Articles by Abbas Rana

Jun 20 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the presumed Conservative leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre widely expected to become party leader on Sept. 10, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals should start to define their future opponent now before he gets a chance to define himself, say top political players. “In our day and age, the velocity of politics is much faster than […]

Jun 13 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the divisive Conservative leadership election moving into the next phase, candidates are expected to challenge thousands of memberships brought in by their rivals and will call on the party to declare any ineligible to vote in the Sept. 10 leadership election, say current and former senior Conservatives. “Each one’s going to be going through […]

Jun 9 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With provincial and international jurisdictions easing COVID restrictions, some Liberal MPs say the vast majority of their caucus want the federal government to drop travel vaccination requirements, allowing unvaccinated Canadians to board domestic flights. Several Liberal MPs interviewed for this article said that most caucus members want all federal pandemic restrictions dropped as soon as […]

Jun 6 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The ongoing, divisive Conservative leadership campaign is causing serious concerns about party unity for some current and former senior Conservatives who say one of the key tests of the new leader will be to keep the party united. “The rift is getting bigger and bigger,” said Bert Chen, a former Ontario national councillor, in an […]

Jun 3 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Former Ontario finance minister Charles Sousa is considering running in the coveted federal riding of Mississauga-Lakeshore and says a number of prominent federal Liberals, including MPs and cabinet ministers, are encouraging him to seek the nomination, but he still hasn’t made a final decision. “I have to give it some thought, I’ve been receiving some […]

May 16 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The June 2 Ontario provincial election will be a case study for how upset Canadians are with incumbent politicians about inflation and affordability issues, like soaring food prices, gas prices, and skyrocketing housing prices, say some MPs and a veteran pollster. “We’re in the heat of a provincial election in Canada’s largest province,” said Nik […]

May 9 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With Roe vs. Wade making international headlines, the divisive issue of abortion access will have a significant impact on the down ballot support and fundraising for candidates on both sides of the divide in the ongoing Conservative leadership election, say Conservatives. In interviews with The Hill Times, political insiders supporting different candidates and one leading […]

Apr 18 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Political observers say it’s still unclear whether the large crowds Pierre Poilievre is drawing to his rallies and his traction on social media will translate into votes for the Ottawa-area MP considered to be the front-runner in the federal Conservative leadership race. “What’s clear is that he can generate attention, he’s got eyeballs, he has […]

Apr 4 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The confidence-and-supply agreement is a good opportunity for the NDP, the fourth place party in the House, to keep itself relevant nationally but at the same time, it will have to be vigilant to ensure the governing party delivers on the promises they made, says a former NDP MP who ran but lost in the […]

Mar 28 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The Liberal-NDP confidence and supply agreement has not gone over well with some Liberal MPs who say they were not consulted and worried their party is leaving the centre of the ideological spectrum “wide open” at a time when the next election could be a “change election.”

Mar 21 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The division in the Conservative leadership campaign, already on display, will make it a serious challenge for the eventual winner to bring the party together after the contest is over, say political players. “It’s pretty clear that there’s kind of a progressive element to it, and then there’s a more Conservative element to it,” said […]

Mar 14 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The Conservative Party’s national council will finalize the nomination rules for 119 ridings represented by its MPs before the election of the new leader and unheld ridings after the leadership election, giving independence to MPs to decide without any political pressure who they want to support for the party’s top job. “Our priority is working […]

Mar 7 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Conservatives say they expect their next party leader to most likely be the next prime minister of Canada, which is why the leadership race, unofficially begun last month when MP Pierre Poilievre announced his candidacy, will be ugly and divisive. “The stakes are higher, and when the stakes are higher, people’s elbows start to go […]

Feb 28 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Some Conservative sources telling reporters that Stephen Harper is against Jean Charest’s potential candidacy for the Conservative Party’s top job is “spin” and a scare tactic to intimidate the former Quebec premier from entering the leadership election, says a top strategist for Charest’s potential leadership bid. “I don’t believe it,” said Michael Coates, co-founder and […]

Feb 21 2022 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Some Conservative MPs’ embrace of the convoy is a risky strategy that might help the party harness the populist wave now, but could backfire in future. “The fact of the matter is that any politician who decides to cozy up to the trucking protest, basically has a tiger by the tail,” said Nik Nanos, founder […]