1955 to 2016 Gain Support This Week Rest in Peace for Private by ABBAS RANA Member’S Bills
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EXCLUSIVEEXEXCCLLUUSSIVIVE PPOPOLITICALLILITTIICCAA COVERAGE: NEWS, FEATURES, AND ANALYSISALYSISIS INSIDEINNSSIDIDE WHY U.S. NEW JOB DEMOCRATS FOR BARDISHSH REMEMBERING ARE LIKE SUPREME COURT CHAGGER BILL RODGERS P. 10 CANADIANS P. 12 APPPOINTMENTS P. 15 P. 2 TWENTY-SEVENTH YEAR, NO. 1363 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2016 $5.00 NEWS LIBERAL CAUCUS NEWS LEGISLATION Public sentiment, MPs using unfulfi lled goals Mauril Bélanger: tours, lobbying up for discussion this summer to at Liberal retreat 1955 to 2016 gain support this week Rest in peace for private BY ABBAS RANA member’s bills Liberal MPs are holding their summer BY RACHEL AIELLO caucus retreat this week and will be shar- ing information on the public sentiment MPs have been away from the Hill for they’ve picked up from their constituents two months, but the legislative work hasn’t in recent months and plot how they’re stopped, particularly for those with private going to tackle issues such as electoral member’s bills pending. reform, immigration, marijuana legaliza- On top of summer constituency events, tion, and indigenous reconciliation when and consultations the government has MPs Parliament resumes in September. conducting, at least two MPs have found The two-day retreat will take place on time to fi t in regional tours to drum up sup- Aug. 25 and 26 at the Delta Hotels Saguenay port for their private member’s bills. Conference Centre in Saguenay, Que. It’s the Liberals’ fi rst full caucus retreat away from Continued on page 6 Ottawa since being elected last year. Continued on page 4 NEWS MARIJUANA NEWS OLD EMBASSY New medical Portrait-gallery marijuana regs plan popular show need as government for broader legalization consults on fate of Mauril Bélanger, Liberal MP for Ottawa-Vanier, Ont., died on Aug. 16 after a nine-moth battle with ALS. See related coverage below and on pages 2, 5, 11, and 14. The Hill Times policy, say old U.S. embassy photograph by Jake Wright producers BY LAURA RYCKEWAERT NEWS LIBERALS BY RACHEL AIELLO A consensus seems to be building around the idea of resurrecting a plan to turn the old Former Liberal MP LeBlanc, The government’s new approach to U.S. embassy at 100 Wellington St. in Ottawa medicinal marijuana access is consid- into a national portrait gallery. ered a setback for pot policy, say licensed “The portrait gallery was a very good communications consultant Fortier producers, who add that it highlights the plan, Canada needs a national portrait gal- need to put in a comprehensive and clear lery,” said David Jeane, president of Heri- expected to vie for Bélanger’s riding legalized system. tage Ottawa. “Canada has a huge collection The new system will once again al- of portraits [in archives] … but generally low patients to grow their own supply or this is a huge resource of Canadian history BY ABBAS RANA In June, the riding’s provincial MPP designate someone to grow it for them, in that the public never sees.” and attorney general Madeleine Meil- addition to continuing to be able to access The building has sat vacanf or almost two With the untimely death of veteran Lib- leur also resigned from her seat to spend marijuana from the medically licensed pro- decades, and a previous Liberal plan to turn it eral MP Mauril Bélanger last week, several more time with her family. So, this riding ducers. Producers are concerned because into a national portrait gallery was scrapped prominent Liberals, including former Nova is without representation both at the they see it as a return in many ways to the under the Harper Conservatives in 2006. There Scotia Liberal MP Francis LeBlanc and provincial and federal level, at this time. old Marihuana Medical Access Program was briefl y talk of instead putting a portrait gal- communications consultant Mona Fortier, This means the four main political parties (MMAR), which was criticized for be- lery in Calgary, but that never came to fruition. are expected to enter the Liberal nomina- will hold nomination meetings for both gin open to abuse. tion contest in Ottawa-Vanier, Ont., one of Continued on page 7 the safest Liberal ridings in the country. Continued on page 5 Continued on page 9 2 THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2016 FEATURE BUZZ Andrew Scheer tweeted this ON image last week in response to HEARD THE HILL all the publicity surrounding BY DEREK ABMA Justin Trudeau being seen without a shirt. Image courtesy of Andrew Scheer’s Bélanger set Twitter example for what Sparks St. Perhaps we can walk together to Scheer pokes fun at press conferences? politicians should be