The last Conservative leader to be ousted by his party says he's advised his replacement to forget the floor crossings and social media trends as speculation heats up over Pierre Poilievre's future at the party's helm. "My advice to him has always been to put the country first and look at the long term," Erin O'Toole said in an interview...
Agreement sets July 1 as day countries can signal intention to exit pact, but it still remains in place. Canada's chief trade negotiator says the July 1 date to review the North American trade pact shouldn't be viewed as a hard deadline — noting that some trade points won't be entirely hashed out by that date. "There's a lot of...
The Liberals are moving to take control of House of Commons committees now that they've secured a majority government. House leader Steven MacKinnon says in a social media post that the Liberals will seek to change the standing orders, the rules that govern the Commons, to ensure they have the most votes on committees. Majority governments traditionally hold a majority...
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole gave his successor Pierre Poilievre a heads-up last week he would join Mark Carney’s Canada-U.S. trade advisory council because, he told the Star, he agrees with a lot of Carney’s approach to the U.S., and he wanted no surprises. In his first interview since being named to the panel of outside expert business, investment and...
Despite accusing the United States of weaponizing the deep integration of its economy with Canada’s, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he “absolutely” wants the trilateral trade deal including Mexico to remain intact. “We’ve become overly dependent on one trading partner who has turned around, as the prime minister has also said, and weaponized that very dependency or integration against...
The Canadian electorate is settling into a reality shaped by pocketbook anxiety. Jobs and the economy now dominate the national conversation at 23 per cent—up sharply from four weeks ago, while concern over Trump and American relations has cooled markedly, slipping to single digits. Mark Carney’s Liberals enjoy a comfortable 14-point ballot lead, a decisive edge on preferred prime minister...
During the past year, Canadians have been hearing a lot about major projects – big, transformative infrastructure investments led by the federal government. Ottawa’s new Major Projects Office (MPO) is either moving ahead with or evaluating major investments related to energy, resource extraction and transportation.
While campaigning for the presidency in Portland, in 1932, Franklin Roosevelt told a crowd “my friends, judge me by the enemies I’ve made.”. In a 2015 Presidential debate, Anderson Cooper asked the candidates which enemy they were most proud of making. There’s a deep history of politics about picking your enemies as deliberately as you choose your friends.
Well, the Iranian case is up for debate, but there’s no question your commander in chief effected “regime change” here in Canada. After last week’s special elections, Mark Carney, the prime minister whose elevation Donald Trump helped bring about, has at last secured a parliamentary majority for Canada’s Liberal Party.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a new Canada-U.S. advisory council ahead of a formal CUSMA review process this summer. The council is made up of some members from the previous council while adding former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt, former premiers P.J. Akeeagok and Jean Charest, as well as former Canadian High Commissioner to...
Carney says there's been a 'rupture' in Canada-U.S. relationship, while Poilievre wants to draw closer. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre launched a pointed attack on the Liberal government's handling of the Canada-U.S. file Tuesday, saying the results so far have fallen well short of the mark and the prime minister is "losing" the trade war. Speaking to reporters after Prime Minister...
Its natural gas reserves have the potential to enrich its people and power the world. Let’s get some shovels in the ground
Conservatives believe Canada is a country ready to build again. For too long, especially in our largest cities, young Canadians have watched governments make big announcements while the cost of living rises, opportunities narrow and major projects stall. After more than a decade of Liberal promises, overspending and delays, Canadians deserve a new approach that delivers real results people can...
When a prime minister takes to YouTube for a 10-minute address to the nation, a perfectly reasonable question is: what’s the emergency? So when Mark Carney released a video on the weekend, titled “Forward Guidance,” there was a natural temptation to look for what alarms he was trying to raise.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Sunday video was a masterclass in crisis communications. He reminded Canadians of his credentials managing tough times. He described the urgent challenges Canada faces. He explained what he is doing to tackle them. He promised not to “sugarcoat” anything. He appealed to Canadians’ patriotism. And he promised to keep us posted: bookmark this YouTube channel for...
In 2016, I appointed three of the five people on the Electoral Boundaries Commission. A year later, their final report hit my desk. I was disappointed. Very disappointed. Two strong NDP seats, held by my finance minister and my attorney-general, were made into one. The urban Medicine Hat seat occupied by the then-NDP speaker of the House was cut in...
