It looks like the Parliamentary Press Gallery will once again be asking questions in Sir John A. Macdonald Building’s Room 200 for the next few months.

The gallery’s board of directors confirmed at its latest executive meeting that the “press theatre will temporarily return to the Sir John A. Macdonald building when the House rises for the summer to allow for some construction work in the existing space at the Wellington Building.” 

The minutes of the May 7 meeting were shared with press gallery members on June 26.

Heard on the Hill has learned that Sir John A. Macdonald’s (SJAM) Room 200 will return to being an ad hoc press theatre as of July 4 or July 7—whenever set up is complete—while some renovations take place in the gallery’s temporary permanent home in Room 325 Wellington Building that will make that space unusable.

Among the improvements is the construction of a proper green room, and some technology “lifecycle” upgrades.

This isn’t the first time the press gallery has used SJAM as its main press conference site. When the House administration closed the National Press Theatre at 150 Wellington St. in March 2020 due to space concerns during the pandemic, the PPG first set up shop in the West Block, and then in SJAM’s Room 200. In October 2023, press conferences were relocated to a third location: Room 325 in the Wellington Building, located at 180 Wellington St.

“[SJAM] was more of a pandemic solution that we didn’t really need anymore. You know, the big, wide-open space, a lot of room between reporters,” Guillaume St-Pierre, a reporter for Le Journal de Québec and Le Journal de Montréal who was PPG president at that time, told HOH by phone on June 27. St-Pierre recalled that SJAM’s Room 200 was too big, and “too much of a prime location” that’s better designed for receptions, not press conferences.

While Wellington’s Room 325 is indeed smaller, it’s more on par with the original National Press Theatre, which, despite the pandemic being over, remains shuttered due to ongoing issues with the space’s poor accessibility and old technology, and anticipated—but as yet undetermined—renovations to the building itself.

When the PPG took over Wellington’s Room 325 in late 2023, the room was adapted for press conferences, featuring a stage, flags, and screens. The forthcoming renos are part of making the space better suited for the press gallery’s needs, as it will be there indefinitely.

As for when the PPG can return to the Wellington Building, Nov. 1 is the hard deadline for reporters to clear out of SJAM’s Room 200, as the event space is needed for another use on that date.

Byelection in Alberta set for Aug. 18

On Canada Day Eve, Prime Minister Mark Carney gave Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre the gift he’s been wanting since the wee hours of April 29: a second chance at a seat in the House of Commons.

Carney called a federal byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot, Alta., for Aug. 18.

Since losing the riding of Carleton, Ont.—which he’d held since 2004—during the recent federal election to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy by more than 4,000 votes, Poilievre has been out in Alberta campaigning in the riding that was held until recently by Conservative Damien Kurek.

Kurek had been re-elected for a third term on April 28 with 82.8 per cent of the vote, but on June 17 officially resigned his seat “so that a by-election can be called as soon as possible to allow for our Conservative Party Leader, Pierre Poilievre, to run in Battle River-Crowfoot and earn a seat in the House of Commons,” Kurek said in a statement the day he resigned. 

This past weekend was the earliest chance Carney had to fulfill his promise of calling a byelection for Poilievre. A few hours after the announcement, the Liberals confirmed Darcy Spady, “a seasoned energy leader and community advocate,” as their candidate.

Terrebonne court hearings to happen this fall

The Liberals and Bloc Québécois will have to wait until this fall to find out whether the current election result for Quebec’s Terrebonne riding will stand in court. 

Rookie Liberal MP Tatiana Auguste unseated the Bloc’s Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné by just one vote after a judicial recount. It was later discovered that some special ballots in favour of the Bloc did not reach Elections Canada, or reached it late, due to an incorrect postal code printed on return envelopes. Elections Canada acknowledged the error, but said it could still not include these ballots in the final count, as it had not received them by the election date.

The Bloc has taken the matter to the Superior Court of Quebec, and the party has called for the result to be annulled. A spokesperson for Elections Canada, Matthew McKenna, informed The Hill Times on June 25 that the hearings for the case are expected to happen in the fall. 

As per a French publication, La Presse, these could start in the week of Oct. 20 due to summer holidays and other constraints.

—Riddhi Kachhela

Italian Embassy hosts ‘Positive Nutrition’ panel

The Embassy of Italy hosted a conference at the University of Ottawa on June 26 titled “Positive Nutrition: Food, Education and Healthier Lifestyles,” exploring an emerging approach that could reshape the way we think about healthy eating, food policy, and public health.

The poster child for the Mediterranean Diet, Italy’s “holistic approach to nutrition … emphasizes the value of a balanced, varied, and moderate diet, complemented by an active lifestyle,” said Ambassador Alessandro Cattaneo in his introductory remarks.

Panellists Dr. Daniela Martini of the University of Milan, Dr. Luca Piretta of Rome University, Dr. Nick Bellissimo of Toronto Metropolitan University, and Dr. William Yan from the University of Ottawa discussed issues like rising obesity rates and the health costs associated with poor nutrition. The afternoon event wrapped up with a special tasting of high-quality Italian food and wine.

Two new political books coming this fall

The slate of new books being published this fall is growing longer by the day, with two more announced last week.

Award-winning educator, writer, commentator, and public speaker J.D.M. Stewart‘s latest book, The Prime Ministers, is coming out Sept. 30. “It will be the first assessment of Canada’s PMs in 25 years,” he posted on LinkedIn on June 25.

Stewart’s first book, Being Prime Minister, was published by Dundurn Press in 2018.

Then, on Oct. 28, comes Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk, co-authored by Ipsos Public Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker and The Globe and Mail’s writer-at-large John Ibbitson, and published by Penguin Canada. Ibbitson posted on X on June 26 that he and Bricker “wrote Breaking Point over six frantic months, through Freeland & Trudeau & Trump and Carney & the election. It’s all in the book, but the forces threatening Canada stretch much farther back.”

Alex Neve to give 2025 CBC Massey Lectures

Former Amnesty International Canada secretary-general Alex Neve will deliver this year’s CBC Massey Lectures in five Canadian cities this fall.

Neve is currently an adjunct professor of international human rights law at the University of Ottawa.

Titled “Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World,” Neve’s lecture will also be published in book format by House of Anansi Press in September. 

“I’ve been asked to explore the many challenges and perils in our world—the climate crisis; genocide and mass atrocities; hate and disinformation; mass displacement; economic injustice; and more,” he wrote in a post on X. “I’ve also been asked to answer a key question: does a true embrace of human rights offer a way forward?

“Spoiler alert, the answer is yes.”

The first lecture will take place in Toronto on Sept. 19, followed by Vancouver on Sept. 25, Edmonton on Oct. 1, Happy Valley/Goose Bay, N.L., on Oct. 15, and finally in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre on Oct. 30.

cleadlay@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times