Liberals 39, Conservatives 31, NDP 17, Green 6: Nanos
Ballot – The latest Nanos federal ballot tracking has the Liberals at 39.0 per cent support, followed by the Conservatives at 31.2 per cent, the NDP at 17.0 percent, the BQ at 2.4 per cent and the Greens at 5.5 per cent. Accessible Voters – Asked whether they would consider voting for each of the federal parties, […]
Liberals plagued by inefficient vote after racking up big wins in some N.B. ridings
In any election, someone needs to win — even if it is by default. The actual outcome of the New Brunswick provincial vote may not be known for some time to come. Liberal Leader Brian Gallant says he will test the confidence of the legislature after his party fell just one seat short of the […]
Independent Senators Group poised for majority with latest appointments
The official caucus of independent senators could soon wield a majority as Prime Minster Justin Trudeau named two more senators on Monday. Beverley Busson, Canada’s first female RCMP commissioner, and Saskatchewan business leader Marty Klyne were appointed Monday as independent senators. Mr. Klyne is Cree Métis and a former publisher of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and […]
The two parties vying to be the power brokers in New Brunswick’s minority parliament could scarcely be more different when it comes to policies and leadership styles. The vote on Monday saw surprise gains for the People’s Alliance Party, a party on the right of the spectrum that has questioned policies such as ensuring francophones […]
Read MoreThe number of articles generated by community newspapers in Canada has declined by almost half over the last decade, and many news organizations are trending toward not-for-profit business models to make up for a dramatic decline in advertising revenues, two studies to be released Tuesday reveal. News coverage of local councils and other democratic institutions […]
Read MoreWhile four NDP MLAs from the Calgary area have already announced they won’t be seeking re-election next year, Premier Rachel Notley downplayed the notion that it should reflect negatively on the state of her party. Michael Connolly, who represents the riding of Calgary-Hawkwood, announced over the weekend he would be leaving the legislature when his […]
Read MoreConservative Leader Andrew Scheer says if he were prime minister, he’d build the Trans Mountain pipeline by invoking constitutional powers and banning foreign funding from being used to oppose the project.
Read MoreWashington’s Department of Ecology wants the Canadian government to fix what it calls “deficiencies in critical areas” of its spill response plan for a spur of the Trans Mountain pipeline that runs through the state. When Canada purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline and assets for $4.5 billion, it also bought the Puget Sound line, which […]
Read MoreWith an eye on future lunar exploration, Canada’s space agency is calling on companies to present their ideas for everything from moon-rover power systems to innovative mineral prospecting techniques. The Canadian Space Agency issued the tender this week for projects that will put Canada in position to contribute to future space missions involving human and […]
Read MoreFeatured Ink
Sunny Ways? It’s Up to Us
A lot has changed in the three years since Justin Trudeau’s government came to power, promising to deliver on the “sunny ways” he promoted during the campaign. A few big things got in the way – a court ruling on Trans Mountain pipeline, struggles with the provinces, including the Doug Ford victory, carbon pricing troubles, […]
Luck is nearly impossible to beat, and Justin Trudeau’s has no end
Because we need a horse race, (and because we are so deeply in love with clichés), news organizations have been pushing the idea that the bloom is off the Trudeau rose, which of course is doubly clever, given that flower’s famous place on the lapel of our prime minister’s father. The corollary is obvious: that […]
It’s not the governor general’s fault, the Liberals are to blame
It all rather has the sense of a dam having burst. In recent days a spate of stories has appeared in the nation’s media, notably the National Post’s weekend magnum opus, describing the many ways in which the current Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette, is said to be failing to do her job. Official […]
A sign the government is looking for an off-ramp for the governor general?
How do you solve a problem like Julie? The Prime Minister’s Office won’t even admit there is a problem with the Governor General, Julie Payette. Rideau Hall insists that the Queen’s representative in Canada is “fully committed to the responsibilities” of her office. “I look forward to sharing our accomplishments to date and to presenting […]
Doug Ford and Faith Goldy — what’s wrong with this picture?
