The Commons: When it rains

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 4:42 PM - 0 Comments

The bus pulled up at the base of the Peace Tower and, as if on cue, what had been a light shower became a veritable downpour. Undaunted, Michael Ignatieff stepped jauntily from the vehicle, without either umbrella or cap, perhaps a half dozen metaphors trailing in his wake.

He walked to the edge of the front steps, beside where a bar band had been entertaining the assembled with a rendition of Hungry Like The Wolf, before a crowd of perhaps a 150 or so umbrella’d loyalists who crowded in close in the mid-afternoon rain. Behind Mr. Ignatieff stood a dozen or so Liberal MPs, a half dozen red-and-white umbrellas keeping he and them mostly dry. “Welcome to the official launch of the Liberal Express!” Dominic LeBlanc, standing beside Mr. Ignatieff, said by way of introduction.

Mr. LeBlanc proceeded with a joke about the recent warm weather and Liberal intentions to increase the temperature. He then introduced “the next Prime Minister of Canada” to a sufficient roar from the dampened audience. Continue…

The Commons: The perfectly ho-hum David Johnston

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 4:01 PM - 0 Comments

Shortly after the daily changing of the guard ceremony on Parliament Hill had finished, David Lloyd Johnston walked quickly to a podium in the Senate foyer, cleared his throat, and announced himself as the next governor general of Canada.

The grand wood doors behind him were open, the Senate chamber all lit up. His family gathered over his left shoulder—three young girls in matching summer dresses, one young boy in his best shorts. All around him, grand monarchs looked on from grand portraits—Elizabeth II, Victoria, Edward VII, Georges III, IV, V and VI. He spoke first in serviceable, if inelegant, French. He wore navy blue, his striped tie bearing the crest of the University of Waterloo. He seemed happy and not obviously daunted. Continue…

'God bless Canada'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 6:27 PM - 14 Comments

The text of the Queen’s remarks to the crowd on Parliament Hill this afternoon.

Prime Minister, Minister, distinguished guests, fellow Canadians.

Aujourd’hui, partout au pays, des Canadiens se réunissent pour célébrer l’histoire du Canada, son identité et ses réalisations. À mon avis, il n’y a pas meilleure raison de célébrer.  Thank you for inviting Prince Philip and me to join you all on this special day.

During my lifetime, I have been a witness to this country for more than half its history since Confederation.  I have watched with enormous admiration how Canada has grown and matured while remaining true to its history, its distinctive character and its values.

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In case you were wondering

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 3:31 PM - 25 Comments

Despite a bit of rumbling, the Ottawa bureau of Maclean’s remains intact, or at least as intact as it was before the quake. The main buidlings on Parliament Hill have apparently been evacuated and are being checked. Langevin reportedly was not evacuated, but the Prime Minister was on his way to the airport at the time.

A news conference by the NDP’s Don Davies here at the National Press Building was interrupted, as recorded below.

The bars on Sparks Street, when last I checked, seemed to be doing brisk business with so many seeking comfort.

Please don’t feed the exhibits

By Scott Feschuk - Monday, June 21, 2010 at 8:20 AM - 8 Comments

Photo Illustration by Stephen Gregory

It’s tourist season in Ottawa, and the Parliament Hill experience is better than ever with this exciting new audio tour.

Hello, and welcome to the Audio Guide. Please step through the doorway of Centre Block, proceed up to the fourth floor and push open the big wooden door. Do you hear sobbing? You have arrived at Michael Ignatieff.

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The people will be heard

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 9:05 AM - 29 Comments

Of all the causes that have inspired a demonstration on Parliament Hill, surely this is the least worthy.

Jason Spezza may have plenty of critics in Ottawa, but he has just as many fans, and on Saturday more than 100 will show their support for him during a rally on Parliament Hill.

The aim of the rally will be to convince the Ottawa Senators to keep the mercurial centre instead of trading him before his no-trade clause kicks in on July 1. “Every time something goes wrong with the Sens, it seems like there’s a need for a whipping boy and we’re sick of it,” said Louise Tremblay, who is organizing the rally. “Jason Spezza is our No. 1 centre and we don’t want to see him go.”

Carillon rock

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 12:21 PM - 1 Comment

One of the indisputably finer experiences in Ottawa is to walk out of Centre Block’s main doors on a Friday at noon, having perhaps sat through that morning’s session of Question Period, to hear the Peace Tower Carillon ringing an end to another week with, say, Estudios, Op. 31, nos. 2, 3, 4, by Fernando Sor.

And so one of indisputably brilliant moments of Canada Day next month will apparently be when the carillon—as part of a CBC Radio 2 project—plays a CanRock classic of the nation’s choosing.

