Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he offered Mark Carney, then the governor of the Bank of Canada, a role in his Conservative government in 2012 -- though not as finance minister. Not right away, at least. In his new book "Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister," Harper says he told Carney the finance position was already...
After a year-and-a-half marked by defections, resignations and sagging poll numbers, Pierre Poilievre is staring down yet another challenge. Can the Conservatives hold onto a seat that his party has held for the past 18 years?
In a massive 645-page memoir, Stephen Harper aims to set the record straight. Publishing Tuesday, “Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister” is clearly written for the history books, but for readers and chroniclers of today’s events, the former Conservative party leader’s memoir reveals where he thinks the mainstream media got it wrong, not least when it comes...
Canada and the Caribbean have barely begun to realize what's possible in their trading relationship, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a working breakfast of Commonwealth leaders Tuesday. "There's more than a million people in Canada who trace their roots back to the region," Carney told the assembled leaders before attending the opening of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in...
The Conservatives have asked Canada’s ethics commissioner to examine the connections between Prime Minister Mark Carney and a CEO whose company received a multi-billion-dollar government contract in August. In a five-page letter obtained by CTV News, Ontario MP Jamil Jivani details the longstanding friendship between Carney and Dan Goldberg, the CEO of Telesat. Jivani argues that an ethics screen should...
The latest Nanos Weekly Tracking finds the Liberals at 45.4% in federal voting intentions, compared with 28.9% for the Conservatives. The NDP stands at 13.6%, followed by the Bloc Québécois at 7.4%, the People’s Party at 2.7% and the Greens at 1.9%.
A new Liaison Strategies Ontario Political Tracker puts the Progressive Conservatives at 39%, the Ontario Liberals at 32% and the Ontario NDP at 22% among decided and leaning voters. The PCs hold a seven-point lead, but education presents a more difficult picture for Premier Doug Ford: 62% disapprove of his handling of the file.
In general, so long as it’s legal and not hurting anyone, I think people should be allowed to spend their money on what they want to spend it on. But how much money should be allowed to affect the democratic process sits uncomfortably alongside that preference of mine. A system in which everyone has one vote, but one person can...
I am not, it should be acknowledged, an expert on the merits of frontier AI models. I am, however, a reasonably seasoned observer of government ministers proclaiming solemnly that they have just made a very prudent investment of taxpayers’ money, on the most favourable of terms, as AI minister Evan Solomon did this past weekend. Sometimes it works out: the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s updated immigration levels plan is set to be unveiled in Thursday’s federal budget, multiple government sources tell CTV News. The updated targets come as Canada’s population growth has seen a slowdown in the past two years. Carney, meanwhile, has sent recent mixed signals over the direction of immigration in Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney's oft-stated determination to keep his government focused on what Canadians can control could be tested today, as he meets with leaders from the 55 other member countries of the Commonwealth in Antigua.
Canada’s telecommunications networks are critical national infrastructure. They connect our businesses, governments, emergency services and citizens. As we expand 5G, artificial intelligence, data centres and digital infrastructure, we must ask a fundamental question: are the networks connecting all of it secure?
In the spring of 2024, nine months before he formally entered politics, Mark Carney made a couple of public appearances to discuss the state of the Canadian economy and the possible paths forward.
It is the job of the columnist to pull a bunch of disparate stories together and find the common theme that links them all. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you could even try and create an entire grand narrative out of all the various little data points. I don’t think the recent wave of elections and referendums in this country...
On Thursday, the Carney government released a paper outlining its security policy framework, a long-awaited exposition of its view on how to protect Canadians in this troubled world. It needs to be carefully considered by Canadians, as it portrays a country very different from the internationalist-minded, human-rights-conscious, effective diplomatic participant that Canada has been for countless decades; a country that...
The United States and the world, including Canada, face two more years of Donald Trump’s presidency. It could very easily be the most dangerous time in recent history, depending on how the most iconoclastic and belligerent president in American history approaches his last years in office.
Technically speaking, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s majority in Parliament will be tested in a series of byelections called for Dec. 7. The Liberals currently hold 173 of Parliament’s 343 seats, with six vacancies now up for grabs. Of the six ridings, three are in Quebec — where the Liberals hope to pick up a long-time NDP seat in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie...