Say what you will about Doug Ford, he is a man of the people. He is premier of Ontario’s “First Government For The People.” All kinds of people. Like Faith Goldy. That would be the fringe journalist who famously appeared on the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, and whose shameless white nationalism has gone viral — […]
Québec Solidaire has the Parti Québécois on the ropes
Three years ago, millennial voters helped Justin Trudeau’s Liberals vault from a distant third place in the House of Commons to a majority government. Next Monday in Quebec, that same cohort could deal a lethal blow to the once mighty Parti Québécois. PQ Leader Jean-François Lisée spent the past month trying to restore his party’s […]
Canada shouldn’t let itself be rushed or bullied on NAFTA
Forget the midnight flights to Washington and the clumsy presidential threats, the phoney deadlines and blatant negotiating ploys. If Canada is to achieve a renewed continental trade agreement under viable terms, it has to shrug off American pressure tactics and stay focused. There is no rush to get a new NAFTA because there are no […]
What governments do in the last year of their mandate
It is true that governments in Canada do not technically have “mandates” to govern, as scholar Philippe Lagassé has pointed out. But for lack of a better term, let me use it to describe the four-year period a majority federal government is given to achieve particular policy objectives and otherwise govern the country before it […]
Tory divide a painful lesson not learned by all
Ask any Canadian conservative about federal politics during the mid-’90s, and you will be met with a grimace. Just when right-of-centre provincial parties were making substantial headway across the country, the Reform, Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties were insisting on a futile battle for voter support that saw them languish in second, third or even […]
Everyone wins with Trudeau’s carbon tax? No
We all know if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That’s the case with a new report by Canadians for Clean Prosperity. It claims the Trudeau government will implement a carbon tax where “the vast majority of households, regardless of income level, would receive more money in the form of carbon […]
Voters have a right to feel betrayed by floor crossers. It is time to reform. When Parliament reopened last Monday, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were jolted by the unaccustomed sting of political betrayal. Leona Alleslev, the Liberal MP for Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, elected in 2015, crossed the floor to the Conservative party, switching parties without any […]
Read MoreThere is an ancient, deadly virus quietly spreading across the land. It has been mostly latent for decades, but we have endured earlier regional outbreaks. This time is more threatening for two reasons: how it spreads and who is responsible for it. It goes by the euphemistic name “identity politics.” It is more properly called […]
Read MoreYou’ll never guess what: There’s a new Ontario government, and it claims to have found glaring incongruities between the previous government’s financial reporting and reality, and we might all have to make sacrifices as a result. It’s like The Mousetrap of political theatre: it’s more than a bit hammy, and everyone knows how it ends, […]
Read MoreDavid Johnston, who stepped down as governor-general a year ago, has written a book called Trust. Julie Payette should read it. On Oct. 2, Ms. Payette will mark her first anniversary as Canada’s 29th governor-general. The year has been controversial, not because of what she has done, but because of what she hasn’t done. The […]
Read MoreThis is the time in past election campaigns when the Quebec Liberals would set aside their platform to focus single-mindedly on the Parti Québécois’s referendum agenda. Forcing the question of whether voters wanted to risk a return to referendum politics on the ballot did not always result in a Liberal victory but it did make […]
Read MoreThe strength of the relationship between the BC NDP government and the B.C. Greens may about to be tested on two fronts. While the two parties disagree on some issues, there has been little of any consequences from any of those disagreements.
Read MoreWhat are members of Parliament? Are they mere standard-bearers for their party, obliged to vote the party line at all times? Or are they representatives in their own right, entitled to apply their own judgment to the issues of the day? On which understanding do voters elect them: party affiliation or individual merit?
Read MoreWhen a Liberal MP marched across the House of Commons aisle to sit as a Conservative this week, reaction in the national press gallery was almost unanimous. Who’s that? Reporters blitzed Google for details on this unfamiliar face and debated how to pronounce Leona Alleslev’s last name.
Read MoreIt’s a healthy strategy to be sceptical of anyone who says “the cheque is in the mail” or “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” — the more so if it’s someone from the government who tells you the cheque is in the mail. But distrust of the Trudeau Liberals doesn’t come close […]
Read MoreThe Canada/Saudi Arabia diplomatic dispute, which peaked in August after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted her support for women’s rights activist Samar Badawi, which in turn prompted Saudi Arabia to pull its students from Canadian colleges and universities (with a temporary exception for medical students), appears to have calmed—for now. But while the spat […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
‘Making A Murderer’ Season 2 Coming To Netflix Canada On October 19, 2018
The popular true-crime docuseries, Making a Murderer, is returning to Netflix Canada for a second season on October 19, 2018.
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