It’s a mere six months until Albertans decide whether they want to separate from the rest of Canada. And yet there is no apparent all-inclusive campaign for those of us who want to vote No.
Was the timing of Mark Carney’s feel-good “fireside chat” video released Sunday mere coincidence, landing as it did the day before concerning inflation numbers? Or was it a deliberate calculation to point out that Canadian fur traders were all over the northern plains before the Americans had left St. Louis, a day ahead of confirmation that consumers are now paying...
FOR ALL OF MY adult life, I’ve been a Liberal believing in the defence of rights, the constraining of power, an equitable society, and an independent foreign policy. It’s been a narrative that many Canadians have strongly believed and supported.
The instant Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles blasted out the words “gravy plane,” it became obvious that the private jet purchased by Ontario Premier Doug Ford was not long for this province. It wasn’t simply that the act of spending $28.9-million of taxpayers’ money on a private aircraft for the Premier’s office was hideously off-brand, though that was a major...
The old Pierre Poilievre is back. After watching Mark Carney’s Liberals secure a majority government with a clean sweep in last Monday’s three byelections and with rumours of more floor crossers in the offing, the Conservative Party of Canada leader has decided to abandon his kinder and gentler personality reboot in favour of his more familiar brand of populist petulance...
Hungary has only 9.5 million people, but its election result is resonating across the democratic world. The resounding defeat of Viktor Orbán and his party Fidesz on April 12 brought an end to 16 years of governance by a prime minister who had established himself as a global icon of the populist far-right, the model to follow, the archetype of...
Let’s be clear: there is nothing improper about a government gaining a majority in Parliament between elections. Some have suggested otherwise, as if something outside the rules has taken place. It hasn’t. Canada operates under a Westminster parliamentary system. Voters don’t cast ballots for a Prime Minister. We don’t vote for or against a majority government. We vote for a...
Congratulations to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals on securing their majority. Now, please, please, pick a fighter jet already. No one can stop you! This isn’t the first time I’ve made this exact plea in these very pages. It was just last September that I begged the prime minister to get around to picking a jet to replace...
The Conservative Party of Canada launched two new ads recently, backed by what the party says is a million-dollar-plus media buy across television, radio, connected TV and digital platforms. They will be running through the end of June. The ads are well produced. One features Pierre Poilievre speaking of a country that stands on its own feet and bows before...
Nearly one year after the election that validated Mark Carney’s instincts about pursuing a career in elected politics, the principal casualty of that choice, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, finds himself in a peculiar position. Poilievre, whose party lost that election from a starting lead of 20 points, who lost his own seat, and who has witnessed a mini stampede of...
For someone relatively new to elected politics, Mark Carney has developed a habit of leaning into his pre-political past. When Carney unfurled his middle-power response to the geopolitical upheaval fronted by Donald Trump’s weaponized presidency, he didn’t do it at the Canadian Club, the United Nations, or Chatham House. He delivered his code-cracking economic GPS from the annual gathering of...
Not once have I ever thought that Doug Ford has much in common at all with U.S. President Donald Trump. Sure, the Ontario premier is a blustery, (in-theory) right-leaning politician who even has a passing physical resemblance to the U.S. president. But anyone actually making the comparison has always been, in my mind, confessing how superficial their understanding of either...
For two decades, Canada pursued a values-based foreign policy, although the values pursued by Liberal and Conservative governments were very different. Today, Canada is pursuing a more hardnosed foreign policy that puts Canada’s national interests front and centre. Putting Canada first, so to speak, has proved to be a far better approach. Of course, values and interests have always comingled...
Where did this idea come from, of Canada joining the European Union? I know the Prime Minister likes to say that Canada is “the most European of the non-European countries,” whatever that means. (More European than, say, Argentina? Uruguay? New Zealand?) And sure, we’ve all joked about it, at least once, in the heat of Donald Trump’s latest outrage (“that’s...
As political weeks go, Prime Minister Mark Carney couldn’t have asked for a better one. Fresh from the Liberals’ convention where he was fêted as the party’s new Messiah, his candidates won all three byelections Monday by larger percentage margins than in last spring’s general election.
The Political Pulse panel breaks down Week 1 of the Liberals' majority government, and how opposition parties are responding.
When federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared on the popular right-wing American podcaster Joe Rogan’s show last month, many in his party were ecstatic with the result. Mr. Poilievre resisted his worst instincts, passing on invitations to dump on Prime Minister Mark Carney, fuel separatist sentiment in Alberta or indulge in the conspiracy theories being propagated by Mr. Rogan. Over...
The newly cobbled together majority government in the House of Commons has given the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Mark Carney more time and more leeway to peruse its far-reaching, extremely expensive “Build Canada” agenda. But the new alignment in the Commons has also changed the calculations of at least two of the three opposition parties. The majority created by...
There is a particular kind of political delusion that sets in after a loss. It is quiet. It hides behind familiar talking points. It feels like conviction, but it is really just refusal to accept reality. Too many Conservatives in this country are still running against Justin Trudeau. And it’s not really a strategy, it’s a combination of a putrid...
Coming off three byelection wins and a handful of floor-crossers, Prime Minister Carney is now armed with a newly minted majority government. The benefits of going from a minority to a majority for the government are quite clear. As the PM noted in a press conference earlier this week, a majority government will make for a much more substantive and...
Members of Parliament voted today to approve the appointment of Annette Ryan as Canada's next Parliamentary Budget Officer. MPs approved her appointment in a 164 to 153 vote, with Bloc Quebecois and Conservatives voting against her nomination. Ryan, a longtime public servant and the current deputy director at Canada's financial intelligence agency, Fintrac, was named as cabinet's pick to lead...
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will appear before the House ethics committee to answer questions about his connection to the Alto high-speed rail project. The Liberal members of the committee dragged out debate for hours over whether Champagne and the ethics commissioner would be called in for questioning. The minister recused himself from decisions about the high-speed rail project last September...
CPAC, the Canadian service that provides direct coverage of political events, says declining revenues have led it to cancel two flagship programs. It says in a release it has cancelled PrimeTime Politics and L'Essentiel. The release cited "accelerating revenue decline," an uncertain broadcasting landscape and delays in modernizing the broadcast system.
A new poll suggests the proposed Alto high-speed railway is both the most-supported and the most-opposed item on the federal government's list of major projects. Probe Research surveyed 1,300 Canadians earlier this month and found 61 per cent of respondents supported the project, while 19 per cent opposed it to some degree. The poll cannot be assigned a margin of...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford once again defended his government’s decision to purchase a $28.9 million private jet Tuesday, saying it’s “embarrassing” a province the size of Ontario doesn’t have one. But he stopped short of saying he’d reconsider his decision to sell it in the wake of public backlash over the purchase. “Honestly folks, it’s a no brainer. It’s kind...
Federal politicians are dismissing U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's disparaging comments about Canada's negotiating position heading into major trade talks with the U.S. and Mexico. Lutnick said Friday it would be a bad strategy for Canada to try to wait out the U.S. to reach a better deal later on, adding, "They suck." Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S...
Flagged as a “potential covert influence operation” in a new report, those behind the network are tough to trace. The mispronunciation of Regina — as in, the capital of Saskatchewan — was a clue. Then there was the reference to B.C. MLA Dallas Brodie, a woman, as a “he.” These slip-ups helped lead researchers at the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO)...
The former politician who gathered more than 456,000 signatures to keep Alberta in Canada says he watched firsthand the legislature committee tasked with its review stifle the democratic process. Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier, says he's not surprised, but says it's "bizarre" the committee, led by United Conservative members, shut down a proposal to soon hear from him directly...
Three Ontario MPs are seeking to remove Indigenous references added to their riding names during the most recent federal electoral redistribution process, but only one is understood to have the support of local Indigenous groups. Nineteen federal riding name changes are being sought overall as part of the government’s Bill C-25. That list includes Conservative MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman’s request to...
Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson says the territory will follow Alberta's lead in ditching twice-a-year clock changes. Simpson says residents have previously supported the idea of having one year-round time and that keeping the territory in line with Alberta makes the most sense. "This practical, forward-looking decision reflects what many people across the Canada have been calling for," Simpson said...
Premier Doug Ford’s decision to buy a pricey taxpayer-funded jet in the middle of an affordability challenge is a “toxic combination” that could erode the public’s confidence in his government, one provincial pollster says. Ford said the purchase of the $28.9 million Challenger 650, which he planned to use for government-related travel across the country and into the United States...
