Mar 18 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — On the same day that Liberals are set to unveil their last federal budget before the next federal election, the House of Commons justice committee will hold a hotly anticipated, private meeting to discuss where to go next with its investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair. During a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning, opposition party MPs are […]
Mar 14 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — When the Senate starts broadcasting its proceedings live on Monday evening for the first time, it will be, for senators, an exercise not only in public transparency but also in remembering to take off their lanyards for the cameras. “The first time that somebody gets caught picking their teeth, people are, you know, we fidget, […]
Feb 28 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — After weeks of sympathizing with his plight to save SNC-Lavalin from the potential penalties of criminal prosecution, Quebec’s pundit classes have now concluded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau crossed the line in his dealings with former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. In the hours after Wilson-Raybould’s scathing testimony at a Commons justice committee Wednesday evening, commentary […]
Feb 13 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — Postmedia — In the ongoing debate over the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin and what kind of “pressure” was put on ex-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to prevent it, the pundit classes of Quebec and the rest of Canada are singing different songs. Since the Globe and Mail published a report last week alleging the Prime Minister’s Office pushed Wilson-Raybould […]
Feb 6 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Maxime Bernier, leader of the nascent People’s Party of Canada, is defending his right-hand man Martin Masse amid accusations the top party official fomented “antisemitism, misogyny, and racism” in his past writings. Jewish-Canadian group B’nai Brith Canada released findings from their “independent investigation” of Masse on Wednesday, based on a review of his work for […]
Feb 6 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — When reporters asked him who the president of the country is, unlike his representative, Singh wouldn’t name one. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh caused further confusion about his party’s position on Venezuela when he refused to say who he recognizes as the country’s president — putting him out of line with his own foreign affairs […]
Feb 5 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — The Canadian government spent more than $12.7 million on vehicle rentals for last year’s G7 summit in Quebec, new documents show. That’s on top of the $23 million that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spent on new cars, only to sell them again through a government surplus website within months of the event. Although the […]
Feb 5 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Four Canadian unions helped fund a private delegation to observe the Venezuelan presidential election last year, even as Canada, the United States and President Nicolas Maduro’s opponents decried the results as illegitimate. With many of Maduro’s opponents in jail or barred from running for office and the country’s legislative system already weakened under his rule, […]
Feb 1 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — A narrow majority of Canadians disapproves of how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is navigating a tense downward spiral in Canada-China relations, a new poll has found. The arrest of a Huawei executive in December for possible extradition to the United States is what triggered the current decline, but a similar majority said in late January […]
Jan 31 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Federal opposition parties have renewed their accusations that Liberals are weakening the House of Commons and its responsibility for overseeing government spending decisions by having MPs vote on $7-billion worth of budget measures all at once. The Conservatives and NDP warn that the Liberal experiment last year of having MPs vote on the measures en […]
Jan 22 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on track to spend more on federal government programs than any prime minister before him, according to a new study, but his predecessor Stephen Harper still holds the record for the single most expensive year. Trudeau’s government will have spent about $8,600 per Canadian on programming for the 2018-19 financial […]
Jan 8 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin is nominating Irwin Cotler, who served as his attorney general during their two years in government, for the Nobel Peace Prize. A human rights lawyer, the former MP is a longtime champion for political prisoners — including, at the time, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela — and devoted himself to […]
Nov 27 2018 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — A Conservative, a Liberal, a New Democrat and a political agnostic walk into a library. There’s no punchline. It is an autumn Saturday in Canada’s largest city. The four sit in the upstairs boardroom of a Toronto Public Library branch with 15 strangers. Paperwork, including Elections Canada forms and mandatory pledges of good behaviour for […]
Nov 10 2018 — Marie-Danielle Smith — Postmedia — As early as this summer, former cabinet minister Tony Clement informed a Conservative Party official that an Instagram account was “spreading lies about him” and that he was contacting the Ontario Provincial Police as a result, according to chief opposition whip Mark Strahl. Clement said publicly this week that he went to the RCMP with […]
Nov 5 2018 — Marie-Danielle Smith — Postmedia — The federal government spent $23 million buying more than 600 brand-new cars for use at this year’s G7 summit — and is now struggling to sell them off second-hand. According to figures the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provided to the National Post, 431 vehicles were to purchased to be used for “motorcade” purposes, and another […]