François-Philippe Champagne says he often drops a real-world reminder into discussions he’s having with colleagues on the big decisions that loom before Mark Carney’s government these days. Call it the “mom test.” “I say: ‘I’m not sure my mother would understand what you just said,’ ” the finance minister explains. “I use that at cabinet. I’ve used that at caucus...
Monday evening, in what was once a Bank of Montreal, Prime Minister Mark Carney dined across from his guest of honour, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whom he seated next to former prime minister Stephen Harper. It is not the first time Carney has signalled close ties to Harper. In September...
Tuesday’s election in Israel will take months of intense bargaining between all of the more than ten parties now to be represented in the Knesset (Parliament), before the composition of the government and the prime minister are identified. The threshold in the popular vote required to elect a legislator is 3.25 per cent of the...
It was at the G8 where my growing animosity toward Vladimir Putin would start to become public. I had been accused of having a Cold War mentality and bringing that to Canada’s relations with Russia. The charge was simply not true. My view is that Russia’s natural long-term gravitation should be toward the West, not against it. I believe the...
Welcome to Grand Strategy Fall. The Carney government is publishing some serious stacks of paper describing how it plans to make Canada relevant again, including a national security strategy, released on Thursday; a new defence policy, already in effect but not yet published; and a full foreign policy.
There are some things you just have to get done quickly, and there are others where you should take the time you need to get it right. The key is knowing which is which. But when it comes to the thorny issues involved in medical assistance in dying, or MAID, the federal government is showing it doesn’t know, or care...
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declined to let Quebec’s newly-elected separatist premier deliver a speech at the Canada-European Union Summit in Montreal this week, sparking a wave of backlash in the French-speaking province
It’s no great secret that David Eby and the BC NDP were the biggest losers in Saturday’s BC election, which saw Lorne Doerksen and the BC Conservatives swept into power. Eby’s name has now become a verb, and anyone associated with his decision to call a snap election should be sent to the political equivalent of the Night’s Watch. But...
The midterm elections next Tuesday could deal a deathly blow to Trumpism. Even political stats guru Nate Silver says it’s possible. A shellacking of the Republicans could convince the party that Americans are getting fed up with the White House gong show and want to move back to traditional conservative leadership. What jubilation that news would bring to the rational...
Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein would occasionally remark on the prosaic, conventional nature of the work he did as leader of his province. In 1998, Edmonton Sun journalist Neil Waugh wrote about Mr. Klein’s “good news” tour, during which the premier travelled across the province to spread the word about how “Albertans have turned their province into the envy of...
Some days it feels as if Canadian democracy is a complete farce. Provincial governments elected with near majorities on the strength of 28 per cent of the vote – the same 28 per cent that in another province is worth just two seats. Referendum ballots with 10 loaded questions, none of them binding. Party leaders elected by children, non-citizens, and...
David Eby, the outgoing premier of British Columbia, must regret his decision to call a snap election after being soundly defeated this past weekend by an interim party leader few people outside of his immediate family and constituents knew six weeks ago. Say “hello” to Lorne Doerkson, the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party who is now the province’s premier-designate...
As Conservative MPs gather for their weekly caucus meetings, some are attempting to read the tea leaves from last week’s Alberta referenda and British Columbia’s big Conservative win. Saturday, David Eby’s early election gamble — two years into his NDP government’s mandate — failed spectacularly. B.C. interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson won a majority after running a disciplined campaign and...
Apart from Alberta’s no vote on separation, this month’s elections and referendums have given progressive Canadians who care about climate little to cheer about. The country’s biggest oil and gas booster, Premier Danielle Smith is still ruling Alberta and her recent anti-immigrant referendum win, as narrow as it was, hasn’t totally dampened her intent to make new arrivals pay for...
If Mark Carney was anticipating a quiet, even raffiné Canada-EU Summit this week in this most European city of non-European cities in our most European country of non-European countries, he may already be disappointed. The Prime Minister, who recently accepted compliments from a reporter on his vastly improved French and credited his teacher for his fluency, may want to add...
British Columbians elected David Eby as their premier on Oct. 19, 2024. They elected New Democrat MLAs in 47 of 93 seats, giving his party a third term in government and a second consecutive majority government on that day. He was given a majority mandate to govern until 2028 if he wanted to. Speaking on election night, a freshly re-elected...
