May 25 2022 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Pierre Poilievre is on a quest to replace Justin Trudeau. He’s not out simply to upend the political establishment — he wants to burn it down. “The most powerful people in the country … will be accountable when I’m prime minister,” Poilievre, the frontrunner in the race for the Conservative Party leadership, says in a […]
May 12 2022 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — The presumed frontrunner to win Canada’s Conservative Party leadership race is vowing, if he becomes prime minister, to fire the Bank of Canada’s governor. Pierre Poilievre made the threat to central bank Governor Tiff Macklem when asked Wednesday during a leadership debate in Edmonton about Canada’s red-hot inflation.
Mar 22 2022 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Jean Charest is warning that the fight for the leadership of Canada’s Conservatives could draw the country’s politics into bare-knuckle, U.S.-style campaigning. It’s in Charest’s interest to say this, of course. He’s trying to brand himself as the level-headed unifier — the “adult in the room” — in what is so far an eight-person race.
Feb 27 2022 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — “The tyranny we have witnessed in Canada in recent weeks should shock and dismay people all over the world,” Trump said Saturday night. Donald Trump fired up the Conservative Political Action Conference crowd Saturday night with a barrage of accusations directed at what would have been an unthinkable target just weeks ago: Canadian Prime Minister […]
Feb 4 2022 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — A Florida congressman says he’s pressing the Biden administration on Canada’s decision to skip an extended national security review of a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of a lithium mining firm. “It was quite surprising to me to hear of this acquisition, given there’s a clear national security nexus and I would think there’s clear national […]
Sep 22 2021 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Erin O’Toole’s upstart campaign against Justin Trudeau showed Canada’s Conservatives what it’s like to campaign to the left. The party’s faithful now have to decide if they liked it.
Sep 21 2021 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Justin Trudeau’s election win will earn him a congratulatory call from a figure largely forgotten during Canada’s election campaign: President Joe Biden. But staying on Biden’s radar will be key for Trudeau, as he resettles into the Prime Minister’s Office.
Aug 15 2021 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Justin Trudeau launched Canadians into an election campaign Sunday that on the surface gives voters a choice between competing visions for a post-pandemic Canada. But Trudeau also used his Day 1 words to shape the campaign’s subtext. Canada’s election, the Liberal leader suggested, could hinge on the philosophical clash between the vaccinated and the vaccine […]
Aug 15 2021 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Chinese courts just dropped a pair of global headline-grabbing decisions that bring the bad blood in the Canada-China relationship to the center of the 2021 federal election campaign. Foreign policy debate will focus on bilateral tensions that can be traced back nearly 1,000 days to China’s arrests of two Canadians on spying charges. During that […]
Oct 21 2020 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Ottawa thinks the Democrat would be friendlier, but no less protectionist than Trump. After four years of trade clashes with the Trump administration, Canada would seem more than ready to lower its guard should Joe Biden win. Instead, it’s preparing for a transition — and for the new risks a Biden White House could bring.
Jun 22 2020 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — Allegations about President Donald Trump in a new book by former White House official John Bolton could be a factor in Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s fight to avoid extradition from Canada to the United States. Passages from the book penned by Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, are likely to be explored as a way […]
Apr 21 2020 — Andy Blatchford — Politico — In the span of a month, Donald Trump has proposed militarizing the U.S.-Canada border, cutting off N95 mask exports to Canada and then reopening the Canadian frontier despite a raging pandemic. The Canadian response? Challenge accepted.
Nov 7 2019 — Andy Blatchford — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says there's a "compelling case" to be made for his province to exit the half-century-old Canada Pension Plan — an idea sure to face increasing scrutiny over the coming months. With growing frustrations in his province about its place in the federation, Kenney has revealed that a deeper analysis is on the way to consider Alberta's potential withdrawal from the national pension plan. […]
Oct 30 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate on hold Wednesday, leaving the country as an exception compared to other advanced economies that have begun to respond to a weakening global economy. In its explanation, the central bank argued that inflation is on target and the domestic economy has held up well in many respects, […]
Oct 29 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Big business is adding its voice to a broader call for economy-lifting changes in Canada following an election campaign widely criticized for its dearth of deep policy discussion. The Business Council of Canada, a lobby group representing chief executives of the largest corporations, has released a report underlining its concerns around obstacles like the aging […]