Dec 3 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Pierre Poilievre has sunk his teeth into a hot economic issue, inflation, and the Conservative Party’s shadow finance minister can point to a cost of living that is rising at a rate Canadians haven’t seen for years. But he still insists on stretching facts to push his point. There’s always a certain amount of spin […]
Nov 12 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Even before Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, 2017, Justin Trudeau’s most senior aides rushed to New York to forge relationships with Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and the other emerging players of Trumpworld. They saw Mr. Trump and his political agenda as a potential danger, and set out to influence it. Four years later, when Joe […]
Nov 5 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Erin O’Toole is stuck up in a tree, and he can’t get down. His own party is at the bottom, waiting, and he doesn’t know what to do. His voters are waiting. His leadership-race supporters are there too and, well, that’s a bit awkward. He doesn’t dare go anywhere people might ask questions about politics, […]
Oct 11 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — So far, there are two ministers named to Justin Trudeau’s postelection cabinet: the PM himself, and Chrystia Freeland. The rest are TBD. Mr. Trudeau took the unusual step of telling the country on Sept. 28 that Ms. Freeland will stay as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, though the rest of the cabinet has to […]
Sep 28 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — The job that outgoing Green Leader Annamie Paul described as worse than a thankless task is up for grabs now. It doesn’t look likely to be rewarding for the next leader, either. This is a party so deeply mired in dysfunction that it was intent on ripping itself to pieces, election or not. It was […]
Aug 23 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — It is an amorphous mass, its shape undefined, its substance or sentience unknown. It is the Canadian federal election campaign so far: The Blob. It’s not a campaign about nothing, but a campaign about everything. National child-care programs, long-term care, income supports, green industry, climate change, boosting the economy and every party’s own plan for […]
Aug 7 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — In 2015, Jody Wilson-Raybould symbolized the change that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were promising. She had left a role as regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in B.C. for elected politics, hoping to change the country. Six years later, she has decided not to run again, saying the atmosphere in federal politics is toxic.
Jul 12 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — When Annamie Paul became the Green Party’s national leader last October, the plan was to make it a national force in electoral politics. Now it is crumbling. The Green brand should, you would think, be rising in politics: More and more people see climate change as the cause of our times. But the organization itself […]
Jul 7 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — The Governor-General is a mostly symbolic position, and this time, Justin Trudeau chose to skirt existing symbols in favour of new ones. Mary Simon was passed over for the post in the past, her name mooted but ultimately rejected because she didn’t speak French.
Jun 13 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Of course they did. Of course two of the Canadian Forces’ most senior officers went for an outing with former chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance, even though the latter is still under investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct. Of course they went to play golf. It’s hard to believe they didn’t see the problem […]
Jun 9 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Call me crazy, but I don’t want the Prime Minister of the country cooling his heels in a hotel, with RCMP officers patrolling the halls, for a couple of days next week. That is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s symbolic penance for a symbolic policy, a mandatory quarantine in a hotel for up to three days […]
May 24 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — In August, at a time when vaccinations might make us feel like lockdowns are behind us, the federal government will launch a program that symbolizes one of the big looming failures of the recovery. That’s when, according to last month’s budget, the Liberal government will start sending out a $500 payment to seniors 75 and […]
Apr 28 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — When the Maverick Party was formed 15 months ago to give voice to Western separatists, it was built on a fit of frustration at a country that had re-elected Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. Now they’re mad as hell at Erin O’Toole, too. Last year, the Maverick folks decided they would focus their efforts in 49 ridings […]
Apr 1 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was first asked whether he knew that an allegation of sexual misconduct against the military’s top officer was made in 2018, any answer he gave was going to look bad. If he knew, it would mean that he, like Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, had known there was an allegation but […]
Mar 29 2021 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — When the Chinese government announced it would put sanctions on Conservative MP Michael Chong, it seemed at first like there must be some kind of goofy mistake. Chinese officials were firing back at the Canadian government because it imposed sanctions on four Chinese individuals over human-rights violations in Xinjiang, but somehow they missed the Liberal […]