It’s time for the separatist factions to bring some intellectual honesty to their avowed separatism. There are lots of ways to do that, but the simplest and most effective way is that both parties to this never-ending debate resolve this situation one way or the other.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing growing pressure from business groups to allow more immigration to address Canada’s labor needs, but the prospect of welcoming more migrants carries political risk for him.
U.S. asset manager Blackstone and four Canadian institutional investors have signed a $3.1-billion US deal to acquire a non-controlling stake in the Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary that holds an interest in LNG Canada, the country's first liquefied natural gas export facility. The investor group includes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Investment Management Corp...
Defence officials say there were no injuries after a military helicopter was seriously damaged during a night flight landing on a Canadian navy frigate. A flight safety report from the Department of National Defence says it happened Oct. 6 aboard the HMCS Ville de Quebec in the Norwegian Sea.
The Liberal government is getting ready to table its 2026 budget on Thursday -- but Ottawa's own focus groups suggest Canadians aren't watching the state of the federal purse too closely. Finance Canada commissioned market research firm Environics to host a series of roundtables with Canadians roughly a week after Ottawa tabled its spring economic update on April 28. Mid-year...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Antigua and Barbuda today for a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government. Carney has a full itinerary for his one day in Antigua, which will kick off with a meeting with Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Carney will then host a working breakfast for Caribbean leaders before the Commonwealth meeting begins. He...
Americans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in U.S. midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump's chaotic and controversial second term. The outcome will decide which party controls Congress and whether there will be a check on Trump's unprecedented use of executive power over the remainder of his time in office. Trump made his...
U.S. tariffs on Canada have played an outsized role in the Senate race in Maine, but experts say there may not be any relief coming for Canadians regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's midterms. Maine, a Northeastern U.S. state bordering both Quebec and New Brunswick by land, relies heavily on Canadian trade. Federal government figures show the state imports $4....
Senior Liberals interviewed for this story said the mood inside the PMO is 'good,' but that it's a fast-paced, high-stress work environment, where staffers are trying to achieve an ambitious domestic policy agenda and dealing with growing concerns about the state of the economy, chiefly because of the trade dispute with the U.S. They also said it's hard to keep...
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose last-minute demands led to trade talks breaking down in August, has become the behind-the-scenes “driving force” pushing Canada and the U.S. to re-engage on a deal, multiple sources tell CTV News. Sources in both countries say Lutnick initiated the re-engagement just over 10 days ago, after months of stasis, and has centred talks around...
Alberta's hotly debated riding boundary proposals were released to the public Monday as the Opposition NDP renewed its call for the government to change course. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservatives are aiming to use their legislative majority to rig the new boundaries in order to give themselves an unfair advantage in next year's election. Nenshi...
British Columbia premier-designate Lorne Doerkson says the Conservative caucus of 63 legislators is united to lead the province but he warns of difficult and unpopular decisions ahead. Doerkson made the comments as newly elected Conservatives gathered for their first caucus meeting, where he told them that the campaign is over and their job now is to govern on behalf of...
Experts in European Union policy say Canada should try solidifying gains with the EU in legal frameworks, particularly as talk of becoming an EU "associate member" continues to cause confusion. Academics studying EU relations testified Monday to the House foreign-affairs committee, after a summit in Montreal last week. Canadian and European officials praised the plan as a historic partnership. The...
Thursday's federal budget will look to make life easier for Canada's small- and medium-sized businesses, says Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Champagne provided business leaders a preview of the government's fiscal plan in a breakfast speech at the Canadian Club Toronto on Monday.
The Anishinabek Nation, which is composed of 39 Ontario First Nations and boasts roughly 70,000 members, rejected the invitation to discuss with the minister, saying there’s no needed for new legislation and called on the government to simply accept Senate amendments to Bill S-2 that would end the second-generation cut-off.
Canadian businesses have submitted their wish lists to Ottawa ahead of Thursday's federal budget. Topping their priorities are tax reform, less red tape and concrete measures to turn the federal government's sweeping economic ambitions into investments, productivity and jobs. Between interviews and pre-budget submissions to the House of Commons finance committee, seven key themes emerged: 1. Tax reform and investment...
