Camille Labchuk

Happy Monday!
This week in The Hill Times, the Spin Doctors were asked to opine on whether MP pensions are in need of reform. Here’s what I have to say.
Do you think MPs’ pensions should be reviewed and cut back?
It’s definitely time for Parliament to start examining options for MP pension reform, in order to bring [...]

Happy Wednesday! Here’s my Hill Times Spin Doctors piece from this week.
In a recent letter to Conservative MPs and Senators, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would be sending Cabinet ministers across the country to hear Canadians’ views on the upcoming budget. What do you think of the initiative?
Fanning cabinet ministers out across the country [...]

Apologies. This appeared in last week’s Hill Times. I’m late posting it.
“Concerns over Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan’s health has sparked speculation over whether or not (and when) a Cabinet shuffle will take place. Do you expect Harper to shake-up his top bench in the new session? Why?”
Frankly, a cabinet shuffle won’t change anything. The [...]

Happy Monday! After a holiday hiatus, the Hill Times is back this week, and so is Spin Doctors. Our question today is the following:
“What will be your leader’s top priorities in 2012?”
The Greens had a record year in 2011. Elizabeth May became the first Green MP elected to serve in Parliament, and in a [...]

I loved this week’s Hill Times Spin Doctors question. The Greens have been outspoken on how Harper has undermined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty through a nuclear trade deal with India. We need to stop nuclear proliferation if we want  global security, and this should be the focus of our anti-nuclear efforts – not mere sanctions [...]

This week’s Spin Doctors topic was on Prime Minister Harper’s plans to have Canada join the Transpacific Partnership.
“With the U.S. delaying its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that Canada will apply to join the TransPacific partnership. Is this the right decision for Canada?”
My answer:
The move to sign Canada [...]

I’ve promised to start posting my Spin Doctors pieces that are appear in The Hill Times each week. This week’s question was about the appointment of a unilingual Auditor General.
“The Liberal caucus walked out on a House of Commons and a Senate vote, on Nov. 3 to protest the appointment of Michael Ferguson, a unilingual [...]

Some exciting news – I’m now a contributor to the Huffington Post Canada! Law school has kept me busy enough that there’s not much time to blog on here, but I’ll try to keep cross-posting pieces I contribute to other publications.
Here’s the HuffPo piece I wrote a few weeks ago after Toronto City Council voted [...]

The question of the week for my Hill Times Spin Doctors piece is a good one:
“What one piece of advice would you give new MPs?”
Here are my thoughts
Over a third of our 308 MPs are newly-elected, and these 108 rookies exceed the critical mass needed to change the culture of Parliament. My one piece of advice? [...]

As some of you know, I’m working for Lawyers for Animal Welfare (LAW) over the summer. We were horrified to learn on Wednesday of the Toronto man who allegedly beat a family of baby raccoons with a shovel, while the mother raccoon watched helplessly and tried to carry her babies to shelter. It’s the kind [...]