Posts Tagged ‘Rodney Weston’

C-377 passes

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - 0 Comments

After two proposed amendments were passed and one defeated, C-377 passed the House last night by a vote of 147-135. Five Conservatives voted against: Brent Rathgeber, Mike Allen, Patricia Davidson, Ben Lobb and Rodney Weston.

Russ Hiebert, the bill’s sponsor, insists the bill is constitutional, but the privacy commissioner still has concerns.

We believe that the amendments to the bill are a step in the right direction for privacy. However, we continue to have privacy concerns about the proposed legislation. For example, even with the amendments, the names and exact salaries of union officials earning more than $100,000 a year would be publicly disclosed. This is less privacy protective than the public disclosure requirements for registered charities in Canada, which Commissioner Stoddart has highlighted as model for balancing transparency objectives with protection of privacy.

The commissioner’s office also passes along her statement to the finance committee and a follow-up letter to the committee from the commissioner. The full transcript of the commissioner’s appearance is here.

The NDP’s Alexandre Boulerice, meanwhile, is generally unimpressed. Continue…

  • Democracy is in the eye of the beholder

    By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 1:28 PM - 68 Comments

    National Newswatch is reporting that Conservative MP Rodney Weston has voiced an opinion today that is not entirely dismissive of coalition government.

    A year and a half ago, fellow government backbencher Daryl Kramp was similarly open-minded.

  • The Commons: Fall comes early to Ottawa

    By Aaron Wherry - Monday, September 14, 2009 at 6:53 PM - 67 Comments

    commonsphoto

    The Scene. A week short of its official start, fall has arrived in Ottawa. The leaves on Parliament Hill are turning yellow. The faces inside the House of Commons are red. The voices are shouty. The Prime Minister’s pointy finger is once more unfurled, steady and strong and accusatory. Summer is gone. The air will soon grow cold and punishing.

    The easy comparison, sure, is to the return each September of young children to school. Indeed, there is something to that—the anxiousness, the chaos, the new haircuts. Lawrence Cannon sported a particularly close shave. Lisa Raitt is back to blonde. Jack Layton, not blessed of much hair to begin with, trimmed his down nearly to the scalp. When you’re trying to Make Parliament Work it perhaps helps to be as aerodynamic as possible.

    Here, too, those returning rise to report on their summers. Only here the stories have less to do with amusement parks, video games and family trips to major American landmarks. Continue…

  • The new voice of the new politics suddenly sounds a lot like the old

    By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 4:21 PM - 35 Comments

    Leona Aglukkaq, previously lauded as the the leading post-partisan voice in the Harper cabinet, takes a question from government backbencher during QP today.

    Mr. Rodney Weston (Saint John, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy of the Liberals is mounting and Canadians are not falling for it. Their leader supported a job-killing carbon tax until he realized it was not popular. Now he says he will have to raise taxes, despite being in a global recession. Can the Minister of Health tell the House about the latest hypocritical attack on Canadians during these tough economic times?

    Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health, CPC): Mr. Speaker, today the Liberals pandered to the special interest groups in a blatant attack on Canadian sealers. Senator Harb’s loaded political opportunisms rubbed salt in the wounds of sealers whose income he campaigns against with the blessing of the Liberal leader. It is unconscionable. I finally understand why the Liberal Party wants to change the EI. By the time they are finished, Canadians will all be out of work.

  • Jason Kenney is unimpressed

    By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 5:46 PM - 5 Comments

    From his Twitter feed.

    I’m always amazed by how many special interest micro-issues the opposition raises during QP, rather than issues of general public concern.

    The government has been allowed six of its own questions so far this week. Mike Wallace asked about the government’s position on what an American television personality had said about our military. Steven Blaney ridiculed the Liberal leader and asked to hear what the government has done for Quebec. Rodney Weston asked how the government was supporting seal hunters. Ed Fast asked when the government would begin spending its economic stimulus (giving Vic Toews opportunity to allege opposition obstruction). Kevin Sorenson asked the government to clarify its position on Kashmir. And Bev Shipley asked the Human Resources Minister to repeat her announcement from earlier in the day.

  • Your Fall 2009 Election preview

    By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:28 PM - 22 Comments

    Happy days are here again. Before a feisty session of QP this afternoon, the Conservatives used three of their members’ statements to impugn the leader of the opposition on notably personal terms. The attack ads can’t be far off.

    Full statements from Dean del Mastro, Kevin Sorenson and Rodney Weston after the jump. Read them now and feel free to ignore the next year of political discourse. Continue…

From Macleans