applauds. Three years ago she lectured Tony Clement and called on him to abandon the government’s appeal.

10:46am. Liberal health critic Hedy Fry applauds.

10:51am. The Canadian Public Health Association applauds.

11:37am. Ms. Davies raised the court’s decision in QP just now, provoking a response from Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Continue…

Jack Layton 1950-2011

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 22, 2011 at 9:03 AM - 11 Comments

A statement issued this morning by the family of NDP leader Jack Layton.

We deeply regret to inform you that The Honourable Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, passed away at 4:45 am today, Monday August 22. He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones. Details of Mr. Layton’s funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.

9:11am. Bob Rae, Carolyn Bennett, Hedy Fry, Wayne Easter, Cathy McLeod, Keith Martin and Governor General David Johnston are among those paying their respects.

9:23am. John Geddes explored Jack Layton’s life and times for this Maclean’s cover story last June. We wrote about his new fight with cancer for this cover story earlier this month.

9:28am. Condolences from Rodger Cuzner, Lewis Cardinal, Colin Carrie, Mike Sullivan and John McCallum.

9:36am. NDP deputy leader Libby Davies talks to reporters in St. John’s.

“He was a great Canadian. He gave his life to this country. His commitment to social justice and equality and a better Canada in the world and at home and I think that’s how people saw him,” Davies told reporters. “They saw him as someone who deeply, deeply cared for people. And they saw that in the campaign and all his work. They saw the courage that he had. He faced cancer and he kept on working, doing his job, because he felt so strongly about what he believed in, so I think people think of him as a great Canadian and we think of him as a great leader, in a political sense but (also) in a personal sense.”

9:43am. More on the life of Jack Layton from the CBC, Toronto Star and Canadian Press.

He was a believer. He made that clear in the first sentences of “Speaking Out Louder:” ”Politics matters. Ideas matter. Democracy matters, because all of us need to be able to make a difference.”

9:54am. Mr. Layton’s Facebook page has become a makeshift memorial.

9:59am. Greg Fingas marks the NDP leader’s passing.

After spending a decade laying the foundation, Jack Layton has tragically died before getting to complete the house that so many said couldn’t be built. For now, there’s little to do but to offer condolences and grieve the loss of a great Canadian and friend. But hopefully Layton’s inspiration will only encourage us to finish what he started.

10:01am. A statement from the Prime Minister. Continue…

Drag queens, MPs and a Liberal fundraiser

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 9:25 PM - 21 Comments

Liberal MP Hedy Fry squeezed in a fundraiser to help with the debt she incurred from her leadership run in 2006. The event was held at Ottawa’s hot new gay bar Flamingo. Below, Fry and Bob Rae do a tribute to Sonny and Cher.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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Why Baird's lucky his double isn't a prankster

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, April 4, 2011 at 9:18 AM - 8 Comments

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

What if the Tories need Helena?

Photographs By Mitchel Raphael

Helena Guergis is running as an “Independent Conservative.” She’s using her old signs for the upcoming election but has removed the Conservative party logo from them and added the word “Independent.” Many have joked with her that if the Conservatives are one short of a majority she could hold the balance of power. If that is indeed the case, she says, she would not return to the party. She notes that as an Independent she is much more aware of every bill that comes through the House for a vote: “Having more Independent MPs is good for democracy.” Guergis has been able to ask the government several questions in the House and offer member’s statements because the other Independent MP, André Arthur, gave her his slots, saying she needed the exposure more than him.

Aren’t you…?

As politicians fan out across the country, many will try to be in two places at once. One politician almost managed it. House leader John Baird‘s look-alike, Jacques Pinet, who works for an insurance company in New Brunswick, is a dead ringer for the man people refer to as the de facto deputy PM. Pinet happened to be on the Hill last week. “I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t have someone ask me [about the resemblance],” says Pinet. On a previous trip, the New Brunswicker was sitting in the House galleries before a vote and a security guard approached him and said, “Mr. Baird, you need to go down and vote.” And once in Toronto, while Pinet was having a meal alone in a restaurant, Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny walked up to the table and joined him, speaking to him as if he were talking to Baird. While Pinet was in the British capital recently, some backpackers first asked if he was Canadian. Then they followed up with, “Are you in politics?” “I’m not John Baird,” he politely told them. Pinet says his encounters with people who mistake him for Baird have all been positive. Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, who is a friend of Pinet, jokes that when he is mistaken for Baird and people say, “I voted for you,” he should reply with, “I don’t need your vote.”

