Jun 25 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The former constituency office staffer who alleges she had an extramarital affair with Liberal MP Geng Tan and has a two-year-old baby girl is claiming she was fired from her job without cause and that the outgoing MP has so far not paid any child support. Ying (Stella) Yu, who is in her early 50s, […]
Jun 24 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The Liberals are heading into the October election holding only a seven-seat majority, and one pollster says ridings carried by less than a five per cent margin are in “real jeopardy,” and those won by about a five per cent margin will be “tight races” in the upcoming campaign. “Lower than five, in real jeopardy. […]
Jun 17 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Rookie Liberal MP Geng Tan, who represents Don Valley North, Ont., and won the 2015 election with 51.4 per cent of the vote, has announced that he will not seek re-election in the fall federal election to “spend more time with his family.” “After much consideration, I have come to conclusion that time has now […]
Jun 17 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The next election campaign is shaping up to be one of the most “acrimonious, intensely fought,” and “unprecedented” runs in Canadian political history, involving populism and the use of “high-tech black ops through algorithms and social media” by domestic and foreign players, say pollsters. “[The most important aspects will be] the high-technology black ops, through […]
Jun 10 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s plan to help the federal Conservatives defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in the upcoming election campaign should be limited to issues of “common interest,” including the carbon tax and pipelines, and if the Alberta premier wants to campaign on other issues, he should run for federal office, says a veteran […]
Jun 3 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals may be trailing the Conservatives in opinion polls four months ahead of an election, but talk of a replacing Mr. Trudeau should the Grits lose in the fall is politically “unhelpful,” “ridiculous,” and “self-serving” on the part of the people engaged in the backroom strategizing, say Liberals. “I thought it […]
May 27 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Independent MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes says she’s also considering to running as an Independent candidate in the October federal election, after watching Independent MPs Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott announce their plans to run as Independents. “The option of running as an Independent is intriguing, I will certainly consider it,” said Ms. Caesar-Chavannes (Whitby, Ont.) in […]
May 27 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — In the topsy-turvy and tumultuous political environment in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are dropping in the polls, British Columbia’s 42 seats will be a critical battleground in the upcoming campaign, pollsters say. If the Liberals want to form government next time, they will have to make some gains in the country’s western-most province, […]
May 20 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With only four months left before the fall election call and 75 per cent of the Grit caucus consisting of rookie MPs facing re-election for the first time, the Liberals have decided to focus “completely” on election readiness in all their weekly regional and national meetings until the House adjourns on June 21, MPs say. […]
May 13 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is likely to lose a significant chunk of the 32 seats the Grits won in Atlantic Canada in 2015 mostly because there’s a growing feeling in the region that the governing party has taken it for granted, say political insiders, but senior Liberals also say it’s too early to make any […]
May 6 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the upcoming election campaign expected to officially start in about four months, Liberal and NDP MPs are warning that it will be ugly and disruptive and predict that racist elements or “political forces that operate and are fuelled by anger” will use disruptive tactics in the October election. “I think things are going to […]
May 6 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the “clock ticking and ticking fast” to the next election, support for the federal Liberals is headed in the “wrong direction at the wrong time,” bleeding a significant chunk of their support across the country, say veteran pollsters, and the governing party should be “very concerned” that they control the national agenda, get the […]
Apr 29 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The governing Liberals and opposition Conservatives are playing in a politically dangerous field by using the divisive issue of racism as a tool to mobilize their support bases for the next election, which could backfire resulting in “mutually assured destruction” for both federal parties, says a leading political analyst. “We’re seeing an increase in weaponization […]
Apr 22 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the next election day only six months away and the campaign unofficially underway, the federal Liberals have yet to officially name a national campaign director which is creating some anxiousness among party members eager to get started, say Liberals. “We’re not getting clear directions from the party,” said one long-time Liberal in an interview […]
Apr 15 2019 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Jane Philpott may legitimately feel aggrieved by her and Jody Wilson-Raybould’s expulsions from the Liberal caucus, but both former cabinet ministers should be careful how they pick and choose their future political fights with the Liberal Party because people have already started to raise questions about their endgame, say Liberal MPs and political insiders. “What […]