Despite its rollbacks of climate policy, the Carney government will lead a delegation to the COP31 conference in Turkey next week presenting itself as an international climate leader. Government officials held a technical briefing for journalists today ahead of the annual two-week United Nations climate conference. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin will attend the first week of COP31 and officials say...
Prime Minister Mark Carney's second budget — set to be unveiled on Thursday — will include new affordability measures, business tax incentives and investments in infrastructure, defence and culture, according to a senior government source. Canadians can also expect more details about previous announcements, such as plans for private investment in Canada's four biggest airports and how the government will...
Michelle Taylor gasped and shook her head in disbelief. Outside a church where she was waiting to hear Democrat Abdul El-Sayed speak on Sunday, the longtime Detroit resident watched an unimaginable party fracture in a race that could ultimately decide who controls power on Capitol Hill. El-Sayed's former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Antigua and Barbuda on Monday, where he will have a chance to engage with heads of government from other Commonwealth countries — and with King Charles. Much of the meetings taking place this week will focus on trade and investment. But the gathering also offers a chance for Carney to meet with representatives...
In our latest Spark Insights survey (Online, October 16-21, 3992 interviews nationally) we asked how people felt about a number of global figures. Here are some of the things that popped out for me, from the findings:
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a "good conversation" with U.S. President Donald Trump on the future of trade between the two countries. Carney says in a social media post today that the conversation builds on previous ones they have had about what a mutually beneficial trade deal looks like. He says such a deal would create jobs for...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for closer diplomatic co-operation between middle powers heads to a new venue this week, as he departs later Monday for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, hosted this year by Antigua and Barbuda. The timing for this year's talks is extraordinary.
Alberta's government has shut down a suggestion to postpone the next provincial election from the agency that is overseeing the vote. Justice Minister Mickey Amery says that Alberta's United Conservative Party government has no intention of changing the Oct. 18, 2027 election date. Amery says in a letter addressing Elections Alberta's chief electoral officer, which was posted Sunday on social...
U.S. President Donald Trump says Canada and the United States have "the concept of a very good deal." Speaking to reporters in Iowa on Sunday, Trump said the countries were "very close" to reaching a trade deal. "We've been losing money for many years with Canada," he said. "We have the concept of a deal that's going to be great...
François-Philippe Champagne says he often drops a real-world reminder into discussions he’s having with colleagues on the big decisions that loom before Mark Carney’s government these days. Call it the “mom test.” “I say: ‘I’m not sure my mother would understand what you just said,’ ” the finance minister explains. “I use that at cabinet. I’ve used that at caucus...
Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced Sunday that he accepts Prime Minister Mark Carney’s invitation to meet after declining to attend the Canada-European Union summit in Montreal on Thursday and Friday. In a social media post Sunday, St-Pierre Plamondon said he would meet Carney ahead of the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia, where he will lead Quebec’s delegation. However, he insisted...
The Liberal Party surpassed the Conservatives in fundraising by almost $1 million in the third quarter of 2026, says Elections Canada. Records published by Elections Canada show the Conservatives raised $3.9 million, while the Liberals raised $4.9 million. In the second quarter of the year, the Conservatives raised $5 million, while the Liberals raised $4.3 million. When asked at a...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pushing for the federal government to eliminate all federal taxes on diesel until Canada Day, part of a list of demands ahead of the budget being tabled on Nov. 5. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Poilievre says suspending the GST on fuel until summer and permanently scrapping the fuel standard tax would...
Voters in six federal ridings in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan will be heading to the polls Dec. 7, after Prime Minister Mark Carney called byelections Sunday. A press release from the Prime Minster’s Office says byelections will take place in three Quebec ridings, including Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, where seats were previously held by the Liberals, the NDP and...
Sherri Gordon followed Bill C-40, the Miscarriage of Justice Reviews, through the last Parliament. From prison, her husband, Bronson, also watched its progress on CPAC, the channel that broadcasts proceedings from Parliament Hill. The legislation offered the family a new route to challenge his murder conviction. On Dec. 17, 2024, the bill received royal assent. “It was the happiest day...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The final day of voting in this year's midterm elections arrived Tuesday against a backdrop of uncertainty after a year in which President Donald Trump has tried to interfere in how states run their elections and sown doubts about the outcome should Republicans lose.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran will decide whether to drastically shift power in Washington in midterm elections Tuesday that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump's second term.