Sonny & Cher & Bob & Hedy

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

In all the election hue and cry last week, Liberal MP Hedy Fry squeezed in a fundraiser to help with the debt she incurred from her leadership run in 2006. It was held at Ottawa’s hot new gay bar, Flamingo. Justin Trudeau sported what he described as a “flamingo pink” dress shirt in honour of the bar’s name, though drag queen and event host Dixie Landers countered that it was really “aggressive salmon.” Lunch with Trudeau raised $300 at the auction. Liberal MP Bob Rae joined Fry on stage and sang the Sonny & Cher duet I Got You, Babe, which was a nice throwback to the 2006 Liberal leadership race: Fry dropped out and went over to Rae’s camp.

The journalists’ mini-revolution

After the opposition leaders rejected the recent budget, Stephen Harper came out to address the media. He was supposed to take four questions. The names of those who got to ask questions had been approved by the PMO and were on the infamous list. But when Harper’s speech was over, journalists, in an act of list revolution, started shouting out questions. Harper took only two of them and then bolted as the Toronto Star’s Tonda MacCharles yelled, “Why won’t you answer more questions?”

Hair to match the budget

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty‘s recent budget fell flat, matching his hair. For the previous budget, Flaherty visited his hairdresser, Stefania Capovilla—who cuts the hair of Stephen Harper and several cabinet ministers—on budget day and showed up with a fresh, sassy blow-dry. This year Flaherty’s wife, Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Elliott, told her husband he needed to hit the salon the day before, not the day of: hence the flatter look.

The Commons: To stand and say something

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 6:47 PM - 57 Comments

The Scene. The public undermining of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda’s professional standing continues at a methodical pace.

The opposition side is now engaged in unabashed mockery for the still-seated minister. “How can she remain in her position as minister when, by her silence, she refuses to be accountable to Parliament?” asked Liberal Hedy Fry after quoting from the Prime Minister’s own guidelines on ministerial accountability.

John Baird stood to take this one and so Ms. Fry upped the rhetorical ante. “The Minister of International Cooperation sits behind the Prime Minister, dutifully, day after day and is not allowed to answer,” she observed. “Is it this Prime Minister’s position that women in his cabinet should only be seen and not heard?”

This was enough to receive an admonishment from Mr. Baird, but not enough to get Ms. Oda on her feet. The Liberals pursued her twice more, but Mr. Baird stood for those as well. The Liberals jeered and yelled. They chanted “Let her speak” and thumped their desks. Ms. Oda sat quietly. Mr. Baird turned at one point to acknowledge her presence directly as he commended her “great leadership.” This earned her an ovation from the Conservative side and a pat on the back from Sylvie Boucher seated behind her.

On some antiquated principle of parliamentary democracy and representative government, the Liberals are probably correct to wonder why the minister does not stand in her place to respond to opposition queries and condemnations during the time allotted each day for the House to hear such things. But implicit in that is the assumption that her standing will serve some purpose beyond confirming her ability to perform the physical act itself. Continue…

Is there a doctor in the House?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 5:24 PM - 42 Comments

Chris Selley questions the medical wisdom of politicians.

It took some flaming cheek for Mr. Dosanjh and Ms. Duncan to claim that “disregarding experts is a dangerous precedent” in an op-ed that involved disregarding — not to mention disrespecting — literally dozens of medical practitioners and researchers. But precious few politicians are capable of resisting the lure of emotionally charged issues, and the opportunities they afford to care out loud. From this appalling cynicism, there seems very little hope of liberation.

For the record, there are four physicians in the House of Commons: Liberals Carolyn Bennett, Hedy Fry, Keith Martin and Bernard Patry.

Toward 2014

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:35 AM - 82 Comments

In a series of speeches today from Caroyln Bennett, Hedy Fry and Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberals are laying out the parameters of their health care agenda.

All of this will require federal leadership and partnership between governments, which is what Canadians expect. We want our governments to fight for Medicare, not over Medicare. We expect the social contract that Medicare represents to be honoured, not abandoned.

