How do you get the government to listen, anyway? Or the opposition, for that matter? One way is to very carefully prepare a brief for a standing committee, whose makeup comes from all political parties. The brief may not get much public attention, although the group presenting it may have its own ways of letting […]

Chuck Strahl is one of the new Trudeau mentors. It is quite an honour, and a good way to make use of the experience he gained in the almost two decades he spent in the House of Commons. Strahl was one of the original “class of ’93” Reformers and, in Stephen Harper’s minority government, held […]

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi found himself being bashed, nationally, a few days ago, for his effort to reduce conflict among members of his city council. At the root of the bashing was a somewhat contentious decision the mayor had taken, to have a psychologist/facilitator meet with council members. Nenshi was a surprise winner in the […]

Lee Strobel is an apologist. No, he has nothing for which to apologize. The “apologist” moniker relates to the increasingly professional practice of providing friendly and informed venues for defending and/or explaining the Christian faith. Apologists are not evangelists or pastors, exactly, but they can, at their best, provide considerable support for both of those […]

“The difficulty with the ‘big society’ concept, as it is being worked out in Great Britain, is that, as it stands, we have an emerging ‘small state and small society.’” I will not name the originator of that quote. It came earlier this month from a visitor from Great Britain who was commenting on my […]

He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!   — An epigram entitled “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham, 1852-1940, sometime Poet Laureate of the state of Oregon. *  *  * The above […]

Now that winter is properly launched in the nation’s capital, it is time to wish OttawaWatch readers a Happy New Year. And, as well, to talk about some interesting adjustments which I trust will make these weekly pieces more relevant and interactive. While it would be nice to spend the first week of 2012 on […]

It was an electrifying two minutes on CTV’s Question Period this past Sunday, December 18. After the usual attacks and counter-attacks by the talking heads, QP’s co-anchor, Kevin Newman invited – yea, required – his three MP guests to say something good about their political opponents. The three, Megan Leslie of the NDP, the Liberals’ […]