Articles by Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

Jan 24 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Independent senators may have to curb their enthusiasm for amending government legislation now that they're operating in a minority Parliament, the government's new representative in the Senate suggested Friday. Sen. Marc Gold noted that never before has a minority government had to function alongside a more independent, less partisan Senate. It's not yet clear how that will play out. […]

Jan 24 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Independent senators may have to curb their enthusiasm for amending government legislation now that they're operating in a minority Parliament, the government's new representative in the Senate suggested Friday. Sen. Marc Gold noted that never before has a minority government had to function alongside a more independent, less partisan Senate. It's not yet clear how that will play out. […]

Jan 21 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — WINNIPEG — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to apply the same spirit of solidarity that saw Canadians pull together during recent disasters to get things done in a minority Parliament. Parliament returns next week for its first extended sitting since the fall federal election reduced the Liberals to a minority, forcing them to rely on support from opposition […]

Jan 20 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is holding out the possibility of imposing a carbon tax in his province as he tries to fashion a green plan that will meet with the federal government's approval. But he's simultaneously warning that Ottawa will have to show some flexibility if it wants him to continue playing the role of bridge-builder to the other two Prairie provinces, where […]

Jan 19 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — WINNIPEG — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers are trying to concentrate on the Liberal government's domestic agenda and how to see it to fruition in a minority Parliament — but unforeseen emergencies continue to demand their urgent attention. The monster storm that buried eastern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador in snow and the trauma over the downing of a Ukrainian […]

Jan 18 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reviving his practice of holding periodic cabinet retreats outside the nation's capital — an exercise in regional outreach that his office maintains is worth the added cost of ferrying ministers around the country. Beginning Sunday, he and his 36 ministers will be holed up in Winnipeg for three days to […]

Jan 18 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reviving his practice of holding periodic cabinet retreats outside the nation's capital — an exercise in regional outreach that his office maintains is worth the added cost of ferrying ministers around the country. Beginning Sunday, he and his 36 ministers will be holed up in Winnipeg for three days to […]

Jan 13 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has accepted a court ruling that Canadians should not have to be near death to qualify for medical assistance to end their lives but it is now considering whether other hurdles should be imposed to guard against abuse. The possibility of new eligibility requirements was revealed Monday as the government launched a […]

Jan 13 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has accepted a court ruling that Canadians should not have to be near death to qualify for medical assistance to end their lives but it is now considering whether other hurdles should be imposed to guard against abuse. The possibility of new eligibility requirements was revealed Monday as the government launched a […]

Jan 13 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it's been "gut-wrenching" to listen to stories from relatives of 57 Canadians who perished in the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran last week. Speaking at a memorial in Edmonton on Sunday, Trudeau said he has learned many of the victims came to Canada in search of new opportunities for their families, […]

Jan 1 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Accidents happen. That's something Bob Rae advises all federal political parties to keep in mind as they enter a new era of minority government. The former interim Liberal leader knows a thing or two about minority governments. As a New Democrat MP, he moved the motion that brought down Joe Clark's fleeting Conservative government in 1979. […]

Jan 1 2020 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Accidents happen. That's something Bob Rae advises all federal political parties to keep in mind as they enter a new era of minority government. The former interim Liberal leader knows a thing or two about minority governments. As a New Democrat MP, he moved the motion that brought down Joe Clark's fleeting Conservative government in 1979. […]

Dec 20 2019 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau says he's taking a lower-profile, more businesslike approach to being prime minister, having concluded that the focus on him and his lofty talk of values during his first mandate obscured his government's concrete achievements on bread-and-butter issues. Trudeau's new approach is a big departure for a leader who vaulted the Liberal party from […]

Dec 20 2019 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau says he's taking a lower-profile, more businesslike approach to being prime minister, having concluded that the focus on him and his lofty talk of values during his first mandate obscured his government's concrete achievements on bread-and-butter issues. Trudeau's new approach is a big departure for a leader who vaulted the Liberal party from […]

Dec 18 2019 — Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA — The SNC-Lavalin affair cost Justin Trudeau two cabinet ministers, his most trusted aide, the top federal public servant and possibly a second majority mandate; and now the woman at the centre of it all — Jody Wilson-Raybould — is the 2019 Newsmaker of the Year.  The former justice minister was the runaway choice of news editors across the country surveyed […]