Meng Wanzhou lawyers lay out ‘abuse of process’ claims, citing Trump, FBI, CBSA, RCMP
Lawyers acting on behalf of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou have laid out claims alleging abuse of process by the United States, the FBI, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP in connection with her extradition case. They argue that the extradition proceedings against the executive should be stayed. And U.S. President Donald Trump’s […]
Brampton’s new integrity commissioner has ties to Mayor Patrick Brown
Brampton’s newly appointed integrity commissioner has publicly expressed support for Mayor Patrick Brown in the past and her spouse’s company did paid work for the Ontario Progressive Conservative party under the former leader. Muneeza Sheikh, a Toronto labour lawyer and frequent media contributor, was appointed by Brampton city council to the dual post of integrity […]
Unifor head tells union’s media members he hears concerns about Tory-bashing but won’t stop
Unifor head Jerry Dias has written to media members of his union, telling them he hears the concerns many have been voicing about how his partisan attacks on conservative politicians reflect on them — but won’t stop his rhetoric during the upcoming campaign.
Despite officially opposing the “divisive” ban on religious symbols for public servants in Quebec, the Green Party is warning its candidates to be careful of commenting on Bill 21, calling it a “provincial issue.” Daniel Green, deputy leader of the federal Green Party and candidate for the riding of Outremont, Que., said Quebec candidates are […]
Read MoreOne of Nova Scotia’s best-known country music stars is walking on to the political stage. George Canyon has announced he’s running as a Conservative candidate in the riding of Central Nova in the upcoming federal election. His name was added to the Tory roster after existing candidate Roger MacKay dropped out this week, for what […]
Read MoreMaclean’s and Citytv are hosting the first National Leaders Debate of the 2019 election calendar, to take place on Thursday, Sept. 12 starting at 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT). The two-hour debate in English will centre on four major themes: the economy, foreign policy, Indigenous issues and, lastly, energy and the environment. After the […]
Read MoreA three-year, multi-agency investigation led by the U.S. tax authority targeted a key “broker” in a smuggling scheme that allegedly moved millions of dollars worth of tobacco through a border-straddling First Nation and into the Canadian black market, U.S. court records reveal. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its investigative partners allege a man from […]
Read MoreA Canada Border Services Agency agent breached federal privacy law when she took a photo of confidential police information and emailed it to a member of her family, says an internal report. According to a copy of the findings, recently obtained by CBC News through access to information law, the Calgary Police issued a wanted […]
Read MoreCanada’s chief electoral officer issued a public statement today assuring environmental organizations that they’re free to promote action to fight climate change during the fall federal election without falling afoul of the Canada Elections Act. “The act does not prevent individuals or groups from talking about issues or publishing information,” Stéphane Perrault said. Perrault issued […]
Read MoreFeatured Ink
It’s time for Elizabeth May to up her game
Elizabeth May is by far the most experienced party leader in this campaign. She has been hammering home variations on the same themes for decades as an activist and as a politician. She can emote with the best of them. Because she has, for most of that time, been a one-woman show, she’s never developed […]
SNC-Lavalin affair exposes Trudeau’s lazy math on jobs
There’s a short but jarring paragraph in Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s report last week on what went wrong in the SNC-Lavalin controversy. When the commissioner asked Finance Minister Bill Morneau what kind of analyses his department had done on the economic damage that could flow from SNC-Lavalin having to go to trial, Morneau replied that […]
The Gathering Storm
We are all endeavouring to enjoy the fading days of summer before the hyper-activity of the federal election fires up. The political parties have used the warmer days to hit the hustings in an attempt to tenderize voters for the melee that is about to ensue. But this election will be held against a backdrop […]
Environmentalists could be on a collision course with Elections Canada
The People’s Party of Canada is really big on freedom of expression. A whole section of its platform, laid out over the party website, is devoted to the rights of people to say whatever the heck they want. “What some people find politically incorrect, offensive or even hateful cannot serve as the legal basis for […]
Why Canada’s environmental charities are afraid to talk about climate change during the election
There is a serious erosion of democracy underway in Canada. Elections Canada is preventing environmental charities from telling the truth about the climate crisis during this fall’s election, when it will be a critical issue. Elections Canada’s job is to run elections that are fair and trustworthy so that the government chosen by Canadians will […]
With Jihadi Jack, Britain gives Canada a taste of its own medicine
On Sunday we learned that Jack Letts, known in the British press as Jihadi Jack, is no longer a British subject. Then-home secretary Sajid Javid and then-prime minister Theresa May reportedly approved stripping the alleged ISIL fighter of his citizenship as one of their administration’s final acts and it seems they didn’t even send a […]
Alberta and Quebec have little chance of pipeline compromise
