Sep 20 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The Sept. 20 federal election will be remembered as the “backlash” election, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the country to the polls in the midst of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic but failed to convince Canadians that he needed to do so. Canadians negative reaction to this decision dogged the Liberals throughout […]
Sep 6 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Some political pundits are predicting that Liberal candidate George Chahal could flip Calgary Skyview in what is expected to be a close Sept. 20 election in which every seat will count. “Anytime you want to try to win a seat in Alberta and you’re not a Conservative, it’s a tough fight,” said Prof. Duane Bratt, […]
Aug 31 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — The response some Liberal candidates and campaign workers are getting from Canadians at doorsteps across the country is surprisingly negative, according to Liberal sources who say it’s worse than the backlash from the blackface scandal mid-campaign in 2019. “It’s a lot worse than it was in 2019,” said a Liberal MP, who spoke with The […]
Aug 24 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the momentum shifting from the Justin Trudeau Liberals to the Erin O’Toole Conservatives, some Liberal MPs and candidates running in close swing ridings are getting ‘nervous’ about the prospect that their party might end up with another minority, or lose the election altogether, say Liberal sources. “If you’re not nervous, I think you’re not […]
Aug 23 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole will have the highest stakes in next month’s leaders’ debates, which will be his first major appearance before millions of Canadians and an opportunity to pitch why he’s a better candidate to serve as prime minister than Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, say some top political analysts. “It’s going to be inordinately […]
Aug 16 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals will need to win back a significant chunk of the 34 seats they carried in the 2015 election but lost in 2019 if they want to secure a majority government, say top political strategists and veteran Liberal insiders. “They’re basically the low-hanging fruit for the Liberals,” said Greg […]
Aug 10 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With the next election call around the corner, senior ministerial staffers have slowly started to move to the party office to help run the upcoming election campaign, but a majority will make the move once the election is called. “While we don’t comment on specific election-readiness preparations, we will always be ready to take our […]
Aug 9 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Rising support for the NDP in public opinion polls is more of a threat to a potential Liberal majority in the next election than the opposition Conservatives, say some pollsters. “Are they a serious threat to a Liberal majority? Yeah, absolutely,” said Ekos Research president Frank Graves in an interview with The Hill Times. “In […]
Aug 4 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — If the Liberals are planning on appointing a candidate in Kanata-Carleton, Ont., for the next election without consulting the riding association, or going through the regular nomination process, they should think twice, say some potential Liberal candidates and riding association members. “We would like a nomination process that’s open and transparent,” said Dr. Rouba Fattal, […]
Aug 2 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Calling an election when some public opinion polls suggest a closing gap between the Liberals and Conservatives should make Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reconsider right now because he could end up with a weaker minority or even losing the government altogether, say some pollsters. “There’s no need to have an election right now,” said Darrell […]
Aug 2 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With about 16,000 Liberal riding association members signed up in the coveted riding of Brampton Centre, “all eyes are on” the seven-way Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 nomination election where a multi-ballot nail biter is expected, as the party chooses its candidate for the next election. “With so many people running, no one’s going to […]
Aug 1 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With politicos across the country caught in election fever, Liberal MPs, candidates, and campaign managers are preparing for an election campaign to get started on Aug. 8 or Aug. 15, with the election date set to be Sept. 13 or Sept. 20. “’Be ready for the writ to be dropped on Aug. 8′ is the […]
Jul 30 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Councillor and deputy mayor of Ottawa Jenna Sudds is said to be eyeing the federal Liberal nomination in Kanata-Carleton, sources told The Hill Times. Incumbent two-term Liberal MP Karen McCrimmon is not expected to seek re-election. By deadline, she had not made an official announcement, and did not respond to an interview request from The […]
Jul 26 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — With all federal parties entering the final phase of preparations for an anticipated election call next month, a top Liberal campaign official told candidates, campaign managers, and riding association presidents last week that they should rent campaign offices for two months. Liberal sources who attended the online meeting on Monday, July 19, said that in […]
Jul 19 2021 — Abbas Rana — Hill Times — Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault says Elections Canada would “prefer” the duration of the next election campaign to be longer than the minimum 36 days to deliver a safe election which is expected to happen in the midst of COVID-19, but two leading pollsters say a longer campaign will put the Liberals at a political […]