Jun 7 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — It’s tradition, some might say politeness, that when a witness appears before a parliamentary committee, MPs welcome the witness. They shake hands and thank them for coming. So perhaps it was a sign of things to come — or perhaps a sign of declining times — when all but one Conservative (Wellington—Halton Hills MP Michael […]
May 17 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Be afraid. Be very afraid. That’s the message Le Journal de Montréal, Quebec’s popular tabloid, is trying to convey. Two weeks ago, it refuelled ongoing discussion over immigration in Quebec by splashing on its Saturday cover the image of a fleur-de-lis trapped. “LE QUÉBÉC PRIS AU PIÈGE” screamed the headline, “Quebec trapped, in a Canada […]
May 14 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lost one of his best assets last week, though he probably doesn’t realize it. The affable Toronto Beaches—East York MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith announced he’s leaving federal politics to throw his hat in the ring to lead the Ontario Liberals. Erskine-Smith, 38, built a reputation in Ottawa for doing exactly what Trudeau […]
May 7 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be cautious about making the same mistake with Pierre Poilievre as Stephen Harper did with him when the Conservative prime minister mischaracterized his Liberal opponent only to see him surpass expectations. Back in 2015, Harper’s director of communications, Kory Teneycke, told reporters that expectations of Trudeau were so low going […]
May 5 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — As Liberals from across the country gather in Ottawa for the party’s first in-person national convention since the pandemic, “It’s Political” digs into Justin Trudeau’s record as party leader and his time as prime minister. With bleak polling numbers and an ambitious Conservative opponent, how can the Liberals correct their course? First, we sit down […]
Apr 25 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Having more than 120,000 public servants go on strike was always going to be a challenge. It would be hard on Canadians. Immigration backlogs would mount, people would be unable to get passports for holiday travel or assistance filing their taxes. Unexpected planning errors would result in cases like Indigenous children without school teachers or […]
Mar 4 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau looked smug, arrogant and embattled on Friday, when his frustration from the past week bubbled up and landed on Brittany Hobson, the sixth reporter in line at his Winnipeg news conference. Hobson had asked how Canadians could trust our elections hadn’t been influenced by foreign actors when the information supporting those claims was […]
Feb 22 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Wounded, Justin Trudeau is trying a different approach. Changing his tune on Roxham Road, sharpening and hardening his tone. The prime minister is a bludgeoned leader back home in Quebec, where thanks to the voters there last election, he remains in power. Over the past weeks, Liberals have been hit with dual controversies. The latest […]
Feb 22 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Canada’s health minister says the federal government has put enough money on the table to ensure every Canadian has access to family medicine, throwing the ball in the provinces’ court to deliver. “The $2.5 billion on average over the next 10 years, that’s more than what is needed for provinces and territories to give access […]
Feb 17 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — This week on “It’s Political,” we take a look at what’s plaguing the country’s health-care system, from long wait lines in emergency rooms to the lack of family doctors. What will it take to fix health care in Canada? First, we hear directly from health professionals about the problems they’ve witnessed firsthand and the solutions […]
Feb 15 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s Quebec lieutenant made a shocking declaration this week that went unnoticed in English Canada, telling reporters that Conservatives “of course” agree with the provinces’ pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause. On Tuesday, Quebec MP Pierre Paul-Hus said the party “might not necessarily” contest Quebec’s Bill 21 at the Supreme Court — […]
Feb 4 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — For the Liberals, the return of Parliament this week was marked by a series of reversals after many unfortunate own goals. On Friday, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino acknowledged bungling gun control as the Liberals withdrew controversial amendments to legislation that Conservatives and the NDP had denounced as scooping up hunters and Indigenous Peoples in […]
Jan 30 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — “Everything feels broken,” laments Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre each time he’s in front of a microphone. “Justin,” as he calls Prime Minister Trudeau, has made everything worse, he says. From rising inflation to soaring rents, to opioid deaths and to the wave of violent crimes on the TTC. Canadians, Poilievre says, “deserve better than this. […]
Jan 24 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau is no ideologue. The prime minister won three elections because he knows when to take advantage of an opportunity and when to stay quiet — even on the same issue — when the political winds blow in a different direction. His criticism in La Presse last weekend about the provinces’ pre-emptive use of […]
Jan 20 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — Jagmeet Singh spent months looking high and low for ways to distinguish himself from Justin Trudeau, and this week the prime minister handed him a huge gift — an opening for the NDP leader to define himself as the true defender of public health care. Last March, in a supply and confidence agreement, Singh tied […]