Canada sticking with 2050 net zero targets, but progress may come faster than expected, minister says
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target. The government’s current target is to hit net zero emissions — the point at […]
Nova Scotians’ personal information stolen in global security breach: province
A global security breach has resulted in the theft of an undisclosed number of Nova Scotians’ personal information. The provincial government confirmed the theft of information in a Sunday press conference but provided few details about what was stolen and how many people are affected. “Nova Scotians will have questions, and we do, too. Our […]
Why Danielle Smith says she will try ‘persuading’ Trudeau on climate goals
Newly re-elected Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she got a “very strong” mandate in Monday’s provincial election and is ready to lead for all Albertans — despite her United Conservative Party losing seats and dropping in its share of the vote. And she says she is confident she will be able to sway Prime Minister […]
China’s close manoeuvring near a U.S. ship in the Taiwan Strait was “clearly provocative,” says retired vice-admiral Mark Norman, former vice chief of the defence staff. Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson on The West Block, Norman — a 39-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy and its former commander — said the Chinese captain “knew exactly […]
Read MoreLongtime B.C. politician Dave Hayer knew his campaign people. And his people included Chinese Canadians. They volunteered for him. They voted for him. And then in his 2021 campaign to become a federal Conservative MP, they vanished. The former MLA was running to represent the riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells, drawing on the same base of […]
Read MoreConservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre had harsh words for Maxime Bernier’s over the latter’s appearance at a recent Brandon School Division board of trustees meeting. In Manitoba on Friday to help CPC candidates campaign in two federal byelections, the Leader of the Opposition referred to Bernier’s actions as a “stunt.” “Maxime Bernier is […]
Read MoreThe briefing with Canada’s spy agency, warning Jenny Kwan that she is a target of foreign interference by China, took roughly an hour. It took less than a second, she says, for her to decide that she wouldn’t let Beijing weaken her resolve. The Hong Kong-born member of Parliament has been outspoken against human-rights violations […]
Read MoreA Chinese warship came within 150 yards of hitting American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, during a rare joint Canada-U.S. mission sailing through the Taiwan Strait, the latest aggressive military move from Beijing in the South China Sea. Global News has been travelling on the HMCS Montreal, the Canadian frigate participating in the mission, since May 25th […]
Read MoreDavid Johnston, Canada’s special rapporteur on foreign interference, has hired a firm specializing in crisis communications to support him — and taxpayers are footing the bill, CBC News has learned. Valérie Gervais, a spokesperson for Johnston, confirmed that the former governor general, appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate foreign interference in Canadian politics, […]
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Today in Canada’s Political History: Liberals, Tories, Greens and New Democrats unite in the Commons to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
MPs from all sides of the House put partisanship aside on this date in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen’s reign. The Harper government’s Minister of Citizenship, Jason Kennedy, spoke on behalf of his colleagues. “Her Majesty’s life has been the history of Canada,” he said. “She has known personally […]
Pierre Poilievre is wasting his chance to become prime minister
Justin Trudeau’s government has been on the defensive in the House of Commons for months. By now, fewer than one in three Canadians approves its handling of the China electoral interference file, a topic that has monopolized the federal political conversation throughout the first half of the year. To listen to the furor in the […]
A Pivot to India – Five reasons Canada should boost its Indo-Pacific ties
For over 150 years, Canada’s greatest love affair has been with the United States. Cohabitating the same continent, the US is our staunchest ally, strongest defender and largest economic partner, accounting for over 960.9 billion in trade in 2022. Nestled under the eagle’s wing, we’ve gotten away with spending a scant 1.4% of our GDP […]
How Serious Is The Threat to Our Politicians?
The RCMP is going to set up special units to protect politicians and senior civil servants. What has the country become that has led to this? Bruce and Chantal have their thoughts on that plus the latest on the David Johnston story and whether he can carry on with his job. Also what to believe […]
Power Play Strategy Session: Poilievre drums up support against Bernier in federal by-election
The Strategy Session panel weighs as Pierre Poilievre and Maxine Bernier go head-to-head within a highly anticipated federal byelection.
If Parliament has no confidence in Johnston, how long can it have confidence in the man who appointed him?
