Dec 8 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — On Wednesday, video emerged of Justin Trudeau, accompanied by a group of world leaders at a NATO summit in London, poking fun at President Donald Trump. In the video, the prime minister made a jibe about Trump’s penchant for impromptu press conferences and his staff’s apparent dismay at yet another off-the-cuff pronouncement.
Dec 1 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Following months of political upheaval and uncertainty surrounding the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ten-year dominance of national politics, Israel is now careening towards its third election in a year.
Nov 24 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Dear Ms Freeland, When you were sworn in as minister of international trade in 2015, there was no way we could have known that Donald Trump would become president, nor the challenges he would bring to our bilateral relationship. No one could have predicted that so much of our bandwidth would be consumed by the […]
Nov 17 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — On Wednesday, the first public hearings began in an impeachment process that seems to have been crafted for our era of reality television. Watching the testimonies of Bill Taylor, George Kent and Marie Yovanovitch, I was struck by the soap-opera nature of the hearings. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats have, it seems, learned […]
Nov 10 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Since the launch of the federal election, which feels like an eternity ago, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has been dogged by variations on the same question: Will you attend a Pride parade? Do you believe homosexuality is a sin? Why did you compare equal marriage to a dog’s tail?
Nov 3 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — This week saw Toronto City Council endorse, by a wide margin, a new transit plan proposed by the Ford government. Federal support is expected soon to follow. This is good news for the residents of Toronto — but also for the Premier’s Office, a vindication of its newly adopted, collegial tone and a sterling example […]
Oct 27 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — So, just what happened on Monday night and how did we end up with the most divided and regionalized Parliament we have seen in recent memory? In my view, it was the utterly predictable outcome of the campaign our leaders chose to run. The result? For some Canadians, this was the “Seinfeld” campaign — a […]
Oct 13 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As we all gathered around to celebrate thanksgiving this weekend, I felt especially grateful for my incredible family and so lucky to have with us my amazing mother, a woman whose view of the world and commitment to the service of others has so profoundly influenced me and the person I have become. Sadly, in […]
Oct 6 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Watching the first French-language leaders’ debate this past Wednesday, I was struck by the increasing banality of our current election campaign. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen — and been involved in — many elections. I have seen promising candidates brought down by the pressures of the campaign, I’ve seen parties unexpectedly soar, […]
Sep 29 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — In a week with no shortage of international political theatre, from the launch of impeachment proceedings in Washington to the showdown between Parliament and the Supreme Court in London, I found myself returning again to watch a clip of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg in tears, excoriating delegates at a United Nations summit for their inaction on […]
Sep 22 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — This week, the federal election campaign was thrown into chaos when years-old pictures emerged of Justin Trudeau dressed-up in a way most would deem highly inappropriate. Commentators around the country, indeed around the world, have weighed in with comments on the prime minister’s conduct and the sincerity of his apologies. For a country that all […]
Sep 15 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — With the prime minister’s visit to Rideau Hall on Wednesday morning, Parliament was formally dissolved and the summer’s so-called “fake” election campaign, mercifully, brought to an end. And with it, Canadians began to hear not just the noise of the campaign messaging but the noise of the parties’ campaign buses and planes as well. It […]
Jun 23 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the warm weather finally sets in and the House rises for the summer, the leaders of our federal parties will begin to have visions of electoral success dance in their heads. Conventional wisdom tells us Canadians don’t want to hear from their politicians at this time of year — they would rather tune out […]
Jun 16 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Two weeks ago, the Ontario Liberals began the long and arduous process of rebuilding their shattered party. Now reduced to a caucus of five — or what some impolite wags refer to as “the minivan caucus” — the party membership gathered in Mississauga to determine just how they will go about selecting a new leader […]
Jun 9 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — On the Normandy coast, the few remaining brave veterans gathered, their numbers depleted by the unrelenting ravages of time. They were joined by politicians from every nook and cranny of our country, military brass, and serving soldiers, sailors and airwoman and men.