Bring in quotas, financial incentives to get more women to run, says House committee
Federal parties and riding associations should set goals and report publicly on their efforts to recruit women as candidates, as well as set quotas for the number of women they field as candidates, recommends a new House committee report, which also suggests giving parties financial incentives to get more women to run. As well, House […]
Women on the Hill reception elegant, empowering, and filled with politicos
It always surprises Party Central how different the main room in the Sir John A. Macdonald building can look from party to party. Two weeks ago, it was transformed into a summer camp in support of the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, complete with a campfire photobooth, an inflatable boat, and s’mores for party guests to […]
How to get more women in top diplomatic posts? Show them what it’s like
The French writer Stendhal once said: “A vocation is having one’s passion as a profession.” Since joining France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, I have not once regretted choosing this enriching and stimulating profession, with its daily dose of challenges and victories in an increasingly complicated international context. I can therefore say that being […]
‘Snitch’ Scott Reid mocked on U.S. late-night talk show
A clip of Conservative MP Scott Reid accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of eating a bagel during last week’s marathon voting session was put in the spotlight by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel who poked fun at the Tory MP. “You’re not getting a bite now, you bitchy little snitch,” Mr. Kimmel quipped. “What a tattletale.” […]
House to add 22 new HR jobs, as MPs deal with new workplace standards
Members of Parliament will be getting more support as they learn to navigate being employers in a post-#MeToo world, with the House of Commons administration getting a boost to its human resources department. Members of the Board of Internal Economy—a powerful group of MPs who decide legal, financial, and administrative matters for the House of […]
House Justice Committee to mull revival of controversial hate-speech provision, as it shifts focus away from SNC-Lavalin
The House Justice Committee will examine whether to revive a contentious rule on hate speech, one that experts say could deter the spread of incendiary propaganda, in the wake of the mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 dead. Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi (Willowdale, Ont.) told The Hill Times that section 13 of […]
The scourge of white racism
OTTAWA—The death toll from the white supremacist terrorist attack on Muslims in New Zealand had only just risen on the weekend when United States President Donald Trump was tweeting his full-throated support for a Fox News host who had been suspended for on-air Islamophobic comments. “Bring back [Judge Jeanine] Pirro,” the president tweeted from the […]
Making an equal WAGE: Monsef talks new department
In a few short weeks, Maryam Monsef has gone from being a junior minister in charge of an oft-sidelined agency, to juggling managing one full-fledged department and part of another. On Dec. 13, Ms. Monsef’s (Peterborough-Kawartha, Ont.) portfolio was transformed from Status of Women, the agency, to Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), the full department, […]
Liberal plan to double women entrepreneurs ‘very ambitious,’ money not flowing to grassroots, say observers, critics
This spring, the Liberals will announce the winners of the $20-million Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund, but University of Ottawa professor Barbara Orser says it’s not a lot of money to support women-owned or women-led businesses and help them grow. And while the minister in charge of the program says it’s the “right thing to do,” opposition […]
Rewrite Senate anti-harassment policy, says Upper Chamber subcommittee
The Senate needs to start from scratch when it comes to its anti-harassment policy, instead of merely updating its existing decade-old document, says a group of Senators tasked with studying the Upper Chamber’s anti-harassment rules. “When the subcommittee was charged with reviewing the current policy, members knew that they were undertaking a considerably broad task […]