Trudeau with shirt- CP’s old offi ce was on the eighth fl oor of 165 Sparks St., a.k.a. the Booth Building. wearing tweet Heather Scoffi eld, CP’s Ottawa bureau chief, told The Hill Times that the new place is “like a breath of fresh air,” citing the “lots of Prime Minister Andrew Scheer, the Conservative MP light, modern furniture, and good vibe.” Justin for Regina—Qu’Appelle, Sask., has joined She added: “We thought the technol- Trudeau signs CBC comedian Mark Critch in being ogy side of things would be diffi cult and the Mauril among those having a little fun with all the complicated, but our IT people have made Bélanger book publicity Prime Minister Justin Trudeau it happen with barely a hitch.” of condolences has been generating lately by being seen in at Centre public without a shirt. Block on Mr. Sheer tweeted a picture of himself, Aug. 17, the designed to look like a TV screen shot, with Gilmour returns as day after Mr. a banner that read: “Breaking news. Andrew Royal Society executive Bélanger’s Scheer spotted working with shirt still on. passing. The Not fi rst time Scheer caught shirted.” director Hill Times The caption went on to say: “Experts photograph by baffl ed by bold ‘wear a shirt’ strategy.” Darren Gilmour is back as the Royal Rachel Aiello That followed Mr. Critch’s shirtless Society of Canada’s executive director. “photo bomb” of Mr. Trudeau and several He returned to this position after spend- supporters earlier in the week as the prime ing the previous year-and-a-half as vice- minister visited St. John’s, N.L. hen Mauril Bélanger died last week, Mr. Regan also noted Mr. Bélanger’s president of the Public Policy Forum. Mr. Wwe truly lost one of the good ones. constant trips to Africa, where he’d often Gilmour had previously spent seven years In the immediate aftermath of some- “get sick” or “caught bugs and things, but CP Ottawa bureau as executive director at the RSC. one’s passing, it’s typically a time to gather he kept going back because he really was The RSC is an organization mandated all the positives one can recall about that dedicated to seeing democratic develop- moves to new location, by federal legislation to study issues of sci- person and, for at least for the immedi- ment happen in those countries.” entifi c relevance and provide “intellectual ate timeframe, overlook some of their less With ALS, something fi nally came still on Sparks leadership for the benefi t of Canada and desirable qualities. along that could stop the MP for Ottawa- the world,” according to its website. But with Mr. Bélanger —who died Aug. 16 Vanier from doing his thing. But his good The Canadian Press’ Ottawa bureau Maryse Lassonde, president of the orga- after a nine-month battle with amyotrophic lat- work will be remembered and it will moved into some new digs last week, while nization, welcomed Mr. Gilmour back. eral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease— continue to benefi t Canadians for decades remaining on Sparks Street in downtown “In a context where the new federal it’s not forced. He really was a great guy who to come. Ottawa near the Parliament Buildings. government is increasingly searching for used politics to achieve great things. The bureau’s new location is on the sev- input regarding its scientifi c policies, our Andrew Cohen wrote in the Ottawa enth fl oor of 56 Sparks St., also known as Expert Committee and the entire RSC will Citizen that Mr. Belanger was “the most Bertrand to run for head the Ottawa Electric Building, which is near benefi t from Darren’s recently acquired decent man in politics.” the east end of the pedestrian roadway, ap- experience,” she said in a message on the During the 20 years-plus Mr. Bélanger of national aboriginal proaching Elgin Street. group’s website. spent as the MP for Ottawa-Vanier, Ont., In fact, it’s almost directly across the [email protected] some of his main causes were franco- group street from The Hill Times’ offi ce at 69 The Hill Times phone rights in Ontario, gender equality, and helping those less fortunate than him. Robert Ber- Some of the effects of these efforts include trand, the former Trudeau appoints new government house leader the recent House passage of gender-neutral MP and current language for O Canada, keeping Ottawa’s grand chief of the French-language Montfort Hospital alive, Quebec Native and a scholarship fund in his name for Alliance, is run- students of Haitian descent. ning to become In his column last week, Mr. Cohen said national chief of he has never met another politician like the Indigenous Mr. Bélanger. Peoples’ Assembly of Canada (IPAC), Mauril formerly the Con- gress of Aborigi- Bélanger Robert Bretrand is nal Peoples (CAP). walks toward running to become Mr.