The federal government has the jurisdiction, the role, and the responsibility to defend the national interest and our shared objectives: to ensure that Medicare survives and thrives, to ensure the principles of Medicare are respected by enforcing the Canada Health Act, and to share in the cost of the system by providing funding to the provinces and territories.

What a Girl Wants with Justin Trudeau, Laureen Harper and a drag queen

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 29, 2010 at 4:52 PM - 5 Comments

The fourth annual What a Girl Wants charity dinner held in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom raised money for the Canadian Liver Foundation with the help of local firefighters peeling off their uniforms, a fashion show and a performance by Ottawa drag queen Dixie Landers who lip-synced Better Midler’s cover of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Below, Landers with Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry.

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Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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(Left to right) Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, National Post columnist Don Martin and Laureen Harper.

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The parameters of a debate (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 9:07 AM - 6 Comments

Last week—shortly before he announced his impending resignation—Liberal MP and doctor Keith Martin offered some dos and don’ts for health care reform. Yesterday afternoon I received an e-mail from the office of Liberal MP and doctor Hedy Fry, who after seeing those proposals mentioned here, had jotted down a series of counter proposals.

Here then are Ms. Fry’s dos and don’ts. Continue…

MPs don purple

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 1, 2010 at 9:26 PM - 0 Comments

MPs from all parties donned purple recently as a way to raise awareness over the wave of gay teen suicides that have been happening in North America. Below, Liberal MPs Mario Silva (left) and Rob Oliphant.

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Liberal MP Scott Simms.

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Mitchel Raphael on the MP who made the worst-dressed list and Peter MacKay's suitcase

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 18 Comments

Tory MPs are sexiest
When the Hill Times came out with its annual “Politically Savvy, Stylish and Sexy Survey,” Montreal Liberal MP Irwin Cotler was disappointed to discover he’s tied for the worst-dressed male MP on the Hill, with Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell. “I know I am not the best-dressed MP,” noted Cotler. “But I don’t think I am one of the worst.” He confessed to Capital Diary, however, that his family agreed with the Hill Times survey. Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry, known for her fashion flair and commitment to ensuring animal prints never become endangered, said that Cotler is clearly “the best-dressed professor” on the Hill. What about Liberal leader and professor Michael Ignatieff? Fry joked, “Well, he has people around him.” And professor Stéphane Dion? “His wife [Janine Krieber] has excellent taste,” she quipped without missing a beat. The survey named Tory Maxime Bernier the best-dressed male MP. Sexiest male MP went to Defence Minister Peter MacKay, leaving Justin Trudeau in second place. Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose was voted sexiest female MP, followed by NDP MP Megan Leslie. Transport Minister John Baird cleaned up in two key categories: “Most Influence in Cabinet” and “Best Cabinet Minister in Question Period.”

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Mitchel Raphael on the end of the blond troika and the new minister of everything

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 11:20 AM - 5 Comments

By Mitchel Raphael

SOME NEW FACES IN THE HOUSE WHEN HARPER IS SPEAKING

No longer in the Conservative caucus, Helena Guergis now sits as an independent in the back row of the House. Guergis was part of the blond troika behind Stephen Harper, picked up by the TV cameras whenever he rose in the Commons. The other two were Lisa Raitt and Diane Ablonczy. Now the three blonds in the shot have been replaced with dark-haired MPs: Minister for International Co-operation Bev Oda, Minister of State Denis Lebel, and Rona Ambrose, who took over Guergis’s status of women portfolio. Ambrose now has one of the longest titles in the government: minister of public works and government services Canada and the receiver general of Canada, minister for status of women, vice-president of the Treasury Board, and regional minister for northern Alberta. Or as one MP joked: “Minister of everything.” Ambrose got back recently from a trip to Afghanistan with Defence Minister Peter MacKay. In Kandahar, the two stopped by the Tim Hortons, where the cups are designed to look like camouflage and the prizes for Roll Up the Rim to Win included special edition Kandahar hats. Neither Ambrose nor MacKay won anything.

