May 19 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Former Conservative minister and senior RBC executive Michael Fortier and his family were asleep in their Montreal home at 1:30 a.m. on May 4, when he was woken by a neighbour banging on his drain pipe to warn him that the Jaguar and Land Rover parked in the driveway were on fire.
May 17 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The only person, it seems, who can stop Doug Ford being re-elected as premier is Doug Ford. If he was going to blow it, the leaders’ debate on Monday evening in Toronto was the time and the place. The PC leader made a big deal of being allowed to bring in his cheat sheet to […]
May 16 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Dogs are an occupational hazard for campaigning politicians and the explosion of pandemic pets has made things worse – nearly one million Canadians acquired a hound or kitty during COVID. “Every house has a dog. I’ve never seen so many dogs,” says an exasperated Vic Fedeli, the veteran Progressive Conservative who has been elected three […]
May 11 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The only incongruity in meeting Steven Del Duca in a Tim Hortons on North Bay’s lakeshore is the large black Chevy Suburban, with its protective detail, parked outside. In every other way, the Ontario Liberal leader fits in with his surroundings — an unremarkable 48-year-old, follicly-challenged man in a sweater vest, sipping a cup of […]
May 11 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The first Ontario leaders’ debate offered little evidence that what the NDP has called the “ping-pong” of power between the Conservatives and the Liberals is going to end anytime soon. In the first week of the Ontario election campaign, the NDP ran an ad called “ping pong” that featured a generic, besuited Conservative playing table-tennis […]
May 10 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — As a columnist for 30 years, I’ve always tried to remember Bertrand Russell’s maxim not to expect people to take as much interest in me as I do myself. In any case, I appear to have entered my anecdotage — not much happens in my tiny world worth relaying to the rest of the universe. […]
May 7 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — There’s not much in Jean Charest’s platform that would make Justin Trudeau wince, save perhaps experimentation with private health care and the cancellation of the consumer carbon tax. Does that make the former Quebec premier more Liberal than Conservative? Did he “govern like a Liberal,” as his Conservative leadership rival, Pierre Poilievre, alleged in the […]
Apr 29 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The Trudeau government is still considering a nationwide ban on handguns as a “last resort,” even as it prepares to introduce legislation that will offer financial support to provinces that bring in their own restrictions.
Apr 28 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — In case nervous Europeans did not get the veiled threat of a first nuclear strike by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov his boss Vladimir Putin removed the veil on Wednesday. Lavrov said that the danger of nuclear confrontation is serious and “we must not underestimate it.” Speaking to lawmakers in St. Petersburg, Putin reinforced the […]
Apr 26 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The Liberals have heeded the age-old advice that governments should never set up public inquiries unless they know in advance what the findings will be. In the case of the inquiry into the proclamation of the Emergencies Act in February, the government has mandated Ontario appeals court judge Justice Paul Rouleau to focus on the […]
Apr 25 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Tiff Macklem and his colleagues at the Bank of Canada have been dismissed as “financially illiterate” by no less an authority than Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre (BA). Macklem’s appearance at the House of Commons finance committee on Monday will not have endeared him to his critics. Inflation is too high, “higher than we expected,” […]
Apr 23 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — On any given day, I’m open to the idea that I’m wrong on any given subject. But not on Canada’s over-cautious response to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. Being sanctioned by Vladimir Putin’s bandit regime confirmed my conviction that far too often, sober second thought in official Ottawa has been used as an excuse for […]
Apr 20 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Ukraine is set to convene with its closest allies to discuss future security guarantees in the event of a diplomatic settlement in the war with Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But Canada will not be at the table — much to the chagrin of some senior diplomats who want to see a more energetic […]
Apr 19 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — The latest situation report from the Ukrainian government makes grim reading. On the 54th day of opposition to Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is seeing ominous signs of the beginning of a renewed offensive operation in the east of the country. New Russian units are appearing in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with the approximate date of […]
Apr 15 2022 — John Ivison — National Post — Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative leadership campaign launch video has been viewed 713,000 times on YouTube. Scott Aitchison’s launch has just 2,000 views. The 49-year-old MP from Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont., admits that winning supporters, and raising money, on a platform of respectful debate, common-sense solutions and compromise “is a bit of a slog.”