Aug 15 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — How to solve a problem like Jody? In his submission to the ethics commissioner’s investigation into the SNC affair, Justin Trudeau said his relationship with Jody Wilson-Raybould had become challenging and tense. His counsel claimed she felt collaboration with Trudeau’s office and cabinet was not something she should have to do. By many accounts, Wilson-Raybould […]
Aug 14 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau has created an illusion of himself as a leader more noble and principled than the facts warrant. Yet, it can still be a shock when it’s revealed he’s as calculating as the most cynical of his predecessors, greeting each new situation with the internal question: “What can this do for me?” The mask […]
Aug 14 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Reading the electoral platform of Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party induces a slight throbbing about the temples. From his call for a “Canadian values” test for immigrants to lowering the number of newcomers accepted to “between 100,000 and 150,000” from the estimated 330,000 this year, Bernier has proven himself to be a cynical opportunist. This, after […]
Aug 9 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Living in the political limelight is the dream job for those who wish to be seen — it’s clean, it’s indoors and there’s no heavy lifting involved. But for those who want to get stuff done, life in the House of Commons can be pretty frustrating. Eighteen Liberals, 15 Conservatives and 14 New Democrats have […]
Aug 9 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Canadians pay some of the highest cellphone prices in the world, while powerful telco companies make billions in profit, according to a central pillar in the NDP’s 2019 election platform. “And yet PM Trudeau refuses to do anything about it.” Jagmeet Singh should be careful what he wishes for. Industry sources suggest Canada’s premium carriers […]
Aug 6 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — On book-writing, as on a great many other things, Winston Churchill had it right — what starts out as an amusement quickly becomes a mistress, then a master and finally a tyrant. My burnt offering, “Trudeau — the Education of a Prime Minister,” hits the stores on Tuesday. It’s a book with the shelf-life of […]
Jul 31 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — It had been a tumultuous year, but Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party was still sitting comfortably in the polls, almost ten points clear of the Conservatives, and he could reflect on the fact that all but two first-term majority governments in the entire history of Canada had been re-elected. Christmas vacation 2017–18 for the Trudeau pack […]
Jul 18 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Dennis Matthews knows a thing or two about the political zeitgeist, having worked as advertising guru for Stephen Harper and Doug Ford. He said on Twitter recently that there is a sense among some Conservatives the populist wave which elected Ford and Donald Trump, and ushered in Brexit, is coming to an end. The dwindling […]
Jul 17 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Dominic LeBlanc is a subscriber of the view that politics should be fun — that politicians have no right to be pompous or po-faced. Visitors to the House of Commons are advised to disregard what passes for debate between the leaders and focus exclusively on LeBlanc, constantly taunting and teasing, ribbing and razzing his opponents. […]
Jul 12 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Canada doesn’t have much leverage when it comes to the release of Canadian citizens detained in China, but one way of influencing Beijing may be lending diplomatic support to Taiwan. Since Canada recognized the People’s Republic of China nearly 50 years ago, it has had no official relationship with Taiwan due to the “one China” […]
Jul 11 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Voters know there is no such thing as a free lunch — but that doesn’t stop them wanting one. Andrew Scheer’s climate plan plays on such grasping delusions — claiming to meet Canada’s Paris emissions targets at little or no cost. But a new assessment of the plan suggests the benign promise of achieving emissions […]
Jul 9 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Rhetoric is no substitute for reality, as the American social theorist Thomas Sowell said. It is the besetting sin of the Trudeau government that it has not lived up to its promises in so many fields of endeavour. In foreign affairs, this week gave us another reminder of the gap between what Justin Trudeau said […]
Jul 5 2019 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Bill Morneau was in Port Hope, Ont., this week, telling people the economy is strong and that middle class families are better off, thanks to “the government’s plan to invest in them.” Many Liberals believe they should be in Kim Jong Un or Saddam Hussein territory by now, winning 100 per cent of the votes. […]
Jul 3 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — In October 2018, my intrepid former National Post colleague Stewart Bell led an investigative Global News team into Kurdish territory to interview Mohammed Ali, a Canadian from Toronto who was a sniper and trainer for ISIL and who is now detained by the Kurdish authorities in northern Syria. This past March, British singer Joss Stone […]
Jul 2 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — It was said of the actor Errol Flynn that you always knew precisely where you stood with him because he always let you down. It’s a maxim that could be applied equally to Donald Trump. Justin Trudeau should have known better than to believe the president when he said in the White House less than […]