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Watson to meet with Liberal MPPs
… though his office says he invited all the local MPPs. In which case, only the local Liberals decided to take him up on it. Update: Mayor Jim Watson’s spokesman Bruce Graham says “Ottawa area caucus”...
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The Boxfish Group really likes Bob Chiarelli
I’m always skeptical of stories suggesting that campaign contributions directly buy the influence of politicians for contributors. It’s typically not as simple as that: what happens more often, I...
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Important questions to ask about policy
Mike Moffatt of Worthwhile Canadian Initiative has six questions to ask when trying to figure out whether a particular thing the government wants to do is a good thing or a bad thing. The questions are...
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Jim Watson, media critic
This little exchange got me thinking: @glen_mcgregor wet blanket lol! You old traditionalist! Next thing you'll allow defeated tory candidates to write columns attacking foes!— Jim Watson...
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Team Red vs. Team Blue in south Nepean
Do you remember when Lisa MacLeod and Jan Harder weren’t talking? It was a fun period, around the 2004 federal election. You see, MacLeod used to be Jan Harder’s assistant, and back then they were both...
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Casino nonsense
I think you’ve seen that I’m not convinced of the value of a bunch of new casinos in Ontario, but I have absolutely no idea what this from Tory leader Tim Hudak is supposed to mean: “Government spends...
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Changing of the Liberal guard
Dalton McGuinty’s out of the cabinet, obviously. Phil McNeely isn’t running again, he says. Bob Chiarelli is widely considered a competent minister, but he’s also had the portfolios he’s had because...
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Hume on Wynne
One of the most important things the province does, with regard to the city, is set the ground rules for urban planning. So the chairman of city council’s planning committee would know a fair bit about...
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Former transit commissioner on the Trudeau campaign
Not that Cyrus Reporter can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, but here’s a clue about the demands on the former transit commissioner’s time. He’s working for Justin Trudeau’s leadership campaign:...
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Cullen’s done hunting for Queen’s Park seats, he says
A tidbit to add to this story about former councillor Alex Cullen’s moving on to see the NDP nomination in Ottawa West-Nepean after losing the nom in Ottawa Centre to Jennifer McKenzie. He says he...
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The ‘draft Leslie’ campaign in Ottawa-Orléans
The retired general and Justin Trudeau adviser told me Friday he’s still doing “due diligence” to choose an Ottawa riding in which to run. He likes Ottawa-Orléans a lot but isn’t yet decided. Also,...
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I wonder if they’re studying a truck tunnel
This just in: City of Ottawa and Ministry of Transportation to make a joint announcement Ottawa – Mayor Jim Watson and Minister of Transportation Glen Murray will make a joint announcement on Friday....
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Royal Galipeau will play Santa Claus again once the city learns to write...
You’ll recall that when Ottawa-Orléans’s Conservative MP Royal Galipeau joined some city people to kick off digging for the new LRT tunnel, the city had just unveiled the new draft of its...
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Will there be a spring election? Wait and see
It’s a fool’s game, trying to figure out whether a minority government is going to fall and when. Consider reports, all running within a day or two of each other, from the Toronto Star: The minority...
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Good news for manufacturing in Pembroke
Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is going to a paperboard plant there Friday for an announcement about “industrial expansion” in Ontario. The plant has been on the bubble for years. Finding a way to...
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Wynne kicks off her campaign, kind of
To a small (and yet half-empty) room in Toronto, Premier Kathleen Wynne gave a plodding speech Monday morning, asserting how much she and her fellow Liberals care about things like education and health...
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The OMB’s not going anywhere, the new minister in charge of it says
In the mini-shuffle of Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet a couple of weeks ago prompted by the departure of municipal-affairs minister Linda Jeffrey, Thundar Bay MPP Bill Mauro took over the job. It means he...
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I’m not running federally, Hoskins says
The provincial minister of economic development, Eric Hoskins, was in town Monday to tout a grant to Operation Come Home in support of its social enterprises, various small businesses that teach...
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Run to the left, pollster tells all three Ontario parties
Via ThreeHundredEight.com, here’s an interesting (and breathtakingly detailed) polling take on the state of the Ontario electorate by Innovative Research Group. Importantly, it’s dated March 28, which...
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Dribbling out the budget before budget day is allowed in Ontario
So ruled Speaker Dave Levac in the Ontario legislature Monday morning. You’ll recall that the Tories blew the lid off numerous Liberal pre-budget announcements a couple of weeks ago, with what has...
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