Mar 25 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — If the Liberals hit the ball out of the park in 2015, things will be a lot tougher this time around. But here’s an idea that not only Liberals, but all progressives should rally around: Canadians need a progressive model of cabinet government – and the 2015 Liberal platform points us in the right direction. […]
Mar 9 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Last Thursday morning, Justin Trudeau spoke out on the SNC-Lavalin crisis. Anyone who tuned into the press conference expecting to hear an apology would have been disappointed. The advance billing was wrong. This was an ultimatum, not an apology – a last chance to lay down arms or face the consequences. Will it work? To […]
Mar 5 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Last week, Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony rocked Ottawa like a Category 8 earthquake. Jane Philpott’s resignation is a second seismic event, possibly worse than the first. Trudeau’s challenge now is not just to respond to Wilson-Raybould, but to demonstrate that his government still has a moral compass. All eyes, of course, are on the Commons, where […]
Feb 23 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Never waste a good crisis. Winston Churchill’s words must be ringing in the PM’s ears. First, the SNC-Lavalin controversy swallowed his star Indigenous minister, then it took his principal secretary. No one knows what’s next, but a crisis this surely is. So, can any good come of it for the Liberal government? Maybe, and it […]
Feb 9 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Franz Kafa couldn’t script it better. The Trudeau PMO stands accused of interfering in a legal process and the former Attorney General is the only one who can clear the air; but she refuses to do so, citing solicitor/client privilege. Meanwhile, the prime minister, her client, twists in the wind yet, inexplicably, fails to waive […]
Feb 5 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Senate hearings on C-69 are about to begin and the critics are lining up. It will be a critical test of the government’s approach to climate change AND of the new senate’s role as a house of sober second thought. There’s a lot hanging in the balance and senators need to get this right. So, […]
Jan 26 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — He’s done it again. After retracting his original comments on Meng Wanzhou, John McCallum has weighed in a second time. Has he lost it? Maybe not. Maybe he is simply blurting out – however inarticulately – what the government can’t say out loud, namely, that in our rush to uphold the rule of law, Canadians […]
Jan 22 2019 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — With an election on the horizon, Justin Trudeau wants to start planning our transition to a green economy and he’s asked Bill Morneau to develop an “economic argument” that will get Canadians on side. My advice is to start with the premise that we have no choice; responding to climate change really is a matter of […]
Jan 3 2019 — Don Lenihan — Jason Kenney is in combat mode: if he wins the upcoming election in Alberta, he says he’ll “fight back hard” against the “anti-oil activists” and he is calling on CEOs from the oil patch to join him. They should resist. Driving an even deeper wedge between climate change and the oil patch is a really […]
Dec 22 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Rachel Notley’s win in 2015 may have been a stunning defeat for conservatives, but few pundits saw it as a game-changer for progressives. I didn’t. I thought of Bob Rae’s ill-fated victory in 1990, but this time with Notley cast as the accidental tourist, about to be hit by a bus. Four years later, I’m […]
Dec 10 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Tomorrow, Canada will sign the United Nations Global Compact on Migration in Marrakesh, Morocco, and so it should. For Canada, at least, this is a no-brainer. At least, it seemed to be, until Andrew Sheer shot up a flare in Question Period last week. Now everyone has a view. Sheer claims that the Trudeau government […]
Nov 14 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — If your boss is hell-bent on firing you, would you trust him to negotiate with you in good faith? Probably not. This is how some First Nations feel about the current consultations on the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Ottawa has vowed to get the pipeline built and they want it stopped. So, what’s there to talk […]
Oct 31 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Andrew Scheer has reportedly set up a Conservative “war room” to correct inaccurate media reports. It’s a worrying sign that the coming election will be more about populism and spin than facts and ideas. It may also be a sign that the Conservatives think their own climate change plan needs a war room – and […]
Oct 20 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — According to the latest UN report on climate change, the world has 12 years to avoid catastrophe. Unfortunately, according to Behavioural Economics, humans aren’t hardwired to think long-term. Basically, our brains aren’t very good at assessing the risks. The irony would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high. So, how bad is it? The […]
Oct 11 2018 — Don Lenihan — National Newswatch — Nationalism and populism are in the news this week. While Stephen Harper’s new book Right Here, Right Now is getting grabbed off shelves, for my money, a more obscure release, Tom Dixon’s The Hidden Tribes of America, is a far more rewarding read. Contrasting the authors’ views on polarization says a lot about their respective […]