Book Review: The Agony Of Defeat

Politics are rough and failure is never celebrated. “I am not the only Conservative (or former Conservative) who believes that our party (or former party) has betrayed both its own best traditions and the Canadian people by practicing a quality of politics unworthy of the country,” writes former MP Tom McMillan. “Interviews and correspondence I conducted with a large number of my former cabinet colleagues and ministerial and political staff for this book revealed to me, in private, a shocking level of discontent with the party.” McMillan’s memoirs are agonizing and intriguing at the same time. This is how teammates talk in the locker room after a championship loss. “I myself believe a once-great national institution is in ruins, or will be if the Conservative Party membership at large does not soon come to its senses,” writes McMillan. READ MORE

Comments Had Staff In Tears

Access To Information records show the transport department arranged a “healing circle” for employees after some questioned whether 215 children were buried at an Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. Comments were “uninformed, wrong and hurtful,” the deputy minister wrote in a staff memo: "I had people come to see me in tears." READ MORE

Court Revives Trudeau Probe

The Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision yesterday reopened an ethics probe into then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's dealings with a federal contractor, We Charity. Judges struck a federal law shielding the federal Ethics Commissioner from a legal challenge of his handling of the case: "You don’t let the Prime Minister off with a ruling that is legally incorrect." READ MORE

Must Sign Yearly Ethics Oath

All federal employees are required to sign a yearly pledge that they are not involved in any conflicts of interest, says a Treasury Board memo. Board president Shafqat Ali earlier told MPs he expected everyone to obey the rules: "Results will be communicated in due course." READ MORE

Rail Venture Unpopular: Feds

Cabinet’s plan to spend $90 billion on regional high speed rail is opposed even by Canadians able to take the train, says in-house Privy Council research. Federal focus groups in Eastern Ontario and Québec called the venture costly and unnecessary: 'There were more urgent priorities.' READ MORE

Lowered Expense Limits 36%

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin’s department has cut spending limits on government-issue credit cards by a third as a precaution against fraud, says an internal audit. The initiative follows longstanding complaints of irregularities involving credit card misuse government-wide: “Their use carries a degree of inherent risks such as errors, misuse or fraud." READ MORE

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Guest Commentary

Grant Mitchell

The Rink That Ruined A Life

I’m no gambler, though there are those who’d say running for public office in Alberta as a Liberal in 1986 takes a gambling streak. I am no good at cards. I’ve never been to Las Vegas. There is a philosophical principle we share. Government must be careful in how it limits choice. I have a right to gamble if I want to gamble. I even have a right to go bankrupt doing it. But, there is something pernicious about VLTs. They are addictive. They damage families. There is ample evidence they are linked to suicide.