Canada's highest military honour was created in 1993 but has never been awarded. A House of Commons committee unanimously passed a motion Monday calling on the Liberal government to establish an independent review board for military honours including the country’s highest battlefield decoration — the Canadian Victoria Cross. The request is the latest step in a multi-year, grassroots effort by...
Last week, Ontario’s premier pointed to a fleet of Quebec government-owned planes as justification for having his own private aircraft. But Quebec’s premier has no such private plane — so, what’s going on? Premier Doug Ford justified the purchase of the plane, a used Bombardier Challenger 650, by touting his extensive travel within Ontario and even to the U.S...
Two senior public servants linked to the controversial procurement process behind Ottawa’s costly ArriveCan app have lost their bids to have the Federal Court overrule internal grievance findings related to allegations of misconduct against them. Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go issued the decisions Monday after two days of public court hearings in March.
Politicians in the Alberta legislature are expected to vote today on a controversial motion that directly affects next year's general election. Premier Danielle Smith's governing United Conservatives have put forward a motion to revisit a panel report on how the ridings should be redrawn ahead of the 2027 vote. Smith says they are acting on the recommendation of the panel...
Newly minted Quebec Premier Christine Frechette has unveiled a cabinet that leans on experienced ministers, opting for stability instead of a shakeup as her government heads into a pre-election period. After winning the Coalition Avenir Quebec leadership race on April 12, Frechette spent just over a week before introducing the senior members of the team she is expected to lead...
Celebrated general is a reminder Canada has beat the Americans and 'can do it again': official. Prime Minister Mark Carney stunned some Canadian historians over the weekend when he released a pointed video message about the U.S. featuring a War of 1812 general who led the charge against the American invaders of that era. For the first time Sunday, Carney...
The federal government is eyeing a new oil pipeline route in southern British Columbia that some in Ottawa believe would face fewer environmental hurdles and less resistance from Indigenous groups than the northern route Alberta is proposing, two federal sources say. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an memorandum of understanding in November, with the goals...
Current advisory board was struck by former prime minister Justin Trudeau. Prime Minister Mark Carney will name a new advisory council on Canada and U.S. trade on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The council will replace the one previously set up by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in early 2025. CBC News is not naming the...
Premier Danielle Smith's government says Albertans will soon be ditching twice-a-year clock changes. Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally confirmed Monday the province plans to stick with daylight time year-round. "We'll be moving forward with having an extra hour of daylight in the evenings," he told reporters in the legislature. That means Albertans would stay on the current time and no...
Canada Post has released its annual report, detailing a $1.57-billion loss before tax for 2025. The Crown corporation said in a news release the record loss highlights the need to transform and move away from cash injections. The report said the company’s annual loss widened by $728 million, or 86.7 per cent, compared to a loss of $841 million the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s view that Canada’s “weakness” stems from its longtime close trade ties with the U.S. was mocked by the Conservatives Monday, and met skepticism by an Eastern premier who warned it will likely further anger the U.S. In a video message posted Sunday on YouTube, Carney said the U.S. “has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is again urging the prime minister to sign a tariff-free trade deal with the United States, following a video by Mark Carney Sunday calling Canada’s former strength, built on its bond with America, a “weakness” that must be corrected. In his own video released on Monday — paralleled with Carney’s address, seeing both leaders sitting in...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney was "pushing fear" in a recent address to Canadians on the relationship with the U.S. In a 10-minute video posted to social media on Sunday, Carney said Canada's deep economic ties with the U.S. used to be a major strength, but are now a source of weakness. The prime minister said...
Claims that Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would invoke the Emergencies Act to quash Alberta independence appeared online last week. It was said Carney made the comments while addressing steelworkers at a March 29 event in Hamilton, Ont. A video from Hamilton in which Carney is seemingly heard referring to the use of emergency powers in fact uses spliced...
Ottawa has announced an increase in the number of direct flights permitted to bring passengers and cargo to and from China. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says there will be "an incremental increase" in flights between the countries in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney's outreach visit to Beijing in January. Canadian and Chinese airlines will be allowed to boost the...
A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute suggests a growing number of Conservative voters want to replace Pierre Poilievre as the party's leader. The poll surveyed 1,640 Canadians, including 590 who voted Conservative in last year's election and asked people if they believe Poilievre should lead the Tories into the next election. Almost 60 per cent Tory voters polled said he sho
Prime Minister Mark Carney would likely keep — and possibly enlarge — his new-found Liberal majority if a general election was held today, according to the latest projection from The Signal polling aggregator. Prime Minister Mark Carney would likely keep — and possibly enlarge — his new-found Liberal majority if a general election was held today, according to the latest...
