Jan 23 2020 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — There is no “Donutgate.” It is not a thing. At a rough guess, perhaps five real people care that Justin Trudeau went to an upmarket instead of mass-market donut shop in Winnipeg to pick up treats for the Liberal cabinet retreat. Five people does not make “scandal,” “outrage” or “controversy.” Not even close. Donutgate is […]
Jan 22 2020 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — Certain pundits — well, one at least — had speculated in recent weeks that Jean Charest might be a plausible defender and leader of a Canadian conservative coalition that sometimes seems scared of its own shadow. If nothing else, it seemed reasonable to assume Charest appreciated the nature of that coalition. He lived its glory […]
Jan 16 2020 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — CBC’s and CTV’s newsrooms published rather important “clarifications” to online news stories on Tuesday afternoon, the main point of which was that Stephen Harper never uttered the phrase “regime change” at an international policy gabfest in New Delhi. The topic was Iran and its shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner with 176 souls aboard, the […]
Jan 10 2020 — Chris Selley — Calgary Herald — Glee is spreading among Liberal partisans at the thought of Pierre Poilievre succeeding Andrew Scheer as Conservative leader. The theory is he is so pugnacious, so obnoxious, so poisonously, sneeringly partisan as to be literally unelectable.
Dec 30 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — It’s not good to be cynical about politicians in general. Most are in the game for the right reasons. But over the past 10 years, a good few of them — and their advisers — have really let the side down. With an obvious bias toward Central Canada and federal politics, here are the Top […]
Dec 5 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — In advance of Thursday’s throne speech, strategists both professional and amateur had advised Canadians to listen for a certain humility — a new tone that we weren’t accustomed to during the four years Justin Trudeau led a majority government. There would be calls for collaboration, and cooperation, and partnership, all that crap. This is what […]
Nov 15 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — It has been more than a month since Federal Court Justice Russell Zinn forced the Leaders’ Debates Commission to accredit Rebel Media and the True North Centre for Public Policy to cover the Oct. 7 English-language debate. The commission had already been under fire for inviting People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier to participate, based on […]
Nov 8 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — At a Wednesday press conference in Ottawa, a Globe and Mail reporter asked Andrew Scheer if he believes homosexuality is a “sin.” He didn’t answer, as has become his trademark on this file; instead he pledged, for the umpteenth time, simply to stand up for gay rights in all their forms. It has been maddening […]
Oct 31 2019 — Chris Selley — National Post — There are many things for the Conservative Party of Canada to ponder in the wake of their election-night performance last week, and one of them is certainly Andrew Scheer’s leadership. It should by no means be beyond reproach. Quite apart from anything else he signed off on a dispiriting grab-bag of a platform that seemed […]
Oct 22 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — This will come as little comfort to the hundreds of Conservatives who came out here on Monday night expecting a “strong Conservative majority government” — something Andrew Scheer repeatedly assured them was in the cards, ostensibly based on internal polling. CBC was on the big screen at the International Trade Centre as the network called […]
Oct 20 2019 — Chris Selley — National Post — “Yes.” That’s all Andrew Scheer needed to say. The Globe and Mail reported this weekend that the Conservatives hired a consulting firm, Daisy group, to dig up dirt on Maxime Bernier and his People’s Party, with a goal of keeping him out of the leaders’ debates or, failing that, just generally discredit them as much […]
Sep 13 2019 — Chris Selley — National Post — “Now with 25 per cent fewer leaders.” That was Maclean’s writer Paul Wells’ very apropos quip to introduce the first leaders’ debate of the 2019 federal election campaign. Despite what Liberal partisans might tell you, Justin Trudeau’s absence is neither justifiable nor a good look. On Aug. 6, 2015, Stephen Harper, Trudeau, Thomas Mulcair and […]
Sep 11 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — As Canada’s federal politicians head to the campaign trail, climate scientists warn we are at the precipice of global disaster. The governing Liberals echo said warnings. Yet neither they nor the Conservatives have a plan to achieve our existing emissions targets, never mind the more ambitious ones the boffins insist are necessary. Green Party leader […]
Aug 30 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — Pre-campaign books about politicians are always interesting when the author gets significant access to the subject, because it gives the subject a chance to offer a well-thought-out and carefully considered case for his election or re-election to an impartial reporter. It’s not a press conference full of headline-hungry hacks marinating in Red Bull; it’s a […]
Aug 21 2019 — Chris Selley — Postmedia — Many Canadians have been understandably flummoxed, with gusts to outraged, by news that Elections Canada has warned organizations advocating for more forceful action against climate change that they may have to register as “third parties” for the upcoming election, and be subject to limits on advertising expenditures during the campaign. “The climate crisis is objectively […]