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...
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...
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.
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...
The latest Liaison Strategies National Tracker puts the Liberals at 45% and the Conservatives at 30% among decided and leaning voters, restoring a 15-point Liberal lead. Ahead of the American midterm elections, 70% of Canadians would prefer Democrats to control both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Liaison surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Canadians from October 18 to...
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:
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...
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...
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?
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.
It may be the most Canadian ad of the U.S. midterms and it’s for a Republican. A man settles in at a neighbourhood bar with a Labatt Blue and the Red Wings game and tells us it doesn’t get any more Michigan than that. Then comes a line you wouldn’t expect: “Canada is not our enemy. We need to end...
British Columbians took a huge political gamble this weekend, handing power to someone they barely know who leads a party that looked like it was imploding only a few weeks ago. But such was the level of anger and disgust over NDP Leader David Eby’s move to call a snap election – amid provincewide municipal elections no less, and with...
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...
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...
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...
A fractured movement, a premier in the hot seat and a cowboy-hat-toting separatist kicked out of her party. Such is the aftermath of Alberta’s referendum.
In the depths of winter more than 20 years ago, Kate Shingler set off on the Plaster Rock Highway, a remote two-lane route cutting east-west through the dense wilderness of central New Brunswick. It was 2005 and so snowy and slippery that the young driver behind the wheel of a Toyota Tercel had to pull over on the side of...
Following this week’s Canada-EU Summit in Montreal, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu insists the gathering will bear fruit. But, on the question of how much so-called associate membership with the bloc could cost Canada, the minister wouldn’t say, insisting instead there’s an “opportunity cost” of not pursuing deeper integration with Europe. Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted European Commission President Ursula...
Stephen Harper releases Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister, on Tuesday, Nov. 3. It begins with the Harper family’s arrival in Nova Scotia in 1774, and ends with his final days in office, with a short afterword about his post-politics life — and his thoughts on Canada’s abilities to withstand current challenges, including the American one. In...
In an interview with POLITICO, the Canadian prime minister delivered a sharp brushback to Washington just days before the U.S. midterm. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that if his government could not successfully negotiate a suitable trade pact with the Trump administration, he was prepared to wait for a new American president to close the deal. In an...
Two Indigenous parliamentarians say talk of abolishing the Indian Act is being used as a distraction by the federal government to shift attention away from two other pieces of legislation affecting Indigenous rights.
A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport requiring Russian teams to be allowed back into international ice hockey tournaments is “unwelcome,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in an interview with POLITICO. CAS ruled that the International Ice Hockey Federation can no longer bar Russia from participating in the coming World Junior Championship in Canada this December...
In its account of the deadly fire at CFB Wainwright, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) describes an extraordinary chain of events on Oct. 17. The base, it says, was monitoring a common grass fire that erupted in “uncommonly strong winds,” with flames soon devouring a kilometre in just 30 to 60 seconds. The military called
Last night Donald Trump cancelled his final weekend rallies in the US midterms. Why? Is he doing so poorly it's not worth it? Or does he have something else planned? How critical are Tuesday's results to the negotiations with Canada? Are we at yet another turning point in the relationship? Lots of questions for Bruce and Chantal.
Democrats are hoping Tuesday's midterm elections will give them the power to rein in U.S. President Donald Trump -- but Canadians hoping for an outcome that stabilizes the rocky bilateral relationship may be disappointed. Once-safe Republican seats are now in peril and control of Congress could flip. Trump's poll numbers are plummeting thanks to his unpopular war in Iran, rising...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out a timeline that would see Canada sign an agreement on a new partnership with the European Union in the next seven months, if all goes well. Carney said Friday that Ottawa and Brussels are working toward the "deepest possible partnership short of accession" that would see Canada become "the European Union's first associate...
Elections Alberta says it has two recommendations on how to deal with the province's next general vote ahead of a contentious report about new electoral boundaries being released to the public Monday. The agency's chief electoral officer suggests in a letter sent to Speaker Ric McIver, which was then shared by the Opposition NDP, that the Oct. 18, 2027 vote...
