Canada to ratify new NAFTA next week following U.S. Senate approval: Trudeau
— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will move next week to formally approve North America’s new, long-delayed free trade pact. Trudeau says the government will introduce a ways and means motion Jan. 27 when Parliament resumes, and will table legislation to ratify the deal two days later. Trudeau says millions of Canadians depend on […]
First remains repatriated to Canada following Iran plane crash
The remains of one Canadian who was killed in the Iran plane crash have been repatriated, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed Tuesday. The remains are the first to be repatriated since 57 Canadian citizens were killed when an Iranian surface-to-air missile struck a Ukrainian aircraft over Tehran on Jan. 8. Twenty-nine permanent residents of […]
Not all lanes will lead Conservative leadership candidates to the finish line
The Conservative Party leadership race is starting to take shape, but there are only so many paths to victory each candidate can take — and limited space in each of them. Some candidates have a better path forward than others. To date, no one has yet met the bar to be classified as a “verified” […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the way Canadians have supported each other throughout the snowstorm in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as mourning the deaths of so many on board a downed passenger jet in Iran, will inform how his Liberal government approaches politics. “Canadians at our best, in difficult times, are there for each […]
Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is insisting Iran respect the wishes of families when it comes to burying those who died when a passenger jet was shot down outside Tehran, noting doing so would also respect the principles of Islam. “We recognize that it is a challenge that Iran does not recognizes double citizenship, […]
Read MorePrince Harry has touched down in Canada to be reunited with his wife Meghan and baby Archie after a whirlwind trip to the U.K. where he finalized his family’s plans to step back from their royal duties. On Monday evening, the Duke of Sussex landed at Vancouver International Airport shortly after 7 p.m. local time […]
Read MoreAn independent analysis of the last Parliament found MPs voted with their own party 99.6 per cent of the time and displayed unhealthy levels of partisanship, polarization and hostility. In its latest report on parliamentary trends, the Samara Centre for Democracy spoke with MPs who sat in the House the Commons between 2015 and 2019. […]
Read MoreSeven years after Stephen Harper’s Conservative government eliminated funding for the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, a new institute for research and analysis on climate policy in Canada is launching with the assistance of federal funds. The Liberal government will contribute up to $20 million over five years to provide for the […]
Read MoreA local bakery is fighting back against online criticism after the prime minister made an unscheduled visit Monday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted online that he stopped in at Winnipeg bakery Oh Doughnuts to pick up tasty treats during a three-day Liberal Cabinet Retreat being held in the city until Tuesday. Oh Doughnuts replied the […]
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Chrétien’s China and Trudeau’s
It was helpful last week of Jean Chrétien’s former right hand Eddie Goldenberg to make, in detail, a case several of his contemporaries have been making piecemeal for more than a year: that taking Canada’s extradition treaty with the United States won’t get Canadian prisoners in Beijing released, so we should just do what Beijing […]
The lesson Trudeau hopes Liberal MPs have learned — good government is boring government
You could tell the Liberal rookies after the 2015 election – there was a kind of new car smell and puppy dog naiveté about them. One veteran MP shook his head as he recalled how the new government allowed its opponents to control the agenda. “Once we got elected, people thought it would be just […]
How did VW avoid criminal charges in Canada over its emissions cheating?
When Volkswagen Canada pleads guilty on Wednesday to illegally importing cars that were rigged to beat emissions tests, investigators and prosecutors may be tempted to celebrate. This is expected to be the biggest environmental fine in Canadian history. Volkswagen is facing 60 charges and each charge carries a maximum penalty of $6 million, so the […]
Now more than ever, Peter MacKay is the right choice for Conservative leader
Peter MacKay has decided to enter the race for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC); this is good for the party and good for Canada. Readers will recall that Mr. MacKay was the newly chosen leader of the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) when he and Stephen Harper agreed in 2003 to put their careers […]
Calm down Trudeau haters, Tim Hortons is not a national treasure
Social media can be a drag but there’s no denying that it’s made a lot of remarkable things possible: it’s launched political revolutions, given a voice to the voiceless, and as we saw this week, enabled yet another incident of misplaced outrage, this one involving a Prime Minister and several boxes of doughnuts. Call it […]
Canada could use a PM like Rona Ambrose
Just in case no one has made it clear to her yet, which seems unlikely, there are compelling reasons Rona Ambrose should quit stalling and seek the leadership of the Conservative party. She has been under pressure for some time, and is obviously torn, given that she hasn’t rejected the idea yet, even if it […]
Is smug Eastern socialism the Tories’ solution to Western alienation?
