Keith Beardsley

Federal politicians from the two opposition parties have a busy schedule this week even though the House of Commons is closed for a break week. This is usually a time when our MPs return to their ridings to focus on constituency work. But this week several opposition MPs are hitting...

As we approach the month of June, the Liberal party will soon be making a decision on when to hold their next leadership convention. Attached to that decision will be another key one as they must also decide if interim leader Bob Rae can run for the leadership position.

With...

Wisely, the NDP have launched their own ad campaign to introduce their new leader to Canadian voters. While expensive, it will help to define him before the Conservatives launch their own series of attacks.

This ad campaign is important as it signals that the NDP is becoming much more professional...

With the House of Commons returning today, Canadians can expect to see the NDP refocused, re-energized and on the attack.

The real battle begins today with Mulcair's chosen team in place. Mulcair has had time now to sort out his team, reward caucus colleagues for their support and performance during...

The Auditor-General has released his report on the Defence Department's handling of the F-35 procurement process. It is not a pretty report and both DND and Public Works get slammed for how they have conducted the process.

Needless to say the headlines are all about how the Tories...

As we enter the last week of the NDP leadership race, the Conservatives have released another attack ad aimed not at the NDP, but at Liberal Leader Bob Rae. That is somewhat curious timing.

One would think that they would have held their fire until the new...

Earlier this week, former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff gave a presentation to some law students and much of what he said about present day Canadian politics rings true. Anyone who has been involved in or reported on Canadian politics for a decade or so should be able to...

In the latest NDP leadership debate, serious divides were evident and some of the internal tensions between candidates started to show.

Thomas Mulcair as the perceived front-runner was the target of a number of barbs thrown his way, all of which imply he isn't a true believer in...

Talk about over-the-top rhetoric. Bob Rae's latest harangue , where he accuses Harper of being responsible for "robocalls" directing voters to the wrong polling locations, really doesn't suit a man of his intelligence. It is pure political B.S. in its finest form.

Rae said the real blame for...

Like many Conservatives, I am an admirer of John Diefenbaker, our 13th Prime Minister. Dief was a great politician and an impressive orator. Watching the present Conservative government's use of time allocation to stifle debate in the House of Commons -- which they recently did with the gun...

I see that the NDP's Irene Mathyssen, Wayne Marston, and Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe have launched a cross country tour to save the Old Age Security (OAS) program. What they are saving it from we don't know as of now. It might be a bit early in the game for...

With the House of Commons returning today we can expect a raucous session. Already the battle lines are forming as the opposition party's line up to take shots at the Prime Minister over pension reform. Not since 1985, when Brian Mulroney stated that he would de-index Old Age...

Most reports indicate some progress was made at the Crown-First Nations Gathering yesterday. This is positive news and a sign that both sides are inching forward and making progress. While there was speculation that Harper would only attend for a few minutes, he surprised observers by committing much...

Mounting opposition to the Keystone XL project shouldn't have come as a surprise. In this day and age of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other forms of social media, any government (both politicians and bureaucrats) is at a disadvantage when they promote a policy or back a decision.

Every government decision...

In my previous post I looked at some steps that could be implemented to improve Question Period and at the same time help to fix our dysfunctional parliament. These included allowing the Speaker to skip over disruptive MPs whose names are on his list of questioners for that...

Unfortunately, our parliament often reflects what we would expect to see in a school yard: we have the bullies, the name callers, those that shout and disrupt, and some pretty decent kids who work hard and for the most part don't get the same recognition as the others.

Part of...

As we move forward from the Christmas/New Year's season and face another year of political warfare in Canada, it is time to reflect on what awaits us.

Fortunately, this time of the year provides plenty of opportunity to discuss politics, be it at family gatherings, neighbourhood parties, or an evening...

Speaker Andrew Scheer has delivered his ruling on the Conservative Party's attempts to undermine Irwin Cotler in his riding of Mont Royal. The ruling Scheer presented today referred to the organized telephone contact program conducted on behalf of the Conservatives in Cotler's riding. The questions in this survey left the...

As I predicted a few days ago, the situation in Attawapiskat has deteriorated into a blame game with politics becoming the most important exercise... lost in this are the people who need help.

It became a political issue as soon as the chief stood with a provincial and...

On Tuesday, Bob Rae stood in the House of Commons and delivered a thundering attack aimed at the Conservative government's lack of action and compassion for the families living in third-world conditions in Attawapiskat. Along with the other attacks from the NDP, it is clear that the finger pointing has...