Jan 28 2022 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is taking the biggest gamble of his political life by siding with truckers rolling to Ottawa in protest against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions. That support could galvanize his leadership, or sink it. He’s willing to take that chance. “The mood is changing,” Mr. O’Toole said in an interview Friday. […]
Jan 27 2022 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — It’s no coincidence that the Foothills Conservative riding association in Alberta and the Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek riding association in Saskatchewan are the latest to push for an early review of Erin O’Toole’s leadership. It’s also no coincidence that Saskatchewan members defied Mr. O’Toole and kept dissident Senator Denise Batters in their caucus, or that deputy […]
Jan 25 2022 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — For almost two years, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by spending money at levels never seen in peacetime, to protect workers, businesses and the health-care system. That spending was necessary. But this year the bill comes due. And it won’t be pretty. The federal deficit skyrocketed from less than 1 […]
Jan 2 2022 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — If the next presidential election reveals the United States is hurtling toward political instability and even violence, what can Canada do? There are risks if our politicians speak up during the election and risks in staying silent. But Canadians must ready themselves for a future in which the United States is no longer our ally […]
Nov 28 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — The Conservatives have an excellent chance of winning the next federal election. But for that to happen, Leader Erin O’Toole should heed the wisdom of Tony Blair. Britain’s former Labour prime minister penned the foreword to a new report issued this week by the institute that bears his name. The report seeks to understand and […]
Nov 25 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — In the last federal election, the Liberal Party received the support of less than one-third of voters. No federal political party has formed government with a weaker public mandate. And yet the Liberals introduced a Throne Speech this week filled with ambitious and expensive commitments. Those commitments arrive on the heels of rising inflation and […]
Oct 25 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to appoint his fifth minister of foreign affairs, which is a travesty. My colleagues Bill Curry, Marieke Walsh and Steven Chase report that Marc Garneau is being moved out of the post after less than a year in the job. Serial rotation of foreign affairs ministers is nothing new. […]
Oct 4 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Justin Trudeau’s ill-considered trip to Tofino on the very first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation does more than remind us, yet again, of his sense of entitlement and his chronically poor judgment. It tells us that he may not be Prime Minister that much longer. A futile election, a lack of fresh initiatives and […]
Sep 21 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — As results Monday night showed the Liberals on the way to forming another minority government, Erin O’Toole must have wondered if his Big Bet had been a bad gamble. The Conservative Leader staked his and his party’s future on a major strategic shift that aimed to take the Conservatives closer to the political centre. But […]
Sep 9 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — On Aug. 15, the day Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau launched the federal election campaign, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s chief strategist made a prediction. “Once again, @erinotoole begins a campaign as the underdog,” Dan Robertson tweeted. “This isn’t the first time he’s been underestimated, but it will be the last.” No one is underestimating Mr. O’Toole […]
Sep 6 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — If you want to understand the particular kind of trouble that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau finds himself in, take a look at an old poll: election night, 2019. On that night, the Liberal Party secured 33 per cent of the popular vote, one percentage point less than Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives, but enough to form government, […]
Sep 6 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — In a week that shook up the federal election campaign, both Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole focused on guns and crime, leading the Conservative Leader to reverse his position. Faced with the possibility of losing an election that they hoped would deliver a comfortable majority government, the Liberals have been lashing […]
Aug 17 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — When suburban voters side with people who live downtown, as they did in the past two federal elections, Liberals win government. When they side with their country cousins, as they did in 2011, Conservatives win. The platform that the Tories released Monday is designed to make 2011 happen again. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and his […]
Aug 15 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Justin Trudeau has transformed the role of the federal government in the life of the nation. What do you think of that transformation? That is what this election is about. It’s hard to overstate how much things have changed under this Liberal Leader. He has shattered the Ottawa Consensus forged by Jean Chrétien in the […]
Aug 12 2021 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Although Justin Trudeau likes to project a positive image, the Prime Minister has a fondness for demonizing his opponents. The problem in this upcoming election is that there’s a shortage of demons. That may be one reason the Liberals spend so much time going after Premier Jason Kenney’s UCP government in Alberta.