Shame on the Hill

By John Geddes - Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 8:48 AM - 20 Comments

Photograph by Blair Gable

The tulips were in fine form on Parliament Hill this week, blooms of red and white matching the flag snapping in the breeze atop the Peace Tower. Spring weather brought out a healthy crop of tour buses, too, marking the start of the busy season along what might be called the country’s main street. It’s no wonder the visitors flock: with its iconic copper-roofed architecture, bronze statues and monuments, Ottawa’s picturesque Wellington Street delivers a palpable sense of history in a stroll of only a few blocks.

But tourists are finding they must frame their snapshots carefully to avoid construction hoarding, scaffolding and shuttered buildings. It’s more than just inevitable upkeep in a historic precinct. Some of the unsightliness results from drawn-out political indecision over what to do with sensitive real estate. Some is the outward sign of tension over renovations among various branches of the government. That confusion recently drew sharp criticism from federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser. “We need to fix this,” she said, “and the longer it waits, the more the deterioration and the more it will cost.”

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Mitchel Raphael on what Justin learned from his Whistler days and a Helena homage

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 2:00 PM - 19 Comments

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

‘IT’S NOT YOUR MOTHER’S POT’
A large cloud of marijuana smoke rose above the packed front lawn of Parliament Hill as pot activists (mostly teenagers) gathered for the annual marijuana demonstration. The Liberal party’s position has been for decriminalization for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. But Liberal MP Justin Trudeau is not in favour of decriminalization at all and feels that would be a step in the wrong direction. “It’s not your mother’s pot,” notes Trudeau of the stronger marijuana grown today, in contrast to the weed from hippie days. “I lived in Whistler for years and have seen the effects. We need all our brain cells to deal with our problems.” The day after the protest, a homeless man was seen combing through the Hill grass, looking for marijuana leftovers.

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Secret trade talks? Take to the streets!

By Paul Wells - Friday, April 30, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 42 Comments

Fred Chartrand/CP

The work of government goes on even when we’re distracted by shiny things. Two weeks ago, Parliament Hill was transfixed by the escapades of Rahim Jaffer and Helena Guergis, and I couldn’t resist writing about the former MP and his ex-minister wife either. But on the Monday of that same week, a bunch of nationalist groups gathered to ring the alarm bell as hard as they could about secret trade talks between Canada and the European Union.

Secret talks! Just like old times. Talks “based on commitments to place corporate rights before social and economic justice, democratic control, and ecological sustainability,” the groups said. (They included the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Auto Workers, and the Council of Canadians.) “Negotiations are progressing quickly and with little public scrutiny until now.”

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Marijuana advocates have their annual 420 smoke-in

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 9:04 PM - 70 Comments

Parliament Hill was under a cloud of marijuana smoke as pot advocates gathered for 420.

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'Go Canada Go'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 11:22 AM - 46 Comments

The prepared text of the Prime Minister’s reply to the Speech from the Throne.

“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to respond to the Speech from the Throne, which was delivered last week by Her Excellency the Governor General.  But before getting into the details, I’d like to say a few words about Canada’s extraordinary results at the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler.

“And, of course, I want to talk about more than just the marvellous staging of the Winter Olympics by the organizers and the warm embrace given to athletes and visitors alike by British Columbians.  I think none of us who know the west coast were surprised by that.  But, as we all know, our athletes, our young men and women, went out and set a new record for the number of gold medals ever won by any nation at a Winter Olympic Games.  Fourteen golds, Mr. Speaker.  And, of course, along with seven silvers and five bronze, 26 medals in total, that’s the most ever won by our country at the Winter Olympics.  Indeed, out of 80 countries, our athletes garnered 10 per cent of all the medals awarded.  That is an extraordinary performance.  There is no doubt that we are proud of our athletes.

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Today

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 12:49 PM - 10 Comments

So here is how budget day will work at Macleans.ca.

At this very moment, our Paul Wells, Andrew Coyne, John Geddes and Philippe Gohier are sequestered in a downtown Ottawa conference room with various other journalists, bureaucrats and government officials, scrutinizing at length the federal budget. They will be freed at 4pm and will burst forth with all sorts of news and analysis. So you have only to hold your breath for another three hours.

I, possessing only rudimentary math skills, am not in the lock-up and am instead skipping joyfully around the capital, delighting in the freedom of movement that is allowed when most everyone else is being held captive. I’ll be in the House for Question Period at 2pm, in the foyer for scrums afterward and then back in my seat for the budget speech by Jim Flaherty at 4pm. Some sort of written account will follow.

More human

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 12:39 PM - 3 Comments

In light of Parliament’s proroguing and subsequent rescheduling, with a plea from Liberal MP Michelle Simon in mind, Glen Pearson suggests a delegation of MPs to show support for the Paralympics.