In general, so long as it’s legal and not hurting anyone, I think people should be allowed to spend their money on what they want to spend it on. But how much money should be allowed to affect the democratic process sits uncomfortably alongside that preference of mine. A system in which everyone has one vote, but one person can...
Americans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in U.S. midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump's chaotic and controversial second term. The outcome will decide which party controls Congress and whether there will be a check on Trump's unprecedented use of executive power over the remainder of his time in office. Trump made his...
Prime Minister Mark Carney's oft-stated determination to keep his government focused on what Canadians can control could be tested today, as he meets with leaders from the 55 other member countries of the Commonwealth in Antigua.
Americans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in U.S. midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump's chaotic and controversial second term. The outcome will decide which party controls Congress and whether there will be a check on Trump's unprecedented use of executive power over the remainder of his time in office. Trump made his...
U.S. tariffs on Canada have played an outsized role in the Senate race in Maine, but experts say there may not be any relief coming for Canadians regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's midterms. Maine, a Northeastern U.S. state bordering both Quebec and New Brunswick by land, relies heavily on Canadian trade. Federal government figures show the state imports $4....
Experts in European Union policy say Canada should try solidifying gains with the EU in legal frameworks, particularly as talk of becoming an EU "associate member" continues to cause confusion. Academics studying EU relations testified Monday to the House foreign-affairs committee, after a summit in Montreal last week. Canadian and European officials praised the plan as a historic partnership. The...
Michelle Taylor gasped and shook her head in disbelief. Outside a church where she was waiting to hear Democrat Abdul El-Sayed speak on Sunday, the longtime Detroit resident watched an unimaginable party fracture in a race that could ultimately decide who controls power on Capitol Hill. El-Sayed's former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers...
Canada’s new National Security Strategy and the Canada–EU summit in Montreal show how Ottawa plans to turn strategic autonomy into real partnerships. Yet a bet on Europe alone won’t deliver the resilience Canada needs, writes Vina Nadjibulla. With Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan central to critical minerals, semiconductors and defence production, she calls on the upcoming foreign policy strategy...
Canada is facing a range of challenges that will drive economic transformation at the national, regional and local levels. The relationship with the United States, its largest trading partner, is changing. Investment in defence is growing. Global energy markets are shifting as investment in clean energy and electrification is rising. The changing climate and geopolitical tensions are creating new risks...
Canada is at a crossroads. In his now famous Davos speech, Prime Minister Carney warned of a “rupture in the world order” as the United States-led “rules-based order” has fractured. This and subsequent events have motivated a sense of national pride (“elbows up”) and opened a discussion on policy changes aimed at reshaping our economy in the context of this...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Six years ago, a Burlington-made camera turned up on Turkish drones in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ottawa shut off arms exports to Turkey.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ad-lib brought down the house at Thursday night’s Forever Canadian rally in Calgary. “They’re a little touchy down there at the moment,” he added, to roars from a crowd of about 5,000.
RCMP officers who responded to the April 2020 mass murders in Nova Scotia will receive bravery medals from Governor General Louise Arbour. An announcement is expected “imminently,” says an Arbour spokesperson. The medals follow 23 awards for excellence quietly distributed last year by RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme to RCMP members and employees who managed the grisly incident, in which 2...
David Herle, Scott Reid, Jordan Leichnitz, and Kory Teneycke provide insights on the latest in Canadian politics.
Canada wanted to be an “associate member” of the EU, but all we got was an “Alliance for the Future.” So who in Europe is skeptical of getting closer to Canada, and why? Host Sam talks to three German members of the European Parliament who voted against closer ties with Canada: one from the far-right AfD, a party now leading...
It's a day the U.S. Democrats have been waiting for, and one that's been keeping Republicans up at night. Americans will head to the polls to vote in the 2026 midterm election to determine who will makeup the U.S. Congress. Preliminary polls show the Democrats are positioned to successfully flip the House of Representatives, while the race for the Senate...
As the U.S. voters head to the midterm polls, Republican candidates and leaders are targeting Muslim and Arab Americans casting them as suspect, questioning their loyalties, and their place in American life. Much of this has centred on Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and Minnesota Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, but they are not alone. Today, we take a closer look...
