Jun 6 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Canada’s conservatives have spent decades denying the fundamental scientific reality of climate change and disputing the central role human activity plays in creating and exacerbating it. But as those arguments became increasingly untenable with the public, they’ve had to retreat to attacking the proposed solutions for it, most notably carbon pricing. Now, it seems, they’ve […]
May 29 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — You almost have to feel sorry for David Johnston. After a lifetime of esteemed public service and achievement, which includes long stints at the head of key post-secondary institutions and a term as governor general, he’s now being dragged through the filthiest partisan mud for his role as Canada’s “special rapporteur” on foreign interference in […]
May 24 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Stephen Harper is, without question, one of his generation’s sharpest political minds. But even he couldn’t have foreseen the Parliamentary Budget Officer role he created as part of his 2006 Federal Accountability Act would play a leading role in undermining support for climate policy in Canada in 2023. After all, its stated mission revolved around […]
May 17 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — With two weeks left until Albertans go to the polls, the United Conservative Party is starting to feel the heat. And no wonder: they have a leader who’s playing hide-and-seek with the media, candidates who seem to be competing to see who can fit their own foot furthest into their mouth, and a growing list […]
May 15 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Remember when the Canadian passport was just a boring government document? Yeah, me neither. Barely a year after processing backlogs and lineups at government offices turned them into a political hot potato, passports are back in the headlines thanks to a long-running redesign process that has culture war conservatives outraged over the changes. In other […]
May 11 2023 — Max Fawcett — From the outset of Alberta’s provincial election campaign, the United Conservative Party’s strategy has been clear: hide the leader and hope for the best. That included not letting journalists ask Danielle Smith any followup questions and keeping her as far away as possible from their prying eyes and ears. For a little while, it looked […]
May 9 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — It’s one thing to quarrel with the analysis of an expert during an election campaign. It’s quite another to quarrel with the analysis of an expert your party paid to do the study. But that’s where the United Conservative Party and Danielle Smith find themselves right now after their misrepresentation of work done by Navius […]
May 4 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Peter Lougheed was Alberta’s 10th premier, the creator of its Heritage Savings Trust Fund, and the architect of a four-decade political dynasty that would see his Alberta Progressive Conservatives win 12 consecutive elections, most of them in a walk. He went to war with Pierre Trudeau, helped defeat the National Energy Program, and fought effectively […]
May 2 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Truth and honesty are rare commodities in politics, and even more so when an election is in the offing. But when it comes to the pledges from the oil and gas industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, senior members of Alberta’s United Conservative Party government are in the process of offering up a long-overdue confession: […]
Apr 18 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Score one for Pierre Poilievre. After tattling on the CBC to Elon Musk, who apparently spent $44 billion to become the world’s most powerful digital hall monitor, he notched a victory when the public broadcaster’s main Twitter account was tagged with the same label Twitter has recently stuck on the BBC, PBS and other public […]
Apr 4 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Live by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, die by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. When it comes to the carbon tax and rebate, that’s a lesson the Liberal government is learning right now. It’s a lesson it personally invited, too. After using the PBO’s previous analysis, which said eight out of 10 Canadians get more back in […]
Mar 30 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — It took more than five years, two leadership races and one ongoing RCMP investigation, but there’s finally a clear winner in the 2017 merger between the Wildrose Party and the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. With Finance Minister Travis Toews announcing he won’t run in this May’s election and Danielle Smith ensconced as premier, the […]
Mar 28 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — The days leading up to a federal budget are a feeding frenzy of op-eds, public statements and other interventions aimed at convincing the government of the day to support the policy preferences of dozens of different groups and organizations. This year has been no different, with everyone from oil and gas companies and clean energy […]
Mar 27 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — For most of his three-plus years in Parliament, Han Dong has been one of the dozens of mostly anonymous backbench MPs. Given what’s happened over the last few weeks, the representative for Don Valley North probably would have preferred it remain that way. But now, after he was accused in a Global News story of […]
Mar 24 2023 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Of all the ways the organizers of the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference hoped to make news, surely a threat to kill the prime minister wasn’t at the top of the list. But on Wednesday, an American political strategist named Steven Sutton joked — and I use that term under duress — about the […]