By Mitchel Raphael

IT’S THAT FRENCH TEACHER’S FAULT

NDP MP Glenn Thibeault was recently in the House foyer going over notes for a French TV interview. The Ontario MPfor Sudbury has been trying to work on his French in an effort to become bilingual. Thibeault comes from a francophone family. When he was younger, his parents sent him to a French immersion school. One of his teachers told him he must learn “French” French and not Quebec French and his parents were so insulted they pulled him out and put him into a regular English school where he lost all his French. He’s currently taking three hours a week of French lessons. He is the youngest in his family and now gets his siblings and parents to speak only French to him—“even if I don’t understand,” he jokes.

SHE’S THAT FABULOUS

Jer’s Vision fifth anniversary gala in Ottawa celebrated those who have helped battle bullying and homophobia. The event was hosted by Global National anchor Kevin Newman, who spoke publicly for the first time about his gay son, Alex Newman. Kevin Newman was the first person to interview NDP MP Libby Davies on TV when she came out. At last year’s event, Davies won a Youth Role Model of the Year award. This time one went to Liberal MP Hedy Fry. One of the youth who nominated Fry noted in a letter that he realized he was gay and went to a Pride parade where he met the MP. “When I asked her what it was like to be gay, she said she was not gay but she was proud to stand with another individual and celebrate working toward equality. I was inspired how someone could be so fabulous, and not even be gay.”

By Mitchel Raphael

THANKS FOR THE SHIRT, I THINK

During his visit to Ottawa, New Zealand PM John Key was presented with an Olympic Team Canada hockey jersey by Stephen Harper. In return, Key presented Harper with a very fitted New Zealand All Blacks rugby shirt. Harper quipped that the New Zealand PM would have an easier time getting into the baggy hockey jersey than he would getting into his gift.

THE VERY LAST ALL-PARY PARTY

NDP MP Peter Stoffer says April 28 will be the last All-Party Party. The bash has been held in 200 West Block for years, but now the building will be closed as of this summer for several years for renovations and asbestos removal. Stoffer says there is not a large enough space elsewhere on the Hill to accommodate MPs and Hill staff, and also that if it were held somewhere else, it would be too costly.

Battling bullying

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 9:05 AM - 5 Comments

The Jer’s Vision/Day of Pink 5th Anniversary Gala in Ottawa celebrated those who have helped battle bullying and homophobia. Liberal MP Hedy Fry won one of the Youth Role Model of the Year awards.

Another award went to Grandfather William Commanda.

Global National anchor Kevin Newman and his son, Alex.

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Parties unite for prostate cancer

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 9 Comments

All parties were united by wearing blue to show their support for NDP leader Jack Layton in his battle with prostate cancer. The men were given ties and the women were given scarves by Prostate Cancer Canada. Below, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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Mitchel Raphael on the defiant fisheries minister and Helena Guergis’s bull’s eye shot

By Mitchel Raphael - Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:20 AM - 6 Comments

The Liberals are working and have the buttons to prove it
Monday, Jan. 25, would have been the first day the House sat in 2010 had Stephen Harper not prorogued Parliament. Keen to make a point, Liberals decided to hold round-table discussions on the Hill this week on a variety of topics and wore bilingual buttons saying “Liberals are working.” Folks from all parties, though, came out in force on Monday night for the Hill Helps Haiti fundraiser organized by the government relations firm Summa Strategies. The event raised more than $32,000. Among the notable guests was Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, despite having had a cream pie thrown in her face that morning by an anti-seal-hunt protester. On her lapel, the tough Shea proudly sported a sealskin ribbon in support of the hunt. NDP attendees included B.C. MP Nathan Cullen, who found out over the break that he and his wife are expecting twins, and Winnipeg’s Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who is considering running for mayor in Winnipeg. For their part, underpaid Hill staffers were happy to finally have an event with food. Prorogation has meant many Hill receptions have been cancelled for February.

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Hill Helps Haiti fundraiser packed

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, January 29, 2010 at 11:56 AM - 8 Comments

Folks from all parties packed the Hill Helps Haiti fundraiser organized by the government relations firm Summa Strategies. The event raised over $32,000. Below, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq (left) and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea.

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Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay.

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Green leader Elizabeth May.

