Canada investigating ‘a couple dozen’ suspected monkeypox cases: Tam
‘We don’t really know the extent to which the spread has occurred,’ chief public health officer says. Canada’s chief public health officer said Friday provincial health authorities are investigating “a couple dozen” possible cases of monkeypox — and most of the specimens under review are from Quebec, where two cases have been confirmed already this […]
Feds reclassified Trans Mountain as a ‘non-agent’ Crown corporation to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, says NDP critic
Trans Mountain Corporation and Finance Canada both say an April 20 change to the Crown corporation’s official status was made in order to allow it to obtain third-party financing, after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on Feb. 18 that the government would not provide any further public money to the project. But NDP environment critic […]
‘An unforgiving political culture’: Conservative MPs, strategists unpack the ‘undoing of Jason Kenney’ in Alberta
Conservative Alberta MPs blamed the tough pandemic political climate for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s splintered internal support and say his resignation was a result of a “no-win situation” and “an unforgiving political culture” that allowed United Conservative Party divisions to grow. But Conservative strategists say Kenney’s leadership style and caucus management played a huge role […]
Canada’s decision to ban Huawei and ZTE from the country’s 5G telecommunications network will be a blow to an already tense relationship with China, experts warn. Although it’s not yet clear if China will retaliate beyond strong condemnation of Canada’s decision, experts say the possibility exists that the risk has increased for Canadian travellers and […]
Read MoreLess than a day after Premier Jason Kenney announced he would step down, two candidates intending to replace him are already disagreeing on how the governing UCP should move forward.
Read MoreJason Kenney announced he would be stepping down on a stage at a swank showjumping facility outside of Calgary. In 2015, Jim Prentice announced he was leaving the job at a subdued post-election rally; 2014 saw Alison Redford announcing in the rotunda underneath the dome at the Alberta legislature; while in 2011, Ed Stelmach dropped […]
Read MoreThe hotly-anticipated final report from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour into how best to fix the military sexual misconduct crisis is expected to land with Defence Minister Anita Anand on Friday. It comes as the Canadian Forces remains under heavy scrutiny for what experts have repeatedly described as endemic abuses of power, sexism, racism […]
Read MoreThe Liberal government is banning Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE from Canada’s long-awaited blueprint for next-generation mobile networks. “Telecommunication companies in Canada will not be permitted to include in their networks products or services that put our national security at risk,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Thursday in Ottawa. “Providers who already have this […]
Read MoreAs they navigate what some have called the “dumpster fire” that is the federal Conservative leadership race, Tory MPs Thursday were grappling with a burning question of whether Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s resignation tosses another log onto the pile or not. Some were quick to dismiss any implications. “I’m not even from Alberta,” said one […]
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Is Pierre Poilievre making the same mistakes as Jason Kenney?
Had a general election been held in Alberta this spring, chances are premier Jason Kenney would have led his party back to the opposition benches after just one term in office. For months, polls in the province had found Kenney’s government to be out of step with a critical mass of voters. His approval rating […]
The Glorious Ungovernable Province of Alberta
The first time I had a proper conversation with Jason Kenney was about six years ago. The NDP were in power in Alberta; the federal Conservatives had cast about for a successor to Stephen Harper and, it was decided by silent consensus, said successor would not be Jason Kenney. So the former federal cabinet minister […]
Rachel Notley, still standing
Alberta’s first NDP premier surveys the Kenney-less landscape. On the day after Alberta premier Jason Kenney got such a low vote of confidence in the United Conservative Party leadership review he announced his resignation from politics, Rachel Notley was taking calls. I had taken care to talk my way into the queue. “How much time […]
The ideals and principles that proved Jason Kenney’s undoing
Well, that’s one thing settled. After winning a majority of votes in the UCP leadership review, Jason Kenney announced he will step down as Alberta premier. At least he goes out on a winning streak — a perfect 13 for 13 in political contests by my count. If something sounds funny about a politician resigning […]
Raging conservatives took down Jason Kenney. Is Pierre Poilievre next?
Federal Conservative leadership candidates were curiously silent on social media in the immediate aftermath of Jason Kenney’s surprise downfall in Alberta. No thanks or goodbyes, no public comment on the Alberta premier who was once seen as a leading light for modern-day conservatism in Canada.
