Articles by Alex Ballingall

May 23 2023 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is refusing to review classified information on foreign state interference, stating he won’t be “silenced” as he continues to claim — contrary to the conclusion of a new report he dismissed as untrustworthy — that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might be “complicit” in Chinese efforts to meddle in Canadian democracy. Speaking […]

May 6 2023 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — They laughed with Jean Chretien. They cried with Hillary Clinton. On the second night of their three-day national convention, the federal Liberal party took different kinds of inspiration from two political figures from years past on Friday. And over it all fell the shadow of the party’s prime challenger for power: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. […]

May 2 2023 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino refused more than a dozen times Tuesday to say when he learned of allegations that the Chinese government targeted members of a Conservative MP’s family — prompting outrage and expressions of support for the MP from all sides of the House of Commons. Mendicino dodged questions from opposition MPs in […]

Apr 8 2023 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Even on the playground of the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, circa 1984, Justin Trudeau was a polarizing figure. This was Montreal, after all, at the tail end of his father’s prime ministership. Strong feelings clung to the family name, residue of the federalist victory in Quebec’s first failed referendum on separation and the constitutional dramas that encircled […]

Mar 22 2023 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — A Liberal MP from Toronto says he has received “hateful comments” and “death threats” since he was accused in a media report of knowingly receiving help from Beijing as part of the Chinese government’s alleged interference in Canadian democracy. Speaking Tuesday for the first time since the allegations were reported by Global News in February, […]

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 […]