Section: Ottawa Citizen (Canada)
Glavin: The most aggravating thing about John Baird
During a visit to Israel three years ago, the Jerusalem Post asked John Baird what he’d be doing with his life if he were not Canada’s foreign minister. “Likely working on a kibbutz,” Baird said. A joke, maybe, but only sort of, because if your prime minister sends you to Jerusalem to express unequivocal solidarity with what your...
Letters: Readers respond to John Baird’s resignation
John Baird will not be missed Re: John Baird resigns: Complete coverage, Feb. 4. John Baird has done little for his constituents at the local level or Canadians at the national level. As minister of transportation, what benefits did the travelling public see from his leadership? Minor changes but no protections as there are available in the...
John Baird’s resignation poses dilemma for Stephen Harper
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s world has suddenly become more complicated. With the resignation of just one cabinet minister – the veteran political lieutenant John Baird – the final months of Harper’s majority mandate are now filled with uncertainty. As he heads towards a fall election campaign, that’s not the message Harper...
Foreign Minister John Baird steps down from cabinet, won’t run again
Ottawa MP John Baird, the longest-serving foreign affairs minister Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has ever known, officially resigned from cabinet Tuesday morning and will step down as MP for Ottawa West-Nepean in the coming weeks. A grinning Baird told the House of Commons,“Let me start by saying how overwhelmingly optimistic I...
Crime Prevention Ottawa lays out anti-gang strategy
The nation’s capital certainly has problem with gangs, but compared with other Canadian cities, Ottawa’s situation is much less serious, Crime Prevention Ottawa’s executive director says. “The gang population in Ottawa is relative small compared to that of other cities in Canada,” Nancy Wosford said Monday. There are about 485...
Polibriefs: Merkel visits, premier travels
Germany’s Merkel to visit Ottawa German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Ottawa next Monday, with a broad range of issues on the agenda, including preparations for the upcoming G7 summit in Germany and the economic potential of the Canada-European Union Trade Agreement. Security issues, including Ukraine and the fight against terrorism,...
Letters: More discussion on the Victims of Communism Memorial
Look elsewhere for inspiration Re: Memorial ‘bleak and brutal’: Top judge, Jan. 27. I have followed the strong opinions of renowned architects and, now, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin on the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. As a second-generation Ukrainian who lost many relatives, ironically, exactly a century ago, I wholeheartedly...
Arctic Council meeting sets up awkward Russian visit to Canada
The federal government is set to host a high-level Russian delegation on Canadian soil in April, despite a deep freeze in relations between the two countries over the crisis in Ukraine. The Russian officials will be participating in an Arctic Council meeting in Iqaluit, during which Canada will complete its two-year chairmanship of the...
Cohen: The selective Conservative memory
On February 15, 1965, 10,000 people gathered on Parliament Hill. They were there, in the shadow of the Peace Tower, to watch the raising of Canada’s new flag. At noon, amidst a muffled 21-gun salute, a gust of wind gave the flag “the first flutter of life,” Peter C. Newman observed. “If our nation by God’s grace endures a thousand...
Russia won’t go ‘begging’ for better relations with Canada: Ambassador
Russia’s new ambassador in Ottawa says his country will not go “begging” for better relations with Canada, even though the two countries need each other to protect the Arctic and fight terrorism. In an interview with the Citizen, Russian Ambassador Alexander Darchiev said his country wants to re-open lines of communication with Ottawa after...
