Jim Carr out of cabinet, no more special envoy to Prairies for Liberal government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has left his special representative for the Prairies out of cabinet, appearing to signal a departure from trying to quiet tensions in the West. Manitoba Liberal Jim Carr was appointed to the post following the 2019 federal election where the Grits saw themselves shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan, even losing […]
Alberta referendum on equalization gets 62% support, daylight time voted down by tiny margin
Most Albertans who voted in last week’s municipal elections want Canada to remove the equalization section from the Constitution, but support for reverting to year-round daylight saving time was almost evenly split among voters — with those voting against narrowly coming out on top. Elections Alberta reported nearly 62 per cent of voters said “yes” […]
Prominent Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis defends privacy of vaccination status
Leslyn Lewis, an MP who gained a prominent political profile as a contender in last year’s federal Conservative leadership race, is using social media to defend the rights of those who do not declare their vaccination status. In tweets over the past few days, the MP for the Ontario riding of Haldimand-Norfolk and one of […]
Office issues apology following Twitter feud with critic who called out misinformation. Elections Alberta shared incorrect information about equalization on its website in advance of the recent referendum that may have misled voters about what effect a yes vote would have, constitutional law experts say. Fulfilling a campaign promise, the United Conservative government of Premier […]
Read MoreWe completed a national survey of 2,220 Canadian adults from October 15 to 20, 2021 to measure sentiment just prior to a new federal Cabinet being sworn in. PUBLIC MOOD & GOVERNMENT APPROVAL About equal numbers feel things in Canada are headed in the right direction (43%) than those who feel it is off on […]
Read MoreTrudeau named eight rookies to cabinet and brought back a minister dropped in 2019. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has renovated his front bench by naming eight new faces to his cabinet. He’s also brought back a minister he dropped from his inner circle two years ago. In building his new cabinet, Trudeau favoured appointing new […]
Read MoreJustin Trudeau’s new heritage minister has a chance to reset the Liberal government’s controversial plans to regulate social media and internet giants. The question is whether he will take it. Trudeau tapped veteran MP and cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez to lead the heritage portfolio Tuesday, part of a wider reset of his cabinet after September’s […]
Read MoreAfter months of criticism over his handling of the military sexual misconduct crisis, Harjit Sajjan will no longer serve as the minister of national defence – Anita Anand is taking over the role. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his new cabinet in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on a rainy Tuesday morning in Ottawa, shuffling […]
Read MoreChrétien said he never heard of abuse while he was in charge at Indian Affairs. While Jean Chrétien was minister of Indian affairs, his federal department received several reports — including one addressed directly to him — of mistreatment and physical abuse of children at residential schools, government records show. Chrétien, Canada’s prime minister from […]
Read MoreFeatured Ink
The good, bad and ugly of the new Trudeau cabinet
Keeping in mind that being a Justin Trudeau cabinet minister means you’re a force-fed enabler of the Prime Minister’s agenda more than influencer of policy direction, there are good, bad and ugly moves to be observed in Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony. The over-arching theme is how this gaggle of ministers is more lapdog than usual, where […]
With his cabinet picks, Trudeau signals he’s a PM in a hurry
Justin Trudeau described his new cabinet Tuesday as “a team of familiar faces and new faces that are ready to put all their strengths, all their hard work toward delivering for Canadians in the coming years.” “Delivering” may be the key word here. According to a senior Liberal source, the speed and urgency with which […]
Justin Trudeau’s cabinet choices reveal how he’d like to be remembered
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent several strong signals Tuesday with the appointment of his new cabinet. First, his policy focus. Gone are the ministers of digital government and middle-class prosperity (drawing less attention to failed benchmarks), replaced instead with ministers for mental health, housing, and tourism. Former Équiterre founder Steven Guilbeault becomes the country’s environment […]
Welcome to Justin Trudeau’s no-growth cabinet
It is absurd that at a time when Canada’s energy exports look set to top their all-time peak, Justin Trudeau has appointed as environment minister a man who opposes fossil fuel development in this country. How dangerous could Steven Guilbeault’s appointment be to Canada’s economic and political future? We are about to find out.
Justin Trudeau brings out the activists for heavy lifting on two tough files
If there’s a single word to sum up the implications of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet moves for the pandemic recovery, it’s activist. In fact, he has put some real-life activists in charge of a big chunk of that recovery — Steven Guilbeault to environment and Ahmed Hussen to the new position of housing minister.