As Canada-U.S. trade talks intensify, the federal government is pushing ahead with efforts to diversify Canada’s trading relationships and attract foreign investment, with a series of international meetings and trade initiatives planned in the coming weeks, and several others that have already happened. This week, Canada and the United Arab Emirates launched a new strategic partnership. “A comprehensive economic partnership...
The planned Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion, which is expected to add 2.4 million containers of capacity at the Port of Vancouver, the largest in the country, has officially been named a project of national interest. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the move provides certainty for a project that's a key part of Ottawa's drive to expand and diversify trade...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says high-profile separatist leader Jeff Rath has been kicked out of her United Conservative Party. Smith told reporters in Calgary that the party's executive director made the decision to revoke Rath's membership over code of conduct issues, and it's a decision she supports. "Somebody whose objective and mission is to turn us into something we are...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call by-elections shortly, with his party nominating candidates for four ridings in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan in the past week. The Liberals will head into those elections having raised more money than the Conservatives in the third quarter of 2026, a reversal of roles for the Tories, who traditionally lead the pack in...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Russia should not have attended a G20 meeting the U.S. hosted on Friday, but she still used the opportunity to make a point to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "I was sitting at a table directly across from Sergei Lavrov and I looked him in the eye," she told The Canadian Press on Friday. "I...
YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) -- Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and fellow Michigan Democrats scrambled on Monday to refocus attention on turning out voters for Election Day after his former primary rival stunned the party by endorsing the Republican candidate in one of the country's most closely watched races.
The stakes in Tuesday's midterm elections are so high that Shane Dunn voted for the first time in his life, at age 65.
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...
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.
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...
A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport requiring Russian teams to be allowed back into international ice hockey tournaments is “unwelcome,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in an interview with POLITICO. CAS ruled that the International Ice Hockey Federation can no longer bar Russia from participating in the coming World Junior Championship in Canada this December...
Democrats are hoping Tuesday's midterm elections will give them the power to rein in U.S. President Donald Trump -- but Canadians hoping for an outcome that stabilizes the rocky bilateral relationship may be disappointed. Once-safe Republican seats are now in peril and control of Congress could flip. Trump's poll numbers are plummeting thanks to his unpopular war in Iran, rising...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out a timeline that would see Canada sign an agreement on a new partnership with the European Union in the next seven months, if all goes well. Carney said Friday that Ottawa and Brussels are working toward the "deepest possible partnership short of accession" that would see Canada become "the European Union's first associate...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Russia should not have attended a G20 meeting the U.S. hosted on Friday, but she still used the opportunity to make a point to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "I was sitting at a table directly across from Sergei Lavrov and I looked him in the eye," she told The Canadian Press on Friday. "I...
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...
It may be the most important thing that happened last week, even though it received little discussion. We'll change that today as Dr. Janice Stein from the Munk School at the University of Toronto joins for her regular Monday discussion. The topic: the new plan for Canada's national security. What is it, and how will it work?
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called for the Indian Act to be abolished, which was met with echoes from Prime Minister Mark Carney who agreed that it should be scrapped. The act was passed in 1876 with aims of assimilating Indigenous populations into Eurocentric ways of living through legislation that governs where they live, where their kids go to school, and...
Earlier this month, U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra, made the dramatic allegation that Canada could be engaging in election interference in the U.S. The ambassador was pointing to a few different things. One, was comments made by Industry Minister Melanie Joly about Canada’s tariff strategy. Another was Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s anti-tariff ads that ran in the U.S. last fall. They...
Last night Donald Trump cancelled his final weekend rallies in the US midterms. Why? Is he doing so poorly it's not worth it? Or does he have something else planned? How critical are Tuesday's results to the negotiations with Canada? Are we at yet another turning point in the relationship? Lots of questions for Bruce and Chantal.
