Court rejects bid by AFN National Chief RoseAnne Archibald to overturn suspension
The Assembly of First Nations says an Ontario court has rejected a bid by National Chief RoseAnne Archibald to overturn her recent suspension. The organization issued a statement Thursday saying an Ontario Superior Court judge declined to take action on Archibald’s request for a hearing prior to the start of the assembly’s annual general meeting […]
Canadian, American officials optimistic on democracy, despite ‘concerning cocktail’ of threats
Despite a series of challenges in both Canada and the United States, politicians on both sides of the border say they are confident the two countries can overcome a difficult political climate and secure their respective democracies. In interviews on CBC Radio’s The House airing Saturday, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance […]
Celebrations, protests take place on Canada Day in Ottawa
Thousands of people wearing red and white and waiving Canadian flags packed downtown Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s 155th birthday on Friday, while a group of protesters marched through the streets near Parliament Hill to protest COVID-19 vaccines and federal restrictions. It’s the first in-person Canada Day in Ottawa in three years, after COVID-19 restrictions forced […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on Canadians to recommit to the country’s values, including respect, hope and kindness, in his official Canada Day message. The prime minister said the national holiday is an opportunity to commit to the values that the Maple Leaf represents, adding that the flag is more than a symbol. “It’s […]
Read MoreWhen RoseAnne Archibald staffed her office following her election win last July as the Assembly of First Nations’ first female national chief, it was seen by some working in First Nation politics as a dream career opportunity. Now, a year into her first term, what was considered a chance to usher in a new era […]
Read MoreNumber of Conservative members surge: party says 675,000 eligible to vote in fall leadership contest
The Conservative Party of Canada has released a preliminary list of members eligible to vote in the party’s September leadership race showing there are now more than twice the number of eligible voters than were in the 2020 contest that crowned Erin O’Toole as leader. The preliminary numbers released Thursday indicate there are now roughly […]
Read MoreNBA star and human rights campaigner Enes Kanter Freedom says he is frustrated with what he calls a lacklustre response from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to his calls for more action to help Uighur Muslims in China. The basketball player, who is currently a free agent after being cut by the Houston Rockets earlier year, […]
Read MoreFour people were arrested in downtown Ottawa Thursday evening, as thousands of people began arriving in the capital for Canada Day celebrations. Ottawa police say officers responded to a “situation” in the Wellington Street and Elgin Street area, and the incidents included “assaulting officers.”
Read MoreOf all of the candidates vying for the position of leader of the Conservative Party, Stockwell Day says only Leslyn Lewis can expand the party and go “toe to toe” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unlike any other in the race. “When you think about all of the men standing side by side and then […]
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Today in Canada’s Political History: Birth of R.B. Bennett; and PM Arthur Meighen’s powerful speech at Vimy Ridge
Today, as always on Art’s History, we pause to mark the birthday of one of our Prime Ministers. Today it is R.B. Bennett’s turn; the pride of New Brunswick was born on this date in 1870. He has been treated unfairly by history for many decades but the tide is turning as historians are slowly […]
Federal gridlock is a threat to national unity
Like most Canadians, Quebecers have relatively few interactions with the federal government. When constituents face difficulties, they usually call their provincial representative, rather than their MP. Most “close-to-people” government services — health care, schools, day cares, etc. — are delivered by the provincial government, while Ottawa deals with things like passports, customs, immigration and employment […]
Forget Donald Trump — Canada’s norms and rules are under attack in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec
This week, political junkies watched a former White House aide describe how U.S. president Donald Trump knew his supporters were armed — with pistols, rifles and spears — and sought to march with them to the Capitol. As the rioters stormed the building hoping to violently disrupt the peaceful transition of power, Trump refused to […]
Maple-flavoured paranoia
American-style discourse has infected Canada through social media. Now what? “Canadian politicians, MPs, you guys are wearing panic buttons. That says a lot. When a government is afraid of its own citizens, they are not long for this world,” prolific Tik Tok-er tomtheproudcanadian21.2 ranted a couple of days ago, before quoting the 5th of November […]
Seizing Russian Assets: Canada has the Spirit of International Law on its Side
As has been widely reported, the House of Commons recently passed Bill C-19, a budget implementation act that also contains measures empowering the Canadian government to create special economic sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This mechanism originated in work done by the World Refugee & Migration Council (WRMC), which underpinned a bill of […]
Pierre Poilievre isn’t preaching to swing voters, he’s trying to find new ones
A big part of the conversation around the ongoing Conservative leadership race is which leader is preferred by people who aren’t Conservatives. It’s an odd way to size up the question really, given the race is about who is best placed to lead the Conservatives. You wouldn’t ask a Toronto Maple Leafs fan who is […]
The Prime Minister is credibly accused of interfering in a criminal matter for political purposes? You don’t say!