Premier Jason Kenney deserved a better death
There’s a lesson for Canada’s political leaders in the short life and quick death of Jason Kenney as premier of Alberta. It’s one-strike-you’re-out politics now after Kenney got the weakest vote of confidence possible with a 51 per cent thumbs-up to his leadership from the United Conservative Party base. It’s an almost-unfathomable act of internecine […]
Conservative meltdowns: the cure is at the centre
We’re now witnessing, live and direct, leadership meltdowns in Alberta’s United Conservative Party and in the Conservative Party of Canada. It’s an ugly scene on both counts: the long, painful and twisting campaign leading to Premier Jason Kenney’s ouster in Alberta and an increasingly nasty, personal and divisive race for the Conservative Party of Canada […]
Today in Canada’s Political History: Birthday of New Brunswick Father of Confederation William Steeves
Father of Confederation William Steeves was born on this date, in 1814, at Hillsborough, New Brunswick. Steeves went on to become a highly successful businessman (including in N.B.’s emerging lumber industry) before entering colonial politics. Between 1846 until 1865 Steeves held a variety of important portfolios in various cabinets. Along the way he became a […]
History, Politics and Policy in the Conservative Leadership Race
Since the passing of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1891, the Conservative Party, under all the official titles through which it has cycled, has been, with the Liberal Party, one of two dominating Canada’s political landscape. Since Macdonald, only one Conservative prime minister, Brian Mulroney, has won two consecutive majorities. What lessons might be drawn […]
For Alberta conservatives, Jason Kenney became yesterday’s man
UCP members loved Campaign Kenney, but not Premier Kenney. Now to find another leader. In these strange times for politics in Alberta, the following two things can be true at the same time: Jason Kenney is one of the most ideologically conservative people to ever occupy a senior federal cabinet post or the premier’s chair […]
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney fell on his own sword rather than be repeatedly stabbed in the back for the next year. Actually, it’s not clear if Kenney voluntarily exited the top position or was pushed by senior members of the United Conservative Party who wanted the endless infighting over his leadership to stop. And that […]
Read MoreJason Kenney’s swift resignation as United Conservative Party leader is a lamentable outcome for Canadian conservatism. It reflects the rise of an oppositional mindset on the Right that is bad for Conservative politics and the country as a whole to the extent that it marginalizes centre-right ideas and policies and enables progressives to govern essentially […]
Read MoreJason Kenney, who resigned Wednesday night as leader of the Alberta United Conservative Party he helped create, governed Alberta exactly as if someone had handed him a relatively simple playbook at the start of his second political career. “Set aside the culture-war crap if you can help yourself,” it might have read. (And he did!) […]
Read MoreAlways bet on chaos. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after spending more than a decade in Alberta, it’s that politics here inevitably gravitates towards the most dramatic outcome. The long-running UCP leadership review, one that saw Jason Kenney receive just 51.4 per cent support from the 34,000-plus ballots cast, is just the latest data […]
Read MoreThe Canadian aviation and tourism industries have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The myriad of public measures has resulted in a decline of travel by approximately 95% of 2019 levels and the financial cost is greater than 9/11, SARS, and the 2008 financial crisis combined.
Read MoreHe never listened. Never. He was right. We all were wrong. Until we were right. Then on a night when those around him figured Premier Jason Kenney would win in a walk, almost half the UCP members voting didn’t support him. Kenney admitted he didn’t expect the result. Of course he didn’t. He never listened. […]
Read MoreThere was only one way to upstage the hockey Battle of Alberta. Premier Jason Kenney found it, to his sorrow, by saying he will eventually step off the stage. Despite predictions of a solid victory, only 51.4 per cent of more than 34,000 UCP members who voted in the leadership review said they approved of […]
Read MoreAlberta’s governing United Conservative Party has eaten itself. The dismal 51.4 per cent approval rating that led Premier Jason Kenney to step down Wednesday night is a victory for a long-percolating revolt, one that came mostly from the party’s right wing. But this is no win for conservative politics in Alberta and could signal the […]
Read MoreFormer Conservative minister and senior RBC executive Michael Fortier and his family were asleep in their Montreal home at 1:30 a.m. on May 4, when he was woken by a neighbour banging on his drain pipe to warn him that the Jaguar and Land Rover parked in the driveway were on fire.
Read MoreDon’t blame me. With all that is going on in the world, it wasn’t I who decided that the House of Commons should spend a full day last week discussing whether to continue opening their daily session with a prayer. Nevertheless, for those interested in the intersection between faith and politics, the debate on the […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
Rapper J. Cole to play pro basketball in Canada
SCARBOROUGH, Ontario (AP) — Rapper J. Cole will play another season of pro basketball, this time in Canada. The Canadian Elite Basketball League tweeted Thursday night that the 37-year-old rapper will join the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the coming season as a guard. The season begins May 25. Cole, whose full name is Jermaine Cole, […]
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