While the Liberals are huddled in Winnipeg trying to understand how to fix this mysterious thing called “Western alienation,” the Conservatives are huddled somewhere in Ottawa trying to figure out how to make it worse. And I fear they are going to get there first with a leader repellent to the West and unattractive to […]
Sask. election may mark a turn to the nasty
It’s still unlikely to come anything close to the nastiness we will see south of the border this fall, or even the unpleasantry we saw last fall in our nation. The 2020 U.S. Presidential election will be something to behold, given the nasty political times and given that America is experiencing one of the most […]
Monarchy’s rights, privileges and symbols in Canada can be changed
Meghan and Harry’s decision to live in Canada is a mixed blessing for monarchists and republicans alike. Many monarchists will be pleased to have a semipermanent royal-ish couple in the country, though they are aware that the Sussexes are purposefully moving away from the very institution they cherish. Republicans, meanwhile, are doubtless pleased that the […]
Canadian agribusiness CEOs warn of fallout from new U.S.-China trade deal
For Alberta, trade matters. And for the province’s agriculture sector, international trade challenges remain an unpredictable factor in how 2020 will unfold. From the ongoing disruption of Canadian canola sales to China to the potential fallout of a new trade deal between Beijing and Washington, getting goods to market is a pivotal issue in a […]
The campaign for the Conservative Party leadership officially is on, with more on the line than a job for one person yearning to become prime minister. In many ways, Canada’s idea of democracy is at stake. Unlike ever before, Conservatives face choices about what their party stands for and where it is headed. Will Conservatives […]
Read MoreFor many of us, the recent holiday season was a time for rest and relaxation. Not for political parties. In the political world, the countdown to New Year’s represents a fundraising bonanza. Their pitch is simple: Give before Jan. 1 and through a generous tax credit system (far better than anything enjoyed by any charity), […]
Read MoreIn an article in the Financial Post this past Friday, an economist calculates that Canadians’ mobile bills include a hidden tax of 12-16% to cover the fees paid by carriers to the government for spectrum. Robert Crandall calculates the spectrum fees paid by Canadian carriers to be 4 times what European carriers are paying, adding more than […]
Read MoreIt’s likely that sometime this year, control of the $13-billion Trans Mountain pipeline, one of the biggest megaprojects in Canadian history, will be transferred to First Nations investors. That transaction would be a historic turning point in relations between the First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples of Canada.
Read MoreIt is always surprising there is such a wide gap between what journalist outsiders think goes into becoming a successful leader and what the partisans who must choose look for. You must be able to win over these activists, local leadership and, crucially, caucus members to move from convention fluke victor to long-term success. The […]
Read MorePremier John Horgan and the New Democrats expressed disappointment this week when the Supreme Court of Canada threw out their last legal challenge to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. They cannot have been surprised. The New Democrats promised in their 2017 election platform to use “every tool in our tool box to stop the project […]
Read MoreWhile most of the country continues to grieve with the families who have lost their loved ones in the hideous attack on Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, others will be focusing on foreign policy concerns when the House of Commons resumes sitting on Jan, 27. Simultaneously, the Conservative leadership race will be swinging into high […]
Read MoreJust call them Harry, Meghan and Archie. While they’ll retain their Royal Highness status, they’ll no longer call themselves HRH. In a deal hammered out with the Queen and her aides over the last few days and announced Saturday, Harry — arguably Britain’s second most popular royal after the Queen — will be known as […]
Read MoreFor the last 66 years, Queen Elizabeth has skilfully walked the tight rope between being a bulwark of tradition, keeping things more or less as they have always been and skilfully adjusting as England and the world spun forward around her. Nothing was ever new; just enhanced. As the Queen has adopted new technologies — […]
Read MoreIf Western Canadian Conservatives don’t want Peter MacKay to lead the party that Stephen Harper built, they had better get a firmer grip on Rona Ambrose’s elbow, because otherwise MacKay is likely going to take over the party when Tories meet in Toronto in June. In-house polling from several other camps shows MacKay with a […]
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CFL reaches co-operative partnership agreement with Brazilian federation
TORONTO — Add Brazil to the CFL 2.0 initiative. The league announced Tuesday it has reached a partnership with the Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol Americano (CBFA). Brazil becomes the 13th country to sign a co-operative agreement with the CFL since November 2018. "It is an honour to be part of this exciting partnership," CBFA president Italo Mingoni said in a statement. […]
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