Oct 5 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Justin Trudeau, beware. In the wake of Quebec’s second “Quiet Revolution,” all bets are off for the next federal election in Canada. The landslide victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is a boulder that sends ripples into the furthest reaches of Canada’s political pond. Which is to say, the ascension of Premier François Legault […]
Aug 19 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Never mind all that scuttlebutt about snap elections. It could happen I suppose, but it would be easier for Justin Trudeau to simply jump off the Peace Tower. More relevant speculation? What will Parliament look like when the next electoral hurly-burly is done? And what might that tell us? Trudeau became prime minister in a […]
Aug 9 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Kim Don Trump seems to be at it again. No, I don’t mean the president’s attempt to dictate the terms of his interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. When you are a suspect in a criminal investigation, you don’t normally get to tell the investigators the questions you will answer. Nor do truthful people worry […]
Jun 28 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — So Stephen Harper, the finger-wagging savant of do-as-you’re-told politics, is back representing Canada on the world stage. Yes, the guy who thinks trickle-down Reaganomics is the way to go and rat lines to report “barbaric” practices are an awesome idea, is living large in the media again. Like a lot of former somebodies, Harper has […]
Jun 24 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — By now, Justin Trudeau must have figured out how the Conservatives plan to come after him in 2019. By hook or by crook, but mostly crook. Their goal? To portray the PM as a trust-fund aristocrat who hasn’t got the foggiest idea of how ordinary people live. Not a man of the people, but of […]
Jun 22 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — For Justin Trudeau, spotty record and all, Donald Trump could be the improbable ticket to re-election. The question is, does Trudeau understand why the Trump card is so important? The domestic political situation facing Trudeau and his Liberal government is increasingly gloomy. Whether he knows it or not, the disappointment amongst the coalition that gave […]
Jan 7 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Sometimes, being a little bit crazy is what separates the great leaders from the rest. But what happens when someone is a little more than just a little nuts? It has probably been a while since you gave much thought to William Lyon Mackenzie King’s mental stability — or anything else about Canada’s longest-serving prime […]
Jan 5 2018 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — I want to begin my first column of 2018 with a tip of the hat to the only septuagenarian I know who makes his living prancing around in Spandex. You were right, Sir Mick: You can’t always get what you want. That said, here’s what I would like to see happen in the new year […]
Dec 24 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Sick of all those treacly columns tailored to the cotton-candy emotions of the season? Feel like you’re trapped in a world of elevator music and the off-gassing of baubles made in China? Here, for your pleasure, are some Christmas catcalls from the nearly-empty bleachers of 2017 politics. Let’s start with Justin Trudeau, who now owns […]
Nov 30 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — On the issue of sexual harassment, Canada’s prime minister has been in the vanguard when it comes to protecting women. Long before anyone had connected (publicly, at any rate) the late Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Al Franken, Mark Halperin or Matt Lauer with harassing women, Justin Trudeau decided to believe women and take […]
Nov 26 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — For those Americans who have enjoyed their Thanksgiving turkey and college football, but just can’t digest Donald Trump, a message of hope from the Great White North: his days are numbered. I say that because we have seen the same movie in Canada. For nearly 10 years, we had a leader who was neo-conservative, populist […]
Nov 24 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — The only thing that took the Liberals from third-party status to majority government was Justin Trudeau. The only thing that will ever take the federal NDP from third-party status to something better is Jagmeet Singh. That’s the theory, at least. But Singh’s bid to become the real progressive on the block faces a lot of […]
Nov 6 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Scheer’s criticism of GG over questions of faith buried in his party’s hypocrisy. The recent dust-up between Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer over alleged disrespect for religion shows once again how the Conservatives continue to dig their own graves. Scheer attacked Trudeau after his choice for Canada’s newest Governor General, Julie Payette, had the audacity […]
Oct 23 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Are they going to make taking part in the electoral process such a scuzzy proposition that only party hacks will end up participating? Whatever happens, it is getting harder lately to differentiate between the authoritarian days of Stephen Harper and the sunny ways of Justin Trudeau. Both major parties have made a mockery of Canada’s […]
Oct 5 2017 — Michael Harris — iPolitics — Canada owes Justin Trudeau a great deal. After all, long before he really wanted to, he took on the most difficult task of all: trying to meet the soaring and unreasonable expectations of a political institution circling the toilet bowl — the Liberal Party of Canada. First, an anecdote: I was speaking with then-Liberal Senator […]