Articles by Alex Ballingall

Sep 27 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The RCMP is reviewing a statement from a prominent far-right figure who says he was drunk when he joked during a live broadcast about sexually assaulting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s wife. The comment provoked Poilievre’s strongest condemnation yet of a group called Diagolon and its controversial leader Jeremy MacKenzie, a 36-year-old Nova Scotia man whose […]

Sep 18 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — In a troubled world, Canadian democracy endures. But some sitting members of Parliament are worried — for various reasons — that it is getting weaker. Ryan Turnbull is one of them. The Liberal MP for Whitby was first elected in 2019, and sees the problem through the lens of his education in philosophy: the ideal […]

Sep 11 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The governing Liberals are stressing policies to alleviate the hardships of inflation at the outset of their three-day caucus retreat — a stance that confronts a key attack point for the Conservatives’ new firebrand leader, Pierre Poilievre. That much was clear on Sunday, as MPs and cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government […]

Aug 17 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The federal NDP is pushing the Liberal government to pump significant amounts of money into a “Just Transition” regime for Canada’s fossil-fuel workers, in what one prominent New Democrat sees as a vital part of this year’s deal to prop up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration in exchange for a range of policy action. Charlie […]

Aug 11 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The night before the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act to deal with so-called “Freedom Convoy” protesters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser told the federal cabinet that “there was potential for a breakthrough” with the occupation around Parliament Hill, newly released documents show. The revelation comes from meeting minutes and agendas submitted last […]

Jul 29 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Elizabeth May is preparing to run for the federal Green Party leadership, sources say, confirming speculation that has swirled within the party that the former long-time leader would one day try to reclaim the position. One source with direct knowledge of party affairs told the Star on Thursday that May is collecting required signatures from […]

Jul 27 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Conservative party members would rather hear leadership candidates talk about the World Economic Forum and COVID-19 vaccines than federal budgets and carbon taxes, says Leslyn Lewis. Lewis made the statement while criticizing the party’s plans for a third leadership debate on Aug. 3. In an open letter to the party’s leadership election organizing committee on […]

Jul 18 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Quebec Green Leader Alex Tyrrell is appealing his expulsion from the federal Green Party, alleging the process used to boot him last week — as he was preparing to launch a bid for the national leadership — was unfair. The appeal, which Tyrrell submitted to an internal party appeals body on Monday, comes as the […]

Jun 10 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — “On the advice.” Those three words were at the heart of a heated political clash on Parliament Hill Thursday. A top contender for the Conservative leadership is now calling for Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino to resign, while Mendicino says he is appalled with how the Tories are twisting his words. At issue is how […]

Jan 30 2022 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Business is business, but it’s not Jamie Deith’s dream to sell his precious graphite to China. The crystalline carbon mineral is among those required for electric vehicle batteries, a 21st-century technology that is sparking what some call a “global arms race” for supplies, refining capacity and manufacturing. But Canada, despite the federal government’s grand vision […]

Oct 13 2021 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — A Conservative MP and former Tory whip says parliamentarians should be allowed to work in the House of Commons even if they choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a position he believes is consistent with his party leader’s opposition to vaccination mandates during the recent election campaign. Mark Strahl, the Conservative MP for the […]

Oct 2 2021 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — In one of her last acts as leader of the Green Party of Canada, Annamie Paul stared into her computer screen to address the party’s federal council on Tuesday night. Her year of bitter discord with officials at the top of the Green organization had finally pushed her to announce, one day earlier, that she […]

Sep 14 2021 — Alex Ballingall — The Record — Polls suggest the Conservatives and Liberals are locked in a tight race for the final sprint to election day, as Erin O’Toole made his most pointed attack on Justin Trudeau since the start of the federal campaign. According to the latest numbers from The Signal, a statistical model that analyzes public polling data to forecast […]

Sep 4 2021 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — The far-right People’s Party of Canada could have more national support than the federal Green party, according to an analysis of polling data for the ongoing election campaign. The analysis, which is dubbed The Signal and conducted for the Star by Vox Pop Labs, shows the People’s Party with 4.5 per cent support nationally, compared […]

Aug 26 2021 — Alex Ballingall — St. Catharines Standard — If Jon Evenchick gets a tattoo of Jagmeet Singh’s face, it’ll be on his left shoulder blade and about twice the size of a toonie. Evenchick, who runs a comedy and music venue in downtown Ottawa, wrote on Twitter this week that he’ll get the ink if 5,000 users share his post. And while he […]