Keeping track of Quebec and Alberta’s premiers these days is like watching two runaway trains on a pipeline-driven collision course. Neither Jason Kenney nor François Legault seems inclined to put his foot on the brake. It is not clear that either of them can alter course without derailing his agenda. By all indications, Canada’s s […]
Let Bernier debate so Canadians can see what he’s really all about
There’s more to politics than elections, and more to campaigns than televised debates. Yet we treat the debates like monumental happenings, often to our disappointment, since they rarely change anything or do much to illuminate the issues. We media folks still seem to think that debates are potential game changers and also good TV. I’m […]
Maxime Bernier’s ideas should not disqualify him from debating other leaders
In the lead-up to its first national campaign this fall, Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party had the opportunity to test the waters in four byelections. The sample was not scientific by any measure but the ridings in play featured a wide range of political dynamics. To wit, over the first half of 2019 the Liberals, the […]
Accountability reforms needed in wake of SNC-Lavalin affair
The pundits will be chattering about the political impact of federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s bombshell report into the SNC-Lavalin affair until election day. But this is also an opportunity to strengthen government accountability to prevent a repeat of the circumstances that gave rise to the scandal. Dion concluded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke conflict-of-interest […]
Sorry, we’re not sorry! Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doubled down in the wake of the ethics commissioner’s report released last Wednesday, which found him guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act. Trudeau refused to apologize or appear contrite when speaking with the media. He stuck to his key message that his only motivation was […]
Read MoreThe federal integrity commissioner’s finding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the conflict of interest rules is an aftershock to the earthquake that rocked the government through the first few months of this year. The SNC-Lavalin scandal had already inflicted permanent damage on Trudeau’s personal brand. And the timing of Mario Dion’s report, which comes […]
Read MoreThe Hong Kong demonstrations are a reminder that the desire for freedom is the elementary force driving all liberties. Those who should be liberty’s champions – the G7 democracies – are meeting next week in Biarritz. They need to speak out on Hong Kong and keep watch on what is happening. The joint statement on […]
Read MoreJustin Trudeau wears apologia like a rose in his lapel. Sometimes accessorized with tears. The prime minister has either apologized or promised to apologize for: the harm caused to Aboriginal people by Canada’s residential schools policy and the decades-long abuse of Indigenous children; the Chinese head tax; refusal to let the Komagata Maru, a steamship […]
Read MoreThe latest developments in Lavscam are very bad indeed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been found to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act. We’ve now gone from the realm of political messaging into the realm of lawbreaking. There are those engaged in wordplay about how this isn’t a real law and it doesn’t come […]
Read MoreHow arrogant is it when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems eager to apologize for everyone else’s sins but never his own? Since becoming PM back in November of 2015, Trudeau has offered apologies – both official and unofficial — to Inuit, Italians, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Nazi-fleeing Jews, numerous First Nations and Indigenous individuals and LGBTQ […]
Read MoreWhen times are tough, the tough talk over politicians’ salaries get going. It feels somewhat routine now, whenever a government is faced with a struggling economy. Over the past four years, provinces such as Manitoba and Nova Scotia have implemented wage freezes for members of their legislative assemblies; in Ontario, one has been in place […]
Read MoreJustin Trudeau doesn’t apologize, at least for non-historical transgressions. His non-apology apologies tend to follow a formula: to assert his behaviour was “appropriate” and unimpeachable, to suggest “people can experience interactions differently” (and that his interpretation of the experience is the correct one), and then to wrap it all into a “teachable” moment.
Read MoreIt is the element of deception that raises the conduct described in the ethics commissioner’s report from the merely unlawful to the potentially criminal. Until now what we had thought we were dealing with was only a sustained and mounting campaign, by the prime minister and by those acting at his direction, to pressure the […]
Read MoreJustin Trudeau gazed into television cameras on Feb. 7 and denied a Globe and Mail report that his office had intervened in a criminal case involving engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. “The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false,” he said. “Neither the current nor the previous attorney general was ever directed by me or […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
Country music star George Canyon to run for Tories in Nova Scotia
One of Nova Scotia’s best-known country music stars is walking on to the political stage. George Canyon has announced he’s running as a Conservative candidate in the riding of Central Nova in the upcoming federal election. His name was added to the Tory roster after existing candidate Roger MacKay dropped out this week, for what […]
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