Defence Minister David McGuinty is still without a timeline for the now-yearlong review into the purchase of dozens of F-35 fighter jets, telling reporters in Ottawa Monday that it’s ongoing. “What it says, I hope, for Canadians, is that we’re being very responsible,” McGuinty said, when asked whether the review is being delayed because the Canadian government is worried about...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday he feels he’s being held to a “double standard,” when it comes to an outcry over the government’s purchase of a $30-million private jet for his use, but said he’s nevertheless heard “loud and clear” that the public isn’t happy about the purchase. “I heard loud and clear from the people that this was...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates, even as the president renewed his calls for the central bank to do so.
The scriptural passage that President Donald Trump plans to read Tuesday evening in a livestreamed Bible-reading marathon dates back to the depiction of an ancient event -- but it's one that carries a highly charged significance in the current religious and political climate.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Reserve is pledging to fight inflation at a hearing Tuesday even as the president underscored his demands for interest rate cuts.
The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded that Michigan's Wayne County turn over all its ballots from the 2024 election just weeks after it made similar requests in Georgia and Arizona.
Ottawa has announced an increase in the number of direct flights permitted to bring passengers and cargo to and from China. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says there will be "an incremental increase" in flights between the countries in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney's outreach visit to Beijing in January. Canadian and Chinese airlines will be allowed to boost the...
The strait will not be fully reopened “until America allows full freedom of navigation for vessels traveling from Iran,” Iranian military officials indicated. Iranian military officials said Saturday that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz have reverted to "strict control," citing the continued U.S. blockade of its ports, just one day after declaring the waterway “completely open.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney told world leaders today Canada welcomes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The Prime Minister's Office says Carney took part virtually in a meeting with dozens of world leaders to talk about securing the strait.
Strait will remain completely open for rest of ceasefire, Iran's foreign minister says. Iran's foreign minister announced Friday that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is completely open following a ceasefire agreement reached in Lebanon yesterday, but President Donald Trump said the U.S. naval blockade on Iran will remain in place until a deal with Tehran...
Canada’s finance minister plans to discuss Anthropic PBC’s Mythos model when he meets with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week.
A comparison of two separate surveys conducted during the 2021 and 2025 election years shows a misalignment between the positions of election candidates and those of their constituents on the division of powers in Canada. While the views of candidates and voters were relatively close on this issue in 2021, the gap widened in 2025. The percentage of voters who...
Canada needs to make workforce upskilling a central pillar to the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. The global economy is entering an AI accelerating phase. Countries that have relatively large knowledge economy sectors, like Canada, face higher exposure to AI-driven change. Budget 2025 focused on AI infrastructure investments. Budget 2026 must expand the focus to AI workforce upskilling. AI is...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
I nearly drove off the road when I heard Pope Leo’s powerful message on the radio this week.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office wants to bust up a monopoly. I think I’m the target. Let me explain. The Privy Council Office (PCO), home of the prime minister and cabinet, has been flooded with complaints about its failures to comply with the Access to Information Act.
Canadian troops may be only days away from deploying to the Middle East to aid the U.S.’s and Israel’s war on Iran. The latest indication is a joint statement expressing concern about Iran’s restriction of oil tankers through the narrow Strait of Hormuz signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO allies late in the week.
YouTube is now the pre-eminent TV channel for those watching television . And now it also stars the latest attempts by both Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre to try to influence Canadians. What's behind their dueling videos? Also Doug Ford's jet -- here today gone tomorrow. Could there be more to this story? Althia Raj and Rob Russo are here...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals took over Montreal for their convention. But it felt less like a meeting of the minds and more like a lame Coachella.
Jayme sits down with Nobel laureate economist, Daron Acemoglu, a professor at MIT, and one of the leading thinkers about labour, politics and technology. He’s the author of the best-selling book “Why Nations Fail” and the forthcoming work “What Happened to Liberal Democracy?”. They talk about the decline of western liberal democracy, the alienation of the working class, AI, and...
When the Iran War started it was hard to know why Donald Trump ordered the attack. Lately he's settled on just one reason and had all his people parrot the same line. Nuclear. So what do we really know?
