Chong’s Reform Act sabotages parliamentary democracy and needs to be defeated

My column this week on Loonie Politics looks at Michael Chong's Reform Act, which is up for a final vote in the House of Commons, and how terrible it actually is in its final wording after numerous amendments. While people seem to be inclined to like the idea of the bill, the substance is terrible, and I break down what is the matter with the bill in the column in the hopes of changing some minds.

NDP satellite offices are just one of many problems

My column this week on Loonie Politics takes a broader look at the issue of the NDP satellite offices and the demands that they repay the Commons for them. The issues underlying it date back to after the 2011 election, and based on conversations I've had with some people behind the scenes, I paint a picture of a broader problem that led to the creation of these offices, and the ways in which the party is now trying to excuse them including outright misdirection.

Paul Rochon, a veteran Finance official

My story on Lobby Monitor today is a profile of the deputy minister of Finance, Paul Rochon. This was a more difficult profile to write as the subject wasn't willing to be interviewed, and finding people who knew him turned out to be a harder task than originally thought, but eventually I made the right connections and got the profile off the ground, and it turned out pretty well in the end.