Nov 28 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — One of the less appealing things about this country is that its big talk often outstrips its contribution. We scored a goal in the World Cup and claimed history had been made. History would have been made if we’d won. Likewise, we announced on Sunday that we will ship off another frigate to patrol the […]
Nov 25 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s appearance at the inquiry into the invocation of the Emergencies Act won’t move mountains, or even votes. Those who hold him personally responsible for the decline of Canadian civilization will keep sticking pins in his likeness; those concerned that his government’s response to the Freedom Convoy will normalize the use of emergency powers […]
Nov 24 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Chrystia Freeland offered a convincing depiction of the impasse in which the government found itself in mid-February to the commission looking into the invocation of the Emergencies Act. But she was less persuasive when making the case for the measures the Liberals introduced in a frenzy to break the deadlock created by the so-called Freedom […]
Nov 24 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Canada’s exports extend beyond hockey players and cold fronts, as Pierre Trudeau once said. It turns out we are also traders in world-class constitutional jurisprudence. The U.K.’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Scottish government cannot hold a second independence referendum without the consent of the British Parliament and based its decision, in part, […]
Nov 22 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Marco Mendicino came across as one of those assured characters who fluffs his putts under pressure. The public safety minister was testifying before the Public Order Emergency Commission about the events leading up to the invocation of the Emergencies Act last February. As a former federal prosecutor, M3 (as he appears in many internal documents […]
Nov 21 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The warm front that passed across Ottawa on Monday morning was caused by a collective sigh of relief emitted by a number of senior ministers and government staffers, after Canada’s top spy revealed in testimony that he advised the prime minister to invoke the Emergencies Act last February to break up the Freedom Convoy. The […]
Nov 18 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau committed a breach of diplomatic protocol and Xi Jinping was expressing genuine indignation in their now infamous encounter on the fringes of a G20 meeting in Bali. That was the opinion of a senior diplomat with decades of experience in these matters, and, incidentally, no great love for the Communist Party of China. […]
Nov 15 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — This is a government that makes you want to cry into your beer but then makes it too expensive to buy. As the mercury rose in the summer, so did the price of barbecuing, with strip loin steak costing around 12 per cent more than the year before. Tipplers could drown their sorrows in the […]
Nov 14 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Jean-Yves Duclos is an unlikely politician — as befits a mild-mannered economist, he is polite, precise and plausible. In his previous profession, the federal health minister was used to dealing with issues of scarcity and rarely seems ruffled. But last week in Vancouver, he came as close to losing it in public as he is […]
Nov 9 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s acknowledgement that the Chinese are playing “aggressive games” by interfering in Canadian elections is about as shocking as Captain Renault finding gambling was rampant at Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca. The prime minister was responding to questions raised in an excellent Global News report about China targeting Canada with a campaign of interference in […]
Nov 7 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Canada may have (unwittingly) played a part in changing the course of naval warfare by developing and producing the maritime drones that possibly crippled Russia’s Black Sea fleet during a recent attack on the port of Sevastopol. In the fog of war, a great deal of qualification is required. But what is known is that […]
Nov 3 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Federal budgets are where predictions go to die, so treat this year’s fall economic statement with the skepticism it deserves. The fiscal update reveals that revenues were $40 billion higher than were projected in the April budget — less than six months ago. It also suggests that the budget will be back in surplus in […]
Nov 2 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — David Lametti had the look of a man who had gone looking for a gas leak with a lit match. As he entered Liberal caucus on Wednesday morning, the justice minister was asked about the Ontario government’s pre-emptive use of the “notwithstanding” clause — Section 33 of the charter — which it has invoked in […]
Oct 31 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Chrystia Freeland will unveil her fall fiscal update this week and the focus will be on whether she has thrown out the Liberals’ free-spending playbook. Two years ago, the new finance minister defended lavish program expenditure as a “fabulous opportunity to rebuild the country along more equitable, greener lines.” Low interest rates meant “these are […]
Oct 28 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — In the months before last year’s election, the government sought to overturn a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to award $40,000 each to 50,000 children separated from their families by an underfunded on-reserve welfare system. For a government committed to reconciliation, it was a counterintuitive move, but successive Canadian governments have resisted the […]