So, in light of Michelle’s leadership, here’s my request to the Prime Minister. At the opening ceremony today you stated just how important these upcoming games are and how vital it is that the athletes know we are with them.  Vanoc president John Furlong stated that these upcoming games will be different because they will be more “human,” and who would deny it?  So Mr. Harper, let’s select two MPs from each party to travel as a delegation to show that we mean what you said.

Unlike the torch festivities from the historic Olympic Games, the paralympic flame is lit initially in Ottawa, right in front of Parliament, and then carried to the venues in British Columbia.  We started something special in Ottawa today, sir, right under the shadow of the Peace Tower.  Let’s make peace today, Prime Minister, and for the next ten days let’s permit our House leaders to work out a pairing arrangement so that we too in Parliament can show our own humanity.

The meaning of Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, March 1, 2010 at 3:47 PM - 11 Comments

I’m not sure there’s much of anything to be learned from last week’s unpleasantness, but Susan Delacourt sees some significance.

This explains, and I don’t say this lightly, why some people in government have a hard time finding jobs after politics. Employers in the private sector, for the most part,  actually have little use for folks with highly developed skills in haranguing, bullying and intimidating people. The “communications experts” who believe that you can  manage the media with threats, for instance, aren’t so much in demand outside politics.  In short, the methods that some political people use to get their own way here  are not transferable to the private workplace, unless you  have career aspirations in the direction of  pro wrestling.

The sad thing about Guergis’s tantrum is that in Ottawa, it almost looks like business as usual.   Fifty yards away from Parliament Hill, as the old saying goes, it’s a little harder to get away with this nonsense.

Glen Pearson draws lessons too.

Mitchel Raphael on senator Frum, princess Di’s lawyer and new lyrics for ‘o canada’

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, February 26, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 19 Comments

A Senator’s busy retirement

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

Tory Sen. Linda Frum held a book launch in her home for Anthony Julius’s new book Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England. Julius, a lawyer and professor, famously represented Diana, Princess of Wales in her divorce from Prince Charles. Diana knew Julius because he had helped her sue a newspaper after its photographer invaded her privacy by snapping photos of her working out.

Photograph by Mitchel Raphael

When Diana asked Julius to represent her for her divorce, he had never done that kind of legal work: “This would be my first divorce,” he told her. Diana quickly said, “It will be mine, too,” and said they would figure it out together. Attendees at the book launch included Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and recently retired senator Jerry Grafstein, who is part of a group of investors interested in buying the National Post, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette, and who will soon launch the Wellington Street Post, an online paper named after the famous street that runs in front of Parliament Hill. The website plans to cover politics from a federal perspective.

Bev Oda’s hair fascinates

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael

Three years ago, Liberal MP Glen Pearson, known for his humanitarian work in Sudan, asked the government for aid for Sudan, and $3 million was approved. The money went to such projects as women’s centres that helped on the educational and micro-enterprise front. When Pearson was in Sudan this year, he took with him pictures of International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda to show the Sudanese the minister who had approved the funds. They were surprised to learn it was a woman who had approved the money, and also that she was not white. But the most fascinating thing for them was Oda’s short blunt haircut. Sudanese women are known for their elaborate hairstyles.

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From the magazine

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:12 PM - 9 Comments

Something like 750 words on the last of the Progressive Conservatives on Parliament Hill.

She defines herself as socially progressive and fiscally conservative. And by her estimation, the Harper government has been neither. Tied by partisan affiliation to the past, working within an institution many consider antiquated, McCoy seems rather contemporary. She uses Twitter, has created an elaborate website (albertasenator.ca) dedicated to “meaningful, informed, open discussion” and regularly blogs about matters of policy and legislation. Last fall, with statistics and graphs, she doubted whether legislation on cigarillos would result in fewer children smoking. She speaks now of early childhood learning as a Progressive Conservative ideal: both socially and economically sound. She says, “I’m very fond, privately, of decrying the messaging, the narrative, that comes from our leaders these days of being positional instead of visionary and pragmatic.”

The Internet generation learns to protest

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 8, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 19 Comments

At the prorogation protest on Parliament Hill a couple weeks back, someone held a sign that read “I Can Haz Democracy?” Now this.

The Saskatoon chapter of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament organized another protest Friday to greet a visiting Conservative Party politician. Prime Minister Stephen Harper stopped in Saskatoon and the group brought out about 75 people to protest Harper’s presence and policy…

Security paced the hotel’s entrance, and four Saskatoon police officers arrived to disperse the members of the crowd because they were blocking the doors of a business. “Accountability fail,” one protester yelled when the protesters got back to their corner across the street.

