Jul 5 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Jagmeet Singh is working for free. The federal NDP leader — who isn’t on the public payroll because he remains unelected — has never drawn a salary from his party and doesn’t intend to receive a paycheque until its finances “significantly” improve, his press secretary says.
Jun 26 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The personal is political. So, too, the “personal day.” At least that seems to be the case after the partisan dogfight in Canadian politics veered into the prime minister’s work-life balance on Monday. The Conservative party suggested on Twitter that Justin Trudeau takes too much time off, using his office’s public itinerary as fodder for […]
Jun 22 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Jagmeet Singh was supposed to be in Chicoutimi. Headlines heralded the arrival of all three major party leaders to the riding north of Québec City last week, just days before a federal byelection. Singh, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer were actually expected to appear at the same event: the opening leg […]
May 24 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The federal government is not ready to create a special police task force for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, a key demand from the ongoing national inquiry that will go unmet as the Liberal administration decides in the coming days whether to grant the process more time and money. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn […]
May 10 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The Green Party announced Thursday that a third-party investigation concluded accusations levelled against longtime leader Elizabeth May do not constitute workplace harassment. The allegations, first reported by the Toronto Star in January, came from three former party employees, who accused May of creating a toxic work environment in the party with behaviour that included yelling […]
May 2 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is expected to address a simmering controversy in the party’s federal caucus on Thursday, after Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir alleged an unnamed staff member accused him of harassment because of his views on carbon pricing. Singh called for a third-party investigation in February, after Quebec MP Christine Moore emailed the NDP […]
Apr 21 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Nicola Di Iorio sleeps five hours a night, but he says that’s enough to keep his motor going overtime — which is exactly what he has to do. For not only is he the federal representative for some 114,000 Montrealers, he maintains a side hustle as an active litigator who co-manages a gaggle of labour […]
Apr 3 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The NDP leader’s press secretary said Singh is “not going to close the door” to running for Tom Mulcair’s old seat in the downtown Montreal riding of Outremont. The New Democratic Party isn’t ruling out the possibility that federal leader Jagmeet Singh will run for a seat in the Montreal neighbourhood of Outremont, a riding […]
Mar 21 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh categorically condemned political violence on Wednesday, and said he won’t attend any event where he knows someone will advocate violence as a political tool. “Let’s make it really clear. I think it’s an important question. I condemn political violence absolutely, no question about that. It’s something that’s unacceptable. It divides people. […]
Mar 12 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — A stylish criminal defence lawyer from Brampton is gearing up to win an election for the New Democratic Party. Must be Jagmeet Singh, right? Wrong. It’s his brother, Gurratan Singh, who told the Star on Friday that he is “seriously considering” a run for the Ontario NDP in Brampton East. The newly redrawn riding includes […]
Feb 21 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Two former Green party staffers who accused Elizabeth May of workplace bullying say they won’t participate in an investigation launched last month because they don’t trust it is being conducted independently. Vanessa Brustolin and Diana Nunes separately emailed their decisions Wednesday to the lawyer hired by the party to investigate their allegations, citing concerns with […]
Feb 16 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — A pair of Toronto riding associations wants to put “socialism” back in the New Democratic Party constitution. The push to return to the anti-capitalist roots of the party comes as the NDP kicks off its national convention Friday at a downtown convention centre overlooking the slushy Rideau Canal. Among a host of policy resolutions slated […]
Feb 12 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Three former Green party employees who accused Elizabeth May of workplace bullying are demanding a “truly independent” investigation of their allegations, stating in a joint letter that they have no confidence in the process launched by the party last month. Rob Rainer, Diana Nunes and Vanessa Brustolin wrote to Green Party President Ken Melamed on […]
Feb 11 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Say you’re a backroom strategist, charged with charting the New Democratic Party’s plan for electoral victory. You have this flashy new leader, a 39-year-old who professes the requisite leftist ideals, yet does so with flair and an attitude that seems linked to a generational shift. He talks of “vibes” and calls things “fire,” and though […]
Feb 5 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Elizabeth May is asking Green party members to help cover the “new and unexpected” cost of a workplace bullying investigation into her own alleged behaviour — an investigation that she called for herself in the face of accusations from former staffers last week. In an email to party members Monday, the longtime Green leader said […]