Nov 20 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Just over four years ago, Justin Trudeau strode in late fall sunshine toward Rideau Hall like a conquering Roman general, flanked by his gender-balanced cabinet. By contrast, there was nothing triumphant about the way Trudeau’s ministers trudged toward the Governor-General’s residence to be sworn in on a chilly winter’s afternoon on Wednesday, their leader nowhere […]
Nov 19 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — It is incongruous that Justin Trudeau’s inner circle has too few Westerners, while Andrew Scheer’s has too many. Perhaps they should swap staff for a few days. All eyes will be on the Liberal leader’s cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall on Wednesday afternoon. But, to many observers, the confederacy arraigned around the cabinet table is […]
Nov 18 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate. Eastern Liberals like Kathleen Wynne on CTV’s Question Period spent the weekend accusing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney of “fanning the flames” of Western separatism. Those closer to the action could only shake their heads and point out that Kenney is Canada’s best hope for taking the […]
Nov 15 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Winston Churchill once remarked that the greatest lesson in life is to learn that even fools are right sometimes. A freshly-chastened Justin Trudeau seems to have absorbed this advice in his meetings with opposition leaders this week, acknowledging he may be able to find “common ground” with politicians he only recently assured Canadians were depriving […]
Nov 13 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — The unsung story about the 2019 general election campaign is how vital Barack Obama’s endorsement was to Justin Trudeau’s victory. That’s a pretty broad statement, given there were so many twists and turns in the 40 day campaign. But if there was the turning point that secured the win, it was the former president’s backing […]
Nov 8 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Andrew Scheer presented the façade of party unity when he emerged from a marathon caucus meeting on Wednesday. “The whole team knows that Conservatives only succeed when they work together and remain united,” he said. It’s true that the caucus was unified behind the idea that the party’s membership, not its elected members, should hold […]
Nov 5 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Tom Mulcair was the bookmaker’s favourite to become prime minister a month before the vote in 2015. Six months after polling day, he was rejected as NDP leader by the majority of delegates at the party’s annual convention. Andrew Scheer was in a similar position, well ahead in the polls a month before the October […]
Nov 1 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — There was a moment of clarity before the delirium really kicked in – a realization that there must be a smarter and more environmentally-friendly way to elect a prime minister than criss-crossing the second biggest country in the world multiple times by plane and bus over the course of a month. Preferably one that does […]
Oct 30 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Andrew Scheer has made it clear he knows what is going on. He is going on. There were no hints in his post-election concession speech, or at any time since, that he is thinking about stepping down as Conservative leader. On the contrary, he sounded in bullish form, noting that his predecessor, Stephen Harper, reduced […]
Oct 22 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — The morning after the 2015 election, Canada was at peace with itself. The country wanted a change in tone after the astringency of the Harper years. Even Conservatives acknowledged they had run out of steam. Justin Trudeau personified the sense of optimism and exhilaration. How different October 22, 2019, feels – more like the morning […]
Oct 22 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — In times past, scoundrels were placed in a pillory in the public square and exposed to humiliation and abuse. Justin Trudeau’s appearance before his fellow citizens in the Old Market Square in Winnipeg mid-campaign, after he’d be caught dressing up in blackface, was a similar exercise in public shaming. It was also the pivotal moment […]
Oct 19 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s second stop of the day, on a 20-hour long march across the country, was at fire training facility in the riding of Hamilton Mountain, solid NDP territory for the past four elections. Trudeau was at his most wild-eyed and fervent – the Liberals know that what people see over the next 48 hours […]
Oct 18 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — The most conspicuous movement in this most discouraging election campaign has been the flow of voters away from the Liberals and the Conservatives. We don’t know who will win or how much popular support they will command on Monday. But the polling suggests the victor will have the lowest share of the popular vote in […]
Oct 17 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — You might think it’s high time Justin Trudeau got real, in the dying days of a general election campaign when he is fighting for his political life. You’d be wrong. The two leading parties appear to be losing support as the campaign goes on, which is not the norm. The hurricane of spin and disinformation […]
Oct 16 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — In the course of an interview for my book on Justin Trudeau, Gerald Butts made a comment that crystallizes the Liberal leader’s challenge in the coming days – convincing people who voted for him in 2015 that he is still committed to doing politics differently. “I honestly think we’ve lost 5 per cent of the […]