Aug 20 2018 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Maxime Bernier is a man with obvious political skills, some good ideas and more public appeal than the average backbench member of parliament, but suffers from a gaping hole where his judgment should be. It’s a problem that’s been evident since he lost his job as foreign affairs minister after leaving secret cabinet documents at […]
Aug 13 2018 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Jagmeet Singh’s days as federal NDP leader have been so ill-starred you almost feel sorry for the guy. That’s not a good thing. Politicians want to look bold, decisive and successful, not confused, unlucky and accident-prone. Singh can’t get a break. The last good thing that happened to him was winning the New Democratic Party […]
Jul 9 2018 — Kelly McParland — National Post — After all the talk, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau turns out to be just another man in a position off power who is surprised to learn his behaviour towards a woman was offensive to her, claims he meant nothing by it, and figures a mealy-mouthed apology is enough to absolve him of blame. And — sadly […]
Jan 25 2018 — Kelly McParland — National Post — As political terminations go, the hit on Patrick Brown was close to perfect. It came at 9:45 p.m. when the Ontario opposition leader told a hastily assembled press conference he’d been made aware that allegations of sexual abuse were about to be made against him. He denied the accusations and vowed to fight them, but […]
Aug 21 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Andrew Scheer really has just one key task as he prepares his party, and himself, for the next election in 2019: he has to provide a positive answer to a single question. When Canadians begin to tire of the Liberals and look around for a viable alternative, they’ll eye the Conservatives and ask themselves, “Could […]
Mar 13 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — One of the many great advantages of being a member of the Liberal party is that you can get away with stuff other parties can’t. For example, you can decry the Tories as scheming manipulators — remember the uproar over the nefarious “in and out scandal?” ($10 if you recall what it was about) — […]
Mar 6 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — There’s trouble in the headlines for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. With her Liberals bumping along a solid third among voters, 20 points behind the little-known Patrick Brown’s Tories, Wynne threw her Hail Mary pass last week after suddenly concluding that power rates were too high. She announced a plan to slash them 17 per cent […]
Feb 19 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — At some point pretty soon, some high-ranking, thoughtful Tory – if such a thing is out there – has to step back, survey the Conservative landscape and call a halt to the party’s self-destruction. As in: “Hold on, what are we doing here? This is nuts. Let’s try again, from the beginning. All together now: […]
Jan 27 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Even the darkest of clouds come with a silver lining, or so the saying goes. And just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been battling a particularly overcast period for his young government, along comes a silvery moment to offer some hope: Sid Ryan may yet decide to run for the leadership of the New […]
Jan 7 2017 — Kelly McParland — National Post — After stumbling through the final weeks of their first year in office, the Liberals are seeking a reset, and will turn to the one tactic they calculate is sure to regain their corner in the hearts of Canadians: a national tour focused on Justin Trudeau. Freshly back from the Bahamas, the prime minister is determined […]
Dec 20 2016 — Kelly McParland — National Post — My favourite end-of-year review so far is one that ran in the Toronto Star under the guise of an editorial that wagged a worried finger at Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. The Star doesn’t like criticizing Liberals. It’s proud of its heritage as Canada’s leading purveyor of righteousness. But sometimes it recognizes the unpleasant need to […]
Dec 8 2016 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s government finds itself caught in a bind of its own making as it struggles to justify its practice of providing preferred access to the Prime Minister and his top cabinet officials to those who can afford it. The Liberals are getting quite proficient at creating these conundrums. The battering they’ve been taking over […]
Oct 24 2016 — Kelly McParland — National Post — An odd little poll turned up the other day. Even odder, that is, than most political polls, such as the ones indicating Justin Trudeau remains the most popular party leader in Canada, which should be no surprise given that the other two main parties are in the process of picking new leaders. (News flash: in […]
Oct 21 2016 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Poor Maryam Monsef must wonder what she did to deserve the last few months. As the Minister for Democratic Institutions she was supposed to spend the summer presiding over town hall sessions at which engaged Canadians shared their views on the matter of Canada’s electoral system. Instead, Monsef found herself blindsided by her mother, who […]
Oct 13 2016 — Kelly McParland — National Post — Maxime Bernier’s candidacy for the leadership of the federal Conservative party reminds me of an old joke, adapted here for a Canadian audience: A visitor to Conservative headquarters is being led through a hall filled with stuffed filing cabinets. “What’s in there?” he asks. “Oh, those are some of Maxime Bernier’s ideas,” his guide replies. […]