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In remembrance

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 34 Comments

On the 11th day of the 11th month, statements of remembrance from Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Glen Pearson, Ujjal Dosanjh, James Bezan, Ruby Dhalla, Hedy Fry, Martha Hall Findlay, Peter Stoffer and Mark Holland.

Will we ever have a black prime minister?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 12:19 AM - 61 Comments

On the anniversary of Barack Obama’s election, Wendy Mesley posed the above question on the National tonight. The segment isn’t separately online yet, but can be seen at the 35 minute mark of the National here. Mesley acknowledges it’s not an entirely fair comparison—demographics are different here than in the United States—but the discussion that follows is likely relevant nonetheless.

By the Public Policy Forum’s last check, Parliament was 92.2% white. The examples of non-white politicians even running for the leadership of a federal party are few and far between (Hedy Fry was briefly in the Liberal race in 2006, the last black politician to pursue national leadership might be Howard McCurdy for the NDP in 1989). For argument’s sake, Noah Richler posited a year ago that Canada’s Barack Obama moment won’t come until Canada elects an Aboriginal prime minister.

Of course, you could set race aside and wonder when the Canadian public will elect its first female prime minister vote sufficiently for the candidates of a party led by a woman so that that woman becomes prime minister.

What scary Conservatives really look like

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 2:03 PM - 33 Comments

The Conservatives held their packed and fun Halloween party on the Hill. One of the best costumes was MP Rob Clarke (centre) seen here with his staff.

MP Candice Hoeppner (right) with her staffer dressed as Liberal MP Hedy Fry.

Tory staffer as NDP MP Linda Duncan’s “campaign manager.”

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MPs and Mental Health Awards

By Mitchel Raphael - Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 11:29 AM - 7 Comments

The seventh annual Champions of Mental Health Awards were held at the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom. Margaret Trudeau, seen below with son Justin, got an award for being open about suffering from bipolar disorder.

Also on the awards list were Defense Minister Peter MacKay (left) and General Walter Natynczyk, Canada’s Chief of Defense Staff, for their work launching the “Be the Difference” mental health campaign in the Canadian Forces.

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Smoked salmon in East Block courtyard

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, October 19, 2009 at 2:02 PM - 0 Comments

To honour the Jewish holiday of Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles), a special ceremonial succah was set up in the East Block courtyard. Representatives from Chabad and Bnai Brith were on hand for the celebration. Below, Conservative MP James Lunney.

Frank Dimant of B’nai Brith (left) with Liberal MP Joe Volpe by the succah.

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The Commons: A return to the natural order of things

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 7:11 PM - 23 Comments

The Scene. “Our responsibility is to provide an opposition and an alternative government for Parliament and for Canadians,” a wise leader of Her Majesty’s official opposition said some years ago. “What the government has to do, if it wants to govern for any length of time, is it must appeal primarily to the third parties in the House of Commons to get them to support it.”

And so it was that today, in its own particular and perhaps peculiar way, Parliament returned to its natural state.

“Mr. Speaker,” said Michael Ignatieff at the outset of Question Period, “in Canada we have a government that does not believe in government.”

So it was, of course, that the Liberal leader had, hours earlier, filed official notice of the official opposition’s lack of belief in the party that presently forms government. He did in nine words—”That this House has lost confidence in the government”—what no Liberal leader in more than two decades has dared do.

“Which does not protect the jobs of today,” Mr. Ignatieff continued, “which does not create the jobs of tomorrow, that does not protect the technology made in Canada, which does not protect the health of the most vulnerable and does not protect our health care system when it is attacked in the United States. When will this government admit that its ideology is to weaken the ability of the Government of Canada to protect Canadians?”

The Prime Minister stood then and reached for reasonableness. Continue…

Olympic hats create storm – but it could have been worse

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 4:31 PM - 132 Comments

Much drama and political theatre in the House foyer as opposition MPs like Liberal Hedy Fry (below) were aghast over official caps for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games bearing a similar logo  to the Conservative Party logo. 

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Fancy footwear as The Hill Times turns 20

By Mitchel Raphael - Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 1:29 PM - 16 Comments

The Hill Times celebrated its 20^th anniversary at the Library and Archives Canada on Wellington Street in Ottawa. NDP MP Niki Ashton addresses the crowd below.

Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau in Fluevogs.

Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells with a shoeless Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt.

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