Articles by Marco Vigliotti

May 31 2023 — Marco Vigliotti — iPolitics — A new poll has the Conservatives narrowly ahead of the governing Liberals in voting intentions, with Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau neck-and-neck in the choice for best prime minister. The online survey, designed by Earnscliffe Strategies and conducted by Leger, also asked respondents for their impressions of the four major party leaders, using questions based […]

Oct 17 2019 — Marco Vigliotti — iPolitics — Only days out from Monday’s election, the Liberals are holding a small, statistically insignificant lead over the Conservatives, with the NDP cresting over 18 per cent, according to the newest polling numbers from Mainstreet Research. Results from the firm’s daily tracker phone survey released Thursday show that 31.9 per cent of leaning and decided respondents […]

Oct 1 2019 — Marco Vigliotti — Toronto Star — Saskatoon Conservative candidate Kevin Waugh says his party is setting a simple and ambitious target for Saskatchewan come election day later this month: a clean sweep. Waugh, who’s seeking re-election in Saskatoon-Grasswood, said palpable anger towards the Trudeau government, namely over energy policy and carbon pricing, could pave the way for a blue sweep in […]

Sep 20 2019 — Marco Vigliotti — iPolitics — The Liberals, Tories and Greens have all fallen slightly in Mainstreet Research’s latest national polling numbers, while the NDP, Bloc Québécois and People’s party enjoyed moderate bumps in support. These latest survey numbers, though, only capture roughly one day of polling since the emergence of photos and videos of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau wearing blackface […]

Aug 16 2019 — Marco Vigliotti — iPolitics — The Trudeau government says former attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was intimately involved in developing Criminal Code amendments permitting deferred prosecution agreements, despite her suggestion to the ethics commissioner they were “rushed” to fit in the 2018 budget implementation bill. Pierre Olivier-Hebert, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Bill Morneau, told iPolitics the suggestion […]

Aug 9 2019 — Marco Vigliotti — iPolitics — People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier is running neck-and-neck with the Conservatives in his southeastern Quebec riding, suggests a new Mainstreet Research poll for iPolitics. Bernier, a one time cabinet minister and Conservative leadership candidate, was the choice of 28.7 per cent of respondents in the phone survey of 640 voters in Beauce, though the Tories […]

Feb 26 2018 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — The Trudeau government is offering little more than vague generalities on the future of a proposed $21-billion high-speed rail line for southern Ontario, though is expected to make a decision on what’s seen as a rival plan to build a dedicated passenger track for the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor sometime in 2018. Transport Minister Marc Garneau (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, […]

Sep 7 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Most public lobbying registries in Canada are lacking pivotal disclosure requirements, leaving Canadians in the dark about the scope and cost of lobbying campaigns targeting government officials, suggests a new report. In an assessment released on Tuesday, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), a non-profit aiming to help institutional investors improve corporate governance, […]

Aug 29 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Justin Trudeau’s Liberals remain firmly in top spot in the federal horse race, with Andrew Scheer unable to move numbers ahead for the Conservatives, and the NDP flirting with lows not seen in almost a decade, according to a new poll from Forum Research. The latest numbers, from polling conducted between Aug. 16-17 and shared […]

Jul 5 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — The Trudeau government is planning to repeat a round of audits of federal departments and agencies promised in this year’s budget in future years as well, putting multiple government institutions in the crosshairs annually. Jean-Luc Ferland, press secretary to Treasury Board President Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.), said the three departments selected for review this year […]

Jun 28 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Parliamentarians spent more than $600,000 and 200-plus hours compiling a 333-page report recommending major changes to the country’s voting system that was largely rejected by the Trudeau government within hours of its release, new House of Commons statistics show. The Special Committee on Electoral Reform, convened by the House to study and consult on prospective […]

Jun 23 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Bruce Carson should have his convictions for violating the federal Lobbying Act quashed because the “poorly drafted” legislation enacted by the former Conservative government he served under doesn’t clearly define the criminal offences it created, his lawyer argued Wednesday.

Jun 14 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Graham Fraser says the Liberal government waited until 2017, after he’d already left his extended term as languages commissioner, to really begin the search to replace him, despite being reminded of the impending vacancy a year before, raising renewed concerns about the sluggish pace of governor-in-council appointments under the Liberals. Mr. Fraser, who left the […]

Mar 29 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — The Trudeau government is planning to increase funding for Parliament again this year, bringing it close to $100-million higher than when the Liberals first took office, as costs for salaries, offices, and benefits grow along with membership in the expanded House and revamped Senate. Money set aside for the Hill, including costs for security and […]

Feb 1 2017 — Marco Vigliotti — Hill Times — Critics are renewing calls for reforms to the appointment process for parliamentary watchdogs, as Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson begins her investigation into the prime minister’s use of a private helicopter in the Bahamas over the holidays, while the Liberal government weighs her future in the position. NDP ethics critic Alexandre Boulerice […]