Your honour, may I approach the bench? You may, counsel. I hesitate to raise the matter, but should you be really be hearing this case? I beg your pardon? I know I’m the plaintiff’s lawyer, but I couldn’t help noticing how friendly you are with counsel for the defendant. I looked it up, and it […]
Canada in an Increasingly Independent World
They are called “non-aligned countries,” and their number is growing. Primarily, their presence is found in the developing world and they are skittish at the thought of joining global alliances that could ultimately place them at an economic disadvantage. The Cold War is not so distant that we forget it as a time when poorer […]
Is anybody ready to act on policing problems in Canada?
Two reports dropped within six weeks of each other revealed deep systemic failures in Canadian policing that go back half a century. The report of the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) provides the framework for bringing Canada’s long-ailing policing system back from its collapse under the weight of the 2022 occupation of Ottawa. It should […]
Poilievre’s ‘digital politics’ — where the facts don’t matter but scoring points does
As the Conservative leader showed this week, what sells online is salacious fiction delivered with a side of snark. The new laws of digital politics are a disgrace, but they’re effective. According to the old laws of politics, when an opponent is beating himself, you step out of the way and watch him go to […]
Today in Canada’s Political History: R.B. Bennett foreshadows his establishment of the Bank of Canada
Canada’s future Prime Minister, R. B. Bennett, took to his feet in the House of Commons on this date in 1910 to call for better regulation of Canadian banks during a debate on the Bank Act. Of course, when he was prime minister two decades later, Bennett established the Bank of Canada, perhaps his greatest […]
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has said he won’t end his party’s deal with the Liberals and potentially trigger an election, until confidence in the electoral process is restored. Don’t hold your breath. A new Léger poll for the National Post suggests Singh’s hope is analogous to the old trope that the beatings will continue until […]
Read MorePrime Minister John Diefenbaker and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower held lengthy talks at the White House on this date in 1960. Foreign and defence matters took up the majority of the discussions. Of course, Dief being Dief, he also complained about the lack of interest in Canada demonstrated by the American media. “The President then […]
Read MoreWe are warned daily that Canada is a nest of spies, a den of Chinese espionage undermining our democracy. But who is the enemy, exactly? And who is the casualty, precisely? First, we were cautioned that certain Chinese-Canadian politicians were the villains ― with supposed spies or collaborators named and shamed in the media. Later, […]
Read MoreThere’s sure a lot of sound and fury going on, but is the Chinese-meddling-in-our-elections scandal really worth all the airtime it’s devouring? Going out on a limb, I’d argue that we have plenty of channels for spotlighting any wrongdoing (including public hearings, already announced) and for punishing any wrongdoers, including expelling foreign diplomats (already done). […]
Read MoreIt might be time to stop hoping and praying that America won’t elect Donald Trump again. Hopes and prayers might not matter much. While most Canadians don’t like him (he might get about 15% of the vote here in Canada) but he’d get at least three times that support if he wins the Republican nomination, […]
Read MoreIt looked like the NDP leader was in a political jam criticizing the government while at the same time propping it up. But someone, maybe Jagmeet Singh himself, came up with a great line to get himself to safe ground. Bruce does his SMT analysis on that plus the Alberta election and artificial intelligence too. […]
Read MoreI was in Toronto last week at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, which ran May 25-28. The meeting attracted thousands of municipal leaders from everywhere. As a councillor from a small Quebec village, it was gratifying to meet colleagues from across the country, most from much larger cities and towns, but some from […]
Read MoreSometimes Canadian politics feel less like a sophisticated game of chess and more like a round of checkers played at a backyard family gathering. Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), finds himself in the delicate situation of a checkers player on the losing side of a game against a particularly crafty […]
Read MoreHistory was made on this date in 1943 when Agnes McClosky was appointed Canada’s Vice-Consul in New York City. This made her the very first Canadian woman posted to a foreign country on the nation’s behalf. Before her New York posting, McClosky was perhaps the most feared person in the Department of External Affairs. She […]
Read MoreThe latest Alberta election has rendered the map of that province into a highly polarized territory, riven between Danielle Smith’s re-elected, but weaker United Conservatives and the strongest opposition ever with Rachel Notley’s New Democrats. The obvious conclusion is that the centre has disappeared in Alberta and the next four years will be a tug […]
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