Parliament's new speaker says Canada must be ‘Athens' to America's ‘Rome'
First elected in 2004, the 67-year-old MP thanked the chamber for the honour of choosing him to oversee proceedings in the 45th Parliament. Having argued in his speech before the Speaker's vote that Canada must set an example as a strong democracy in a tumultuous world, Scarpaleggia was elected Speaker of the House of Commons with a new Liberal minority government elected on April 28.
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an hour ago
What you need to know about the federal byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot
Albertans living in the federal riding of Battle River-Crowfoot will soon have a new member of Parliament as they prepare to vote in Monday's byelection. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the byelection in June after Conservative MP Damien Kurek stepped down from his seat so Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre could run. Poilievre lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton, when Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy won that seat in an upset. Kurek's resignation came after he handily won the riding in April. The history of the riding and its previous incarnations indicate it has been one of the safest blue seats in the country. The Battle River-Crowfoot riding covers a large swath of eastern and central Alberta, encompassing communities like Drumheller, Hanna, Stettler, Camrose and Provost. Enlarge image (new window) Conservative Party of Canada candidate Pierre Poilievre speaks during the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection candidate forum in Camrose, Alta. on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. While more than 200 candidates were registered, only 10 were allowed to participate. Photo: The Canadian Press / Jason Franson There are 214 candidates registered in the byelection, making it the largest number of candidates on a federal ballot in Canadian history. Those running include Poilievre, Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, NDP candidate Katherine Swampy, Jonathan Bridges of the People's Party of Canada, Ashley MacDonald of the Green Party and Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley. For the first time ever, Elections Canada says voters must fill out a blank ballot. Because of the record-breaking number of candidates, voters will be provided with special write-in ballots instead of standard list-style ballots. WATCH | What's at stake for Pierre Poilievre? Elections Canada said in an email to CBC News that it expects the results of the byelection to take longer to report and publish. The head of the agency has decided to allow ballots to start being counted two hours before polls close. While things will take more time, we do expect all ballots will be counted on election night, said Elections Canada in an email. Elections Canada added that other than in an exceptional circumstance, it won't stop counting votes until each ballot is accounted for, even if the process runs late into the night. Last week, Elections Canada released data from advance polls which revealed 14,454 people have already cast their ballots in the riding, more than the amount who showed up at advance polls in that riding for April's federal election. Longest Ballot Committee concerns Most of the 214 candidates on the ballot are associated with a group of electoral reform advocates known as the Longest Ballot Committee. The committee has been organizing candidates to run in byelections in recent years to promote electoral reform. At an unrelated news conference in Calgary earlier this month, Poilievre expressed frustration with the group. They're adding their names even though they're not campaigning, he said at the time. They don't expect to win. They just want to inundate the ballot to confuse the situation [and] make it harder for people to vote. WATCH | Experts weigh in on the upcoming byelection: Critchley has also expressed frustration with the committee, saying in an open letter posted on her campaign website that there is a backlash in the riding from voters who are worried that she is a fake out candidate. I don't have a massive team, I don't have backing from millions of people, she wrote. "I have to go door to door within my community and explain to my neighbours that I have nothing to do with you. I have to explain that I am here, in my home, and I am standing up for myself, my neighbours and my community against the guy from Ottawa who doesn't give a damn about us. Please do not bury me with your 'legal' election interference. Poilievre cannot act as the Opposition leader in question period or participate in debate without a seat in the House of Commons. The Conservative caucus chose former party leader Andrew Scheer to lead the Opposition in the House of Commons on a temporary basis. Poilievre also faces a Conservative Party of Canada leadership review in January after the Tories failed to form government in the last federal election. If a leader does not resign, the party's constitution requires members to vote on whether that leader should stay on at its next national convention. Emily Rae Pasiuk (new window) · CBC News · Reporter Emily Rae Pasiuk is a reporter for CBC Edmonton with a keen interest in Alberta's energy sector, the intersection between politics and daily life, and breaking news. Emily reported in Saskatchewan for three years before moving to Edmonton in 2020. Tips? Ideas? Reach her at
Montreal Gazette
an hour ago
- Montreal Gazette
Liberal ministers were warned about SAAQclic contract issues in 2017, public inquiry hears
A whistleblower in 2017 warned Liberal cabinet ministers of potential conflicts of interest and ethical concerns involving the official overseeing the fiasco of Quebec's automobile insurance board computer system overhaul, a public inquiry revealed Monday. The whistleblower's detailed letter was entered into evidence as hearings into the troubled SAAQclic project — plagued by costly overruns and delays — resumed after a two-month hiatus. Denis Gallant, the judge presiding over the public inquiry, described the letter as 'explosive.' Pascale St-Hilaire, a senior administrator at the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec at the time, wrote the letter in March 2017 — three months before the SAAQ signed a $458-million contract for the digital modernization. SAAQclic is the glitch-plagued system created to allow online transactions and appointment bookings for driver's licences and vehicle registrations. The project is expected to cost $1.1 billion, more than double the original cost, according to Quebec's auditor general. She addressed her letter to Liberal ministers Laurent Lessard and Pierre Moreau. Lessard was the transport minister at the time, while Moreau was president of the Treasury Board. In the letter, St-Hilaire worked directly under Karl Malenfant, the former SAAQ vice-president overseeing the SAAQclic project. 'Mr. Malenfant asked me to carry out certain questionable actions related to contract management,' St-Hilaire wrote. She referred to 'a problematic situation regarding the management of IT service contracts,' as well as alleged conflicts of interest, ethical issues and a lack of 'loyalty toward the state.' St-Hilaire said Malenfant removed her from her position at the SAAQ. Testifying at the inquiry on Monday, Lessard said he took the letter seriously and asked Nathalie Tremblay, the SAAQ's chief executive officer at the time, to implement 'appropriate corrective measures.' Tremblay agreed to look into the matter, Lessard said. The former minister said he did not know what came of the St-Hilaire's concerns. Malenfant remained in his post until early 2024. Premier François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec came to power in October 2018. In February 2025, following a scathing report from Quebec's auditor general on the SAAQclic fiasco, Éric Caire resigned as the CAQ government's minister of cybersecurity and digital affairs. The public inquiry has announced it will hear testimony from current and former ministers, as well as political staff, over the next two weeks. Among those expected to appear are CAQ ministers Geneviève Guilbault and François Bonnardel — the current and former transport ministers, respectively. During the two-month summer break, inquiry officials interviewed 100 people and reviewed thousands of documents, lead counsel Simon Tremblay said Monday. Public hearings are expected to continue until early October, with a final report due by Dec. 15. This story was originally published
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Every candidate is a write-in candidate in Monday's Alberta byelection
Due to the record-breaking number of candidates in Monday's byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot, for the first time ever, Elections Canada says voters must fill out a blank ballot. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is looking to get back into the House of Commons in the byelection.
