Nov 26 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — General Motors’ decision to stop assembling vehicles at its Oshawa plant a year from now was made, for all intents and purposes, by stealth. It caught politicians at all levels of government and of all political stripes completely off guard, despite their frequent conversations with the carmaker over the past year about the plant’s future. […]
Nov 22 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Bill Morneau’s latest economic update is a total write-off. Which is exactly what he intended. The finance minister responded to Donald Trump’s corporate tax changes, introduced last December, by announcing Canadian businesses will be able to deduct, immediately, the full cost of any investments in new equipment for manufacturing and clean technology. It’s at least […]
Nov 17 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — America’s top soldier says the world is witnessing a return of an open competition between the U.S. and its allies and old adversaries Russia and China. Gen. Joseph Dunford says the U.S. is having to adapt its military strategy to confront new challenges presented by the re-emergence of these old foes.
Nov 7 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Donald Trump kept telling Americans to pretend he was on the ballot Tuesday and it appears they did. Whether that mobilized more Republicans or Democrats to vote is tough to tell. The Democrats won back control of the House of Representatives, but oh so narrowly. The “blue wave” predicted by some polls was more of […]
Oct 23 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — The Trudeau government is moving ahead with its plan to put a price on carbon emissions. In the process, it’s directly taking on federal Conservatives and the four premiers who oppose carbon pricing by promising to give the money back to taxpayers in those provinces. “Starting next year, it will no longer be free to […]
Oct 19 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Wayne Easter answered the phone in the middle of a quick lunch. The chair of the Commons finance committee was in Winnipeg yesterday with other committee members, listening to submissions on what should be in the next federal budget. Wherever they stop, Easter said, the message heard by committee members is pretty much the same: […]
Oct 12 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Congressional hopeful Amy McGrath has no time to talk to a reporter from Canada when she arrives for a potluck campaign rally in a small park just outside Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky. The Democratic candidate in the state’s sixth congressional district is wearing blue jeans and sandals as she works through the partisan crowd. […]
Oct 3 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — François Legault hadn’t even delivered his victory speech after Monday’s Quebec election when he received a congratulatory phone call from Ottawa. It was federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on the line — and he wanted to be the first. Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec party doesn’t have formal ties to Scheer’s party. Conservatives still might have […]
Oct 1 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — It’s almost certain that the highs and lows of Justin Trudeau’s first three years in office will be defined by the nearly 14 months his government has spent negotiating a new trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico. He’s probably fine with that. The prime minister didn’t need to be friends with President Donald Trump. […]
Sep 26 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — The election results out of New Brunswick don’t offer much in the way of clarity. The party that got the most votes failed to win the most seats. No party won a majority. And the leaders of both the provincial Liberal and Conservative parties — separated by a single seat — are claiming the right […]
Sep 18 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — There are times when no amount of planning can prepare you for the completely unexpected. The Liberals returned Monday for the fall sitting of Parliament with a plan to highlight what they see as their success over the past three years in making life better for the middle class, to focus attention on their efforts […]
Sep 15 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Three senior members of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet have been found in violation of ethics rules in the past year — a list that includes the prime minister himself. And that’s raising questions about whether the conflict rules are tough enough, or effective enough, in elevating the public’s trust in politicians. Conflict of Interest Commissioner Mario […]
Sep 11 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Doug Ford is nothing if not blunt. He also might be pretty adept at sparking a constitutional conflict. That the Ontario premier plans to use the notwithstanding clause for the first time ever in Ontario — to ignore a court ruling that blocked his plan to chop Toronto City Council in half — is proof […]
Sep 7 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — Justin Trudeau keeps insisting the Trans-Mountain expansion will be built. But judging by his recent meetings with the country’s feuding NDP premiers, the prime minister now seems more comfortable with the one who’s not on his side. Trudeau stopped in Vancouver and Edmonton this week for his first face-to-face meetings with B.C.’s John Horgan and […]
Aug 26 2018 — Chris Hall — CBC — There was nothing in the official agenda at the Conservative policy convention that spoke of the need for party unity. But it became the predominant theme in Halifax as Leader Andrew Scheer faced down a challenge from his former rival for the top job and from some delegates who want to open the door to […]