Public servants finding advice, laughs on meme-filled social media accounts
The public servant stereotype might be of someone who is a little staid, but, judging from social media, the archetype should be more sarcastic and supportive. For example, the GC Memes Instagram page details the relatable aspects of working for the federal government, such as how Workplace 2.0, and the subsequent GCworkplace, refit office spaces to […]
Judge to rule on throwing out advocate’s defamation case against veterans minister
An Ontario judge is expected to rule in the next week or so on whether outspoken veterans’ advocate Sean Bruyea’s defamation lawsuit against Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan will go ahead. The two sides argued for five hours in small claims court on Aug. 24 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa about […]
Now is the summer of our Twitter discontent
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Anyone who regularly follows all the political chatter on social media these days would surely get the idea that Canada is enduring an unprecedented summer of discontent. Indeed, political debate over the past few months has been as hot as the soaring temperatures. Some people are in an uproar over the removal of a […]
Maxime Bernier’s Twitter tirade a gift to Justin Trudeau
OTTAWA—Professional tip to all Members of Parliament, but particularly the Conservative ones, if you want to have a discussion about Canadian identity: Twitter isn’t the the best vehicle for you. That should seem self-evident but apparently that is not the case. Now if you want to wreak havoc, piss people off, and throw verbal hand […]
Political advocacy via hashtag is only tweeting to the choir
OAKVILLE, ONT.—For political advocacy groups, such as organizations that rabble rouse on issues like taxes and the environment and various other causes, the ongoing social media revolution has brought with it both boon and potential peril. The boon part, of course, is pretty obvious. Thanks to social media, political advocacy groups can now reach vast […]
PC propaganda Ontario News Now is news no one can use
From a purely theoretical standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative messaging machine. It’s rare to find any political operative, at any level, who doesn’t use all the digital means at their disposal to communicate with their base. This includes in-house produced videos, social media posts, podcasts—you name it, someone is doing it. […]
Ford’s Toronto city council shakeup is a vote-winner, at least for now
OTTAWA—Ontario Premier Doug Ford has given new meaning to starting with a bang. Out of nowhere, except perhaps the deep recesses of his mind, he announced last week that he was cutting the size of Toronto’s city council from 44 members (which was to become 47, after a planned expansion this fall) to 25. Anyone […]
Shock and Awe in pre-post-truth America
If you were going to choose a date to mark the dawn of the ironically, erroneously labelled post-truth era, it wouldn’t be the day former United States president Bill Clinton lied about Monica Lewinsky or the day the country’s current president, Donald Trump, called Mexican immigrants to the United States rapists and killers. And it […]
University of Toronto project brings parliamentary records into the 21st century
Have you ever wanted to read the House debates between prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and leader of the opposition Joe Clark in 1978? Or between opposition leader Lester B. Person and prime minister John Diefenbaker in 1962? Or how about reading Reform MP Jason Kenney calling Progressive Conservative MPs “a bunch of assholes” in […]
‘Always in a good mood and a team player’: Ex-Liberal MP, artist Eugène Bellemare dies at 86
In December 1988, during Liberal MP Eugène Bellemare’s first days in the House, in his maiden speech he spoke of “living in the shadow of our Parliament” since a young age, and seeing prime ministers walking in the streets. The four-term Ottawa MP and former art teacher “passed away peacefully,” according to his obituary, on […]