The Commons: Lights on, nobody home

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 25, 2010 at 7:46 PM - 43 Comments

For the record, the doors were, in fact, locked. The House of Commons, all lit up, was empty and quiet. At worst, a betrayal of our democracy, a grievous symbol of Parliament’s decline. At best, a minor waste of electricity.

In the morning, the Liberal and NDP caucuses had taken turns standing in front of the Commons in order to demonstrate their similar frustrations. Michael Ignatieff took the opportunity to propose a number of reforms that might ensure we never have to witness these sorts of photo ops again. The press gallery took that opportunity to express its confusion and impatience with infinitely debatable complications of constitutional law.

By the afternoon, things had quieted down some. Continue…

The tally

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 1:55 PM - 208 Comments

With 51 precincts reporting specific estimates—restricting the count to media-reported figures and, where available, police counts—it’s possible to account for approximately 21,000 anti-prorogation protestors at yesterday’s rallies. Continue…

The Commons: ‘I shouldn’t have to be here’

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 4:58 PM - 179 Comments

“If there’s a silver lining to the dark cloud of this political crisis in Ottawa, it’s an amazing, spontaneous degree of citizen engagement,” he said. “In a way, this manufactured crisis has woken Canadians up out of their so-called apathy.”

That was, to be fair, some 13 months ago and Jason Kenney, the immigration minister, had just witnessed 3,000 people gather in downtown Calgary to protest the possibility of a coalition government. “I don’t recall anything on such short notice with such a large crowd in this city,” Mr. Kenney gushed. One assumes the sentiment roughly holds for today’s events too.

Then John Baird was proudly declaring the government’s intent to “go over the heads” of the Members of Parliament and the Governor General, and go “right to the Canadian people.” Then it was Steven Fletcher, minister of state for democratic reform, encouraging all his fellow Manitobans to rally for no less than the nation we all hold dear.

Thirteen months later, a new political crisis. Then, the government side yelled “traitor!” Now, the other side yells “dictator!” Once more, our civic engagement runneth over.

Perhaps we should make political crisis an annual event.

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Don't say they didn't ask

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:56 AM - 30 Comments

An earnest young organizer explains who’s been invited to Saturday’s prorogation protest in Ottawa.

Root said they will have speakers from various non-governmental organizations affected by various bills killed when Parliament was prorogued.

Organizers sent out invitations to all five federal parties to speak at the rally. Four have confirmed their participation. Root said they are still waiting to hear back from the Conservative party. “That’s one thing we’ve really been trying to push, the non-partisan aspect,” he said.

The Commons: Old school

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 10:11 PM - 79 Comments

Observe the Ignatieff in its familiar habitat.

Standing on a square stage in the middle of the room, grey jacket removed and placed on back of chair. He wears black shoes, dark blue slacks, light blue shirt, sleeves rolled up. He holds the microphone in his left hand, gestures with right. Students seated on all sides, he talks broadly of economic restructuring, innovation, energy efficiency, democratic engagement, social security, China, Brazil, Africa, foreign aid, intellectual property, personal responsibility, productivity, internationalism and education. He promises to be concise, he asks everyone else to be civil. After about 15 minutes he calls for questions. A line of about 16 young people forms behind a microphone set up in the audience.

So has the Liberal leader opted to open his year with a nod to both the past and the future—a return to the university halls from which he came, standing amidst the hopeful young minds of this country’s tomorrow, prefacing a restart to his Prime Ministerial ambitions and perhaps even relaunching the Liberal Party of Canada. In the capital a week before Parliament would have opened, he stood this afternoon before a crowd of 250 at the University of Ottawa. A 20-minute walk from the House of Commons, he attempted to make sense of here, there and everywhere else beyond both.

“One of things, I think, that drives all of politics is anybody who’s in politics always asks the question, ‘Who’s not in the room? Who’s not included? Who doesn’t share? Who doesn’t participate? Who doesn’t benefit from what I’ve got?’ ” he asked. “That’s the core political instinct, in my view. ‘Who’s not in the room? Who’s out in the cold?’ ” Continue…

The politics of disaster (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 25 Comments

Joan Bryden considers the last week in Ottawa.

The Hill has become a hub of frenzied government activity aimed at speedily alleviating the tragic plight of Haitians devastated by a catastrophic earthquake.

The normally media-averse Harper government has treated journalists to a steady stream of ministerial briefings, announcements of military, humanitarian and financial aid, photo-ops of the prime minister meeting with ministers, military commanders and Haitian-Canadians, making a donation to the Red Cross and coordinating disaster relief in phone calls with world leaders.

… altruism and political opportunity are inevitably and inextricably linked when a government is dealing with a calamity of this magnitude. Doing the right thing can pay political dividends. Doing the wrong thing – or even doing the right thing but communicating it badly – can sink a government.