What to think? Whom to believe? Did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former minister of public safety Bill Blair pressure the commissioner of the RCMP to interfere, for political purposes, in the force’s investigation of the worst mass murder in Canadian history? Did the commissioner in fact interfere? You be the judge. On the one […]
Time for RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to tell the whole story
There’s something crucial missing: an explanation from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. It can’t wait much longer. The allegation that the Liberal government pressured the RCMP to release information about the investigation into the Nova Scotia shootings of April 18 to 19, 2020, in order to advance their gun-control agenda is now boiling down to two […]
Nine years after the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, Canadian Pacific Railway still refuses to accept any responsibility
On July 6, 2013, a runaway train carrying 72 tank cars laden with Bakken shale oil destined for the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, a small town in Quebec near the Maine border. The disaster killed 47 people, orphaned 26 children, spilled a record six million litres of […]
One year later: Net-zero isn’t possible without real investment
One year ago, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act became law. The legislation commits the federal government to the ambitious goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To meet its target, the government has called upon public and private stakeholders to join in this mission. Innovating and enabling the energy sector to meet […]
On the same day a report surfaced suggesting more than half the flights at Canada’s overcrowded major airports are either delayed or cancelled, the government announced that it plans to maintain the current border measures for passengers entering the country until Sept. 30, including the ArriveCAN app that unions claim contributes to a 400 per […]
Read MorePierre Poilievre has always appalled me. But as Canada Day approached and Ottawa braces for more “freedom” protests on Parliament Hill that Poilievre unreservedly supports, I grow even more appalled. That’s because the Conservative leadership race front-runner either somehow truly believes in the crazy ideas and causes that he spouts, or he’s a dishonest non-believer […]
Read MoreJenni Byrne, the political strategist, former advisor to Stephen Harper, former Principal Secretary to Doug Ford, former girlfriend of Pierre Poilievre (according to her Wikipedia profile), and now one of the advisors helping him become Canada’s next PM, once referred to Maxime Bernier’s supporters as “radically normal” folks on Amanda Galbraith’s Political Traction podcast. As […]
Read MoreIt’s probably a good thing Canada is avoiding a federal election for the next few years. It might take that long to find people willing to run for office. All of the political news of late seems like a repeated warning label against the toxicity of a career in public life. On Monday, it was […]
Read MoreRemote participation can make parliament more inclusive. After two years of pandemic-enforced remote work, many workplaces across Canada are determining the ideal balance between in-person and remote work. Parliament must do the same. When the House of Commons rose for the summer, Canada’s Members of Parliament lost the option to participate virtually in a […]
Read MoreThe Conservative Party of Canada is in the throes of an identity crisis. I have been a Conservative all of my adult life, witnessing firsthand the party’s evolutions and iterations over 60 years. Throughout that time – as I went from being a secretary at party headquarters and in John Diefenbaker’s office through years as […]
Read MoreAs readers of Art’s History know, I am no fan of calling our national day “Canada Day.” Instead, I, like my late father before me, still say today is “Dominion Day.” But, in the interest of celebrating each July 1 the work of the Fathers of Confederation in establishing and then nurturing the new nation […]
Read MoreAs always on Art’s History, we paused to mark the birthdays of each and everyone of our 23 Prime Ministers since 1867. And today, of course, is the Warhorse of Cumberland Country Nova Scotia, Sir Charles Tupper’s big day. A larger-than-life political figure and partisan, he is still the only medical doctor to have served […]
Read MoreAs Canada Day 2022 comes upon us, hopefully a summer of relief and escape awaits. But such optimism may be misguided. Trust me, I hate being dour and discordant, but it is hard to not to feel like we are stuck in a swamp buried under multiple layers of muck. Serious war rages in Ukraine. […]
Read MoreThere has been no shortage of shock and confusion among the chattering classes of Ottawa when it comes to the total number of memberships sold during the Conservative leadership race. By modern domestic political comparisons, the total number of new members is seismic. But while these numbers may be formidable and potentially downright scary to […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
CBC makes changes at ‘The National’ ahead of free streaming channel launch
CBC News is shaking up the anchor roles at “The National” as it plans to launch a free 24-hour live streaming channel this fall. The news division of public broadcaster announced several changes Thursday that would help usher in an ad-supported streaming channel. It does not yet have a launch date for the platform. Among […]
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