Tag: canada

Jobs and politics: Devastating data for the incumbent in Quebec

For this tweet, CAQ Leader François Legault was cherry-picking one of the worst data points for Quebec in today’s monthly jobs report from Statistics Canada but he had lots to choose from. It was a very bleak report card for the PQ government of Premier Pauline Marois. The highlight? Statistics Canada found that, in the space of one month between January and February this year, 25,500 jobs disappeared in the province.   Continue reading Jobs and politics: Devastating data for the incumbent in Quebec

VIDEO: Netanyahu welcomes Harper to Israel

This video was shot by and distributed by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In it, you’ll see the full text of Netanyahu’s effusive praise for Harper — his speech is about 3 minutes — and Harper’s very brief remarks, including an anecdote about the absence of his kids on this trip. Continue reading VIDEO: Netanyahu welcomes Harper to Israel

The Harper-Tanzania connection

Tanzanian school children greet Prime Minister Harper
DAR ES SALAAM – A mob of singing Tanzanian school children greeted Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his 2007 visit to Tanzania. (DAVID AKIN)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper hosts Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete on Parliament Hill this afternoon. It’s not the first time the two men have met. In fact, their personal relationship goes back to 2007, when Harper made his first trip to the African continent as Prime Minister. Harper was in Africa then to attend the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, Uganda. I was part of the press contingent that travelled with Harper to cover that meeting.

Continue reading The Harper-Tanzania connection

Hu meets Harper: What they did and didn't talk about

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a one-on-one meeting with China’s President Hu Jintao here in Vladivostok, Russia on the margins of the annual APEC summit.

The two met for 30 minutes with a bevy of officials on either side.

According to Canadian officials inside the room, there was no specific mention of the following: Continue reading Hu meets Harper: What they did and didn't talk about

30 years of ATI: And it's getting worse

Canada has had a federal Access to Information law for nearly 30 years, long enough for University of Laval political scientist Anne Marie Gingras to review the act and the ongoing tensions between governments that do not want to release information to citizens and citizens who believe governments have a duty to do so.

Gingras’ reviews the Act in the essay, “Access to information: An asset for democracy or ammunition for political conflict, or both?” published in the latest issue of Canadian Public Administration. Continue reading 30 years of ATI: And it's getting worse

News flash: Canada and Quebec ministers meet, shake hands …

Penashue meets VallieresCall me naive, but I’m inclined to believe that government communications types tend to to do things for a reason.  And so I find myself asking what that reason was upon receiving a news release — issued through a national press release distribution service in both official languages — informing me that Peter Penashure, the federal intergovernmental affairs minister, met this afternoon with his Quebec counterpart Yvon Vallières, Continue reading News flash: Canada and Quebec ministers meet, shake hands …