Sep 19 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — When Justin Trudeau stood up in Parliament on Monday to declare “credible allegations” against India, he was writing a new chapter in Canada’s diplomatic and security history. But the prime minister was also turning a significant page in his own history, demonstrating just how badly this Liberal government wants to avoid a repeat of the […]
Sep 17 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — “Better than expected” isn’t exactly a phrase that has followed Justin Trudeau around this summer. So perhaps it is remarkable that the prime minister walked out of his Liberal caucus retreat this week with everyone talking about an “honest” conversation that went better than expected, by most accounts.
Sep 8 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — All the pieces of the great summer reset of 2023 are falling into place in politics this week. An inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian democracy — the hot issue of the first half of this year — has finally been launched with all-party co-operation.
Sep 3 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — If politicians in this country are going to be seized with housing in the coming months — as they are all promising — they’re going to have to learn to tread carefully around the minefield of immigration. Blaming immigrants for the housing crisis in Canada is something that all political parties say they’re keen to […]
Aug 30 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It is a very sensible idea at the worst possible time — which is why the eternal question of the prime minister’s residence in Canada is likely to remain in political limbo. According to a new report from Radio Canada, the government is finally ready to give up on the crumbling architectural heap that is […]
Aug 22 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau says he is not giving up on Canadians who have made him a target for the simmering anger in the country. Trudeau was asked on Monday about the protest banners that are still waving out there across Canada, emblazoned with foul language against him. He said he was urging Canadians not to “write […]
Aug 4 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — The prime minister’s wife formally moved out of their residence this week. Judging by the flood of “tips” sent to political journalists over the past years, there are many Canadians who have been waiting nearly two decades for the media to report this story. Unfortunately for the tipsters, the story wasn’t true until Wednesday morning, […]
Aug 2 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Their courtship and marriage were the subject of much curiosity over the past two decades. Now that Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are separating, their breakup will likewise be all too public. It’s not just the unravelling of a marriage, but also a political partnership. Grégoire Trudeau has been the wife to this prime […]
Jul 30 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Last weekend, Justin Trudeau was in Toronto, dropping what now looks like some pretty obvious hints about which four GTA MPs were getting promoted to cabinet. He did a Filipino festival with Mississauga-Streetsville MP Rechie Valdez, now the minister of small business. He stopped in for a backyard chat with Scarborough MP Gary Anandasangaree, now […]
Jul 26 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Earlier this week, several leading members of Justin Trudeau’s team were asked which of the summer blockbusters they wanted to see first: “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer.” The prime minister wasn’t one of the respondents to the Politico survey, hunkered down as he was working his own summer blockbuster of sorts — the major cabinet shuffle unveiled […]
Jul 25 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau says he is going to miss Carolyn Bennett, a lot. After 26 years as a Liberal MP for Toronto’s St. Paul’s riding, Bennett has decided not to run again and for this prime minister, it’s a loss he will feel at the cabinet table, no matter how it’s reshuffled in coming days. “I […]
Jul 6 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Several years ago, legendary Washington Post editor Marty Baron came to Ottawa to speak at Carleton University about the future of journalism. At a dinner later, Baron was talking about how he had little patience with journalists who kept lamenting how the old days were better. One of the guests, with his own illustrious career […]
Jul 3 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Canