While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Althia Raj.
Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer insisted Friday that no one is interested in palace intrigue. But after his party saw a floor crosser, a resignation, allegations of bullying and threats levied against MPs, and rumours of more Conservative caucus dissenters now too afraid to make a move, who isn’t interested? Ottawa hasn’t seen this kind of daytime soap opera since...
Canada’s chaotic minority Parliament is at a critical juncture as Mark Carney’s Liberals scramble to lure more Opposition floor-crossers to secure support for the budget’s passage, and the Conservatives, reeling at Tuesday’s loss of an MP, struggle to frame themselves as the government-in-waiting. Political tribalism and parliamentary shenanigans were on display all day, starting first thing Wednesday morning when a...
Two days after he was sworn-in as prime minister, Justin Trudeau arrived at the Lester B. Pearson Building in Ottawa to a crowd of cheering public servants. The unusual scene in the lobby of the Foreign Affairs Department was described as a “rock-star reception,” one that, for some, confirmed Liberal sympathies within the public service; and for others were an...
It’s time to admit our Charter rights are under attack. Too many premiers are testing citizens’ willingness to accept gross power grabs, the targeting of vulnerable groups for political purposes, the weakening of groups they dislike, by invoking the notwithstanding clause.
Prime Minister Mark Carney needs friends. Not the diplomatic and commercial kind he’s already pursuing with new trade partnerships around the world.
The uprising against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre may have officially begun. Just three months before Poilievre’s leadership review in Calgary, Stephen Harper’s former spokesman is letting it be known that knives should be out.
Political coverage is often focused on the most outlandish behaviour, when behind the scenes many MPs are trying to make Canada a safer, healthier, fairer, more just place. On this Thanksgiving weekend, here is a palate cleanser from all the toxicity, a highlight of some proposals from politicians, most of whom are members of Parliament whose names were chosen through...
Prime Minister Mark Carney went to the White House Tuesday and showcased publicly the friendly relationship he’s cultivated with U.S. President Donald Trump. For some, it was a cringeworthy performance, for others, a crucial reset of a key relationship. But it’s what Carney is telling Trump privately that deserves more attention. Sitting next to Trump, Carney once again praised him...
Less than a week after the first NDP leadership contestant entered the race, the infighting has begun. Perhaps it was inevitable. Political parties are big tents after all, and members often disagree. But it is rather rare to see a member of Parliament publicly attack a colleague — accusing them of justifying white supremacy — even during the course of...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith dared Prime Minister Mark Carney to defy her Wednesday, throwing a bone to separatists in her province, and inflaming a divisive cross-country debate over oil pipelines and climate change. “This is a test of whether Canada works as a country,” Smith told reporters in Calgary. “Because if we can’t build with the collaboration of the federal...
It was a moment met with widespread disbelief. Nine years ago, after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th U.S. president, his then press secretary, Sean Spicer, stood in front of the White House press corps and declared, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.”
It’s the kind of situation that often leads to political resignations. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is in hot water over comments he made Sunday to one of his tenants, a gun owner with several prohibited firearms, who recorded the minister without his knowledge.
Within opposition parties a thought circulates: What if Prime Minister Mark Carney wants an election this fall? Carney is three seats shy of a majority in the House of Commons. (Former transport minister Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from cabinet this week, has not yet resigned her seat.) His government needs the support of either the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois or...
It was a cold day in March, when newly minted Liberal leader Mark Carney suggested he jumped into politics because the moment — Trump’s re-election and his threats to Canada’s economy — called for his skills. “I put my hand up because of the crisis,” he said, in Windsor. It was an interesting revision of facts. The former governor of...
Perhaps Mark Carney has no desire to be re-elected as prime minister and doesn’t care if the federal Liberals fail to win another mandate. Why else would he bring in legislation that runs roughshod over democratic norms in this country, sidelines experts testimony, opens the door to corruption and to lawsuits that could stymie projects, never mind hand the Grits’...
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And so on Friday, when Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new omnibus bill that gives cabinet the right to circumvent environmental laws in the name of getting big resource projects built, perhaps it was noteworthy that Environment and Climate Minister Julie Dabrusin was not one of the five cabinet ministers...
It was “elbows up” during the federal election campaign as Mark Carney’s Liberals portrayed themselves as fierce fighters against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration’s slide towards authoritarianism. But now it’s “elbows down” as the prime minister’s new government tries to appease Trump’s White House and puts Canadians’ privacy rights and those of asylum seekers on the chopping block...
In a three-part series, based on interviews with 106 political insiders, candidates and staff members, the Star’s Althia Raj explores how mistakes and missed opportunities saw a near-certain victory slip from the Conservatives’ grasp, while the Liberals experienced a political rebirth that stalled just three seats shy of a majority government.
Part two of Althia Raj’s three-part series details how Trump’s tariff threats dominated the campaign, how Carney emerged as the election front-runner, and Poilievre’s scramble to redefine his message.
As the last days of the campaign approached, the outcome of the election was far from certain. The final part of this three-part series by the Star’s Althia Raj unpacks what both parties got wrong — and what comes next for both Carney and Poilievre.
Jagmeet Singh is a champagne socialist who doesn’t drink; a hipster, with bespoke three-piece suits; a religious Sikh who never truly connected with Quebecers nor his party’s blue-collar base. He’s not a policy wonk. He never looked like or spoke like a politician. Singh just seemed like a guy who waltzed onto the federal political scene, wanting to make a...
Whoever wins the federal election on Monday, their task — beyond resetting the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, navigating Canada out of an impending economic crisis, addressing affordability and safety concerns — must be to reach out to those Canadians who did not vote for them. Although the main party leaders portray themselves as figures who can heal a...
The federal Conservatives are funnelling resources into Pierre Poilievre’s local campaign, shoring up volunteer support in the leader’s Ottawa-area riding over concerns that winning his seat is not guaranteed, the Star has learned. One Conservative source involved in Poilievre’s campaign told the Star that the leader appears to be in trouble in Carleton, the sprawling riding Poilievre has held since...
If the not-for-profit group you run spends money to sway the election towards your favourite candidate, does that — and should that — constitute a reportable election expense? On Monday, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) held a 90-minute event with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. The presentation was decried by a handful of attendees, who believed they were coming...
There were multiple complaints the worker was trying to sway voters in the Toronto-area riding of King—Vaughan to cast a ballot for the Conservative candidate, the Star has learned. An Elections Canada poll worker has been reassigned after multiple complaints she was trying to influence voters in the Toronto-area riding of King—Vaughan to cast a ballot for the Conservative candidate...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney walked away unscathed from his first faceoff with his opponents during the French-language leaders’ debate in Montreal. Carney, who has a huge lead in public opinion polls in Quebec, had the most to lose. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet are all nipping at his support, notably in...
Half way through this federal election campaign and one word has yet to be uttered: abortion. Maybe it’s because U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten our economy. Maybe it’s because Liberal Leader Mark Carney appears to be heading toward a win. Maybe it’s because Pierre Poilievre declared himself to be pro-choice. But so far the Conservative leader has escaped...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to be clear with Canadians about what Charter rights he is prepared to defend, or whether he believes — as he recently suggested — that the protection of Canadians’ constitutional rights should be left to the provinces. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Poilievre was asked whether he would intervene in a Supreme Court challenge against...
Mark Carney had a chance to define himself as a Liberal leader who is guided by values and unafraid of decisive action, and on Monday he failed spectacularly. Was it overconfidence? A lack of political skills? A refusal to bend to opposition calls? Whatever held Carney back from dumping Paul Chiang as the Liberal candidate in Markham—Unionville, it raises questions...
Faced with President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats against Canada this week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh shifted his campaign plans and headed to Windsor to stand with affected auto workers. Now Singh needs to shift again but this time to deal with the near existential threat his party is facing. Public opinion surveys show support for the NDP has fallen...
U.S. President Donald Trump injected himself into the Canadian election campaign this week but he was already a central figure. This week on “It’s Political” our panel of recovering partisans break down the campaign’s first week. Join David Christopherson, the former NDP Hamilton Centre MP; Sen. Rodger Cuzner, the former Liberal MP for Cape Breton—Canso; Kristina Michaud, the outgoing Bloc...
It’s a hard line to straddle. Are the Liberal MPs who announced they were heading for the exits when the polls were down but now want to contest their seats political opportunists? Or are they answering a call to duty? On Tuesday, Sean Fraser, the Nova Scotia MP and former minister of housing and immigration, announced he’d changed his mind...
Should a political party pay for news coverage? That’s the bizarre question that was put to the party leaders by the Quebec French-language broadcaster TVA. The private broadcaster, which operates as a subsidiary to media giant Quebecor, demanded the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois each pay $75,000 to...
Pierre Poilievre has a problem, and her name is Danielle Smith. The Alberta premier has become a thorn in the Conservative leader’s side — one that pulls at Poilievre’s voter coalition and threatens his electability as a national leader.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre heads into the election campaign he’s long demanded on Sunday fighting for his political life, a victim of his own success facing a remarkable change of circumstances. Poilievre spent two years fomenting anger against Justin Trudeau, blaming him for everything from the opioid crisis to crimes on Toronto’s subway to inflation, pinning the blame on the...
What is Pierre Poilievre afraid of? On Tuesday, Conservative national campaign director Jenni Byrne informed journalists that, in a break with tradition, the party will not allow journalists to accompany its leader on his bus or plane during the next election campaign.
New Liberal Leader Mark Carney will be sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister Friday morning and have his first chance to put a new face on his government. Cabinet making is a delicate balance that must reflect regional considerations, and most recently gender, religion, ethnicity, while also signalling the focus of the new government. Here are six things to...
If Mark Carney’s political instincts are to be judged by his first day on the job as Liberal leader, the Grits may be in for a rough ride. On Monday, Carney marched into transition meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill with a well-known personality at his side: Liberal MP Marco Mendicino.
Mark Carney has chosen Toronto MP and former public safety Minister Marco Mendicino as his first chief of staff. Mendicino will serve on an interim basis, two sources close to the Carney camp told the Star. Carney, who was selected Liberal leader Sunday, needed to find someone with a security clearance and sought to choose a person who knew caucus...
In the end, it was a friendly affair. Liberal leadership candidates used their podiums to introduce themselves to party members during these week’s debates, but they also shielded Mark Carney, the race’s perceived front-runner, from devastating blows that could have helped Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives attack the party during what is expected to be a spring election campaign.
In the end, it was a friendly affair. Liberal leadership candidates used their podiums to introduce themselves to party members during Monday night’s French-language debate, but they also sought to shield Mark Carney, the race’s perceived front-runner, from devastating blows that could have helped Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives attack the party during what is expected to be a spring election campaign...
It is Mark Carney’s first big test. The former Bank of Canada governor leads the pack of Liberal leadership contestants to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with fundraising dollars and caucus endorsements, and polls suggest he would put up quite a fight against the Conservative’s Pierre Poilievre. But unlike the Tory leader, who has been elected to the House of...
Are the federal Conservatives flailing? In the span of a week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has gone from his previous description of Canada as a country where “everything is broken” to basking in a sea of red and white, and an election-style speech asking supporters, staff and MPs: “Who’s ready to put Canada First”?
For Conservative strategists, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Just a few weeks ago, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared to be on his way to winning a crushing majority government in the next election, and the conversation in Ottawa was about whether the Liberals would end up in third or fourth place.
What does U.S. President Donald Trump want? It’s the question that will determine how long this impending mutually destructive trade war between Canada and the United States lasts. And no one on this side of the border seems to truly know.
The consumer price on carbon is dead. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can pat himself on the back — all those rallies, all those ads, all those talking points in the House of Commons — the case against the carbon price was so successfully prosecuted that the two leading Liberal leadership candidates are walking away from it.
The federal Liberal leadership race is gearing up to be a contest between formers: former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, and former B.C. premier Christy Clark as the dark horse.
Justin Trudeau is stepping down. Now, the assumption within Liberal circles — and of Grit MPs — is about to be tested. Is the Liberal party’s slump in the polls related to Trudeau’s unpopularity, or is it a general dissatisfaction with the federal government?
The fight for the future of the Liberal Party of Canada has begun. It is no longer a question of whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign — for most of caucus, that question is settled. It may even be settled for the prime minister. He is in British Columbia, possibly taking the 2024 version of a walk in the...
The majority of Ontario’s Liberal MPs have come to the consensus that the prime minister needs to go. Saturday morning, 51 of the province’s 75 Liberal MPs met virtually on a zoom call to discuss the past week’s developments — from Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell resignation as finance minister to the growing calls for Justin Trudeau to resign.
The walls that were caving in around Justin Trudeau earlier this week came crashing down Friday. The prime minister remains alive, in hiding, but with every player in Ottawa circulating overhead trying to out-strategize each other, his days in office are now dramatically reduced. The day began with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh throwing a grenade into Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle.
It wasn’t Chrystia Freeland’s announcement Monday that she was quitting as finance minister that marked the third and final act of Justin Trudeau’s government. It was how she quit. How she tried to define what siding with the prime minister says about Liberals — MPs and cabinet ministers alike — and in doing so paved the way for deeper internal...
Like teenage infatuation, it burned bright and fizzled quickly, with one party barely aware the love affair had begun. This week, the Conservatives appeared to mark the end of their outward courtship of organized labour. For a while, it seemed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was serious about standing up for workers’ rights. He’d picked up the ball from former leader...
They did what Justin Trudeau asked of them. The 27 Liberal MPs who went to the microphone last Wednesday — and the 24 who signed their names to a letter — did not plan a coup to overthrow the party leader. They followed the instructions Trudeau gave MPs during his first caucus meeting as prime minister back on Nov. 5, 2015.
You could call it Pierre Poilievre’s blind spot. Because the Conservative leader sees politics through the prism of a game — as calculated moves required to crush your opponents and avoid the traps they have laid — rather than as a means towards a policy end, he’s losing sight of the larger picture.
It was short, concise and eyebrow raising. At the Liberals’ national caucus meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday morning, the chair of the Atlantic caucus — an ambitious, young Nova Scotia MP named Kody Blois — went to the microphone to report on the discussions earlier held at the regional caucus.
Parliament is back with a bang and things are not going Pierre Poilievre’s way. It started with a stinging byelection loss for the Conservatives in Winnipeg’s Elmwood—Transcona, where they spent considerable resources trying to win a seat from the NDP. Conservative signs urged voters to reject NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for crafting a deal with the Grits — “Sellout Singh”...
Who would have thought Canada might be saved from an election by the only political party that seeks to break up the country? And yet that is what appears to have happened Wednesday, after the Liberals decided to play chicken by offering Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives a chance to defeat the government next week.
“I believe we’re going to win everything!” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded when asked this week whether he thought the Liberals will win Monday’s byelection in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. “We’ve got everything going, man!” Trudeau declared, as he dashed out of his party’s final caucus meeting Wednesday in Nanaimo, a big smile on face.