Trudeau’s new cabinet: Serious people in charge of serious files
A CBC producer, soggy as a sponge like everyone else in the media gaggle, took it upon himself to be the warm-up act. “GOOD MORNING PRIME MINISTER IS THIS SUNNY WAYS?” he bellowed at Justin Trudeau in a goofily exaggerated yell as the PM strode up the driveway of Rideau Hall alongside his wife, Sophie […]
Trudeau is already setting up the next election with a Big Government cabinet
Who’s in, who’s out, and what does it all mean? As the new Liberal cabinet assumes its portfolios in Canada’s 44th Parliament, one thing is clear: this government is about big government. It’s also about shoring up support in places the Liberals want to win more votes next time around, such as Quebec, while strengthening […]
The Rome G20: Multilateral Stress Test or Last Call at the Star Wars Cantina?
This weekend’s G20 summit in Rome is important on a number of counts: as part of the international community’s ongoing pandemic and economic recovery response; in setting the tone for the COP26 Glasgow climate summit that immediately follows it; as well as for the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Geneva at the end of […]
Today in Canada’s Political History: Referendum on the Charlottetown Accord
I find it hard to believe that so many years have passed since Canadians were glued to their television sets awaiting the results of the national referendum on the Charlottetown Accord. It was October 26, 1992 and I have never forgotten the night. I had a few friends from my Ryerson Journalism class over to […]
Canada’s environment minister touts a climate change win. Boris Johnson fears it might ‘go wrong’
Jonathan Wilkinson, our environment minister — at least, for now —is declaring a $100-billion win in the fight to control global warming, and we should take victories where we can in this depressing fight to preserve the world as we know it. But this isn’t quite the fist-pumping triumph that the world could use right […]
In an interview before the publication of a new report he co-authored on how much developed nations are doing to help developing countries fight climate change, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson figured he had relatively good news to share. The early reviews were less inclined to look on the bright side. “This document is certainly not […]
Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to appoint his fifth minister of foreign affairs, which is a travesty. My colleagues Bill Curry, Marieke Walsh and Steven Chase report that Marc Garneau is being moved out of the post after less than a year in the job. Serial rotation of foreign affairs ministers is nothing new. […]
Read MoreEconomically developed countries have committed to start transitioning off fossil fuels, even though that commitment is disconnected from technological and economic reality. As a result, their policies have exacerbated a global energy crisis, with severe geopolitical and domestic implications. Canada is an active participant in the self-delusion.
Read MoreA recent event in Ottawa planted a silly image in my head: members of three of the parties in Parliament — the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Québécois — setting a trap for the Conservatives and then watching, stifling giggles, as Erin O’Toole happens along.
Read MoreJean Chrétien crafted cabinets on a blank piece of paper — in 1996 he started on a cocktail napkin in Kuala Lumpur — describing the work as “the most private and personal duty a prime minister has to perform.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a small group of trusted advisers may need an erasable, oversized […]
Read MoreLast week, the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that Justin Trudeau would be naming his new cabinet on Oct. 26 – a full five weeks following the Sept. 20 federal election. Since the news leaked to media, political reporters, pundits, and Liberal Party insiders have been awash in intense speculation around “who will be in and […]
Read More“Time is running short.” So declared U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month, and so it is. Since June, the Islamic Republic of Iran has refused to return to the bargaining table for negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Instead, […]
Read MoreHow many dead horses can Canada’s conservative movement flog before it makes itself irrelevant to mainstream voters? On Parliament Hill, Erin O’Toole’s Conservative party might as well be on a mission to kill in the bud any early buyers’ remorse Canadians may feel about handing Justin Trudeau a third term.
Read MoreIn these most uncertain times, the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington last week were distracted not only by an investigation of the IMF’s own managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, but also the American debt ceiling hijinks that threatened to roil the very global financial markets that policy makers […]
Read MoreWhen Germany was defeated in World War II, infrastructure was ruined, the economy destroyed, separated east from west, and some wondered if the country could ever return to its former influence. Look at Germany now. It’s one of the most influential countries in Europe and the world. To get there, it had to reconcile with […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
Howie Mandel, Lilly Singh among judges set for ‘Canada’s Got Talent’
Comedy star Howie Mandel and late-night talk-show host Lilly Singh are among the judges set for the upcoming return of Citytv’s “Canada’s Got Talent.” Rapper and producer Kardinal Offishall and wrestling star Trish Stratus have also signed on to the judging panel of the homegrown version of the popular “Got Talent” franchise. Country-pop singer Lindsay […]
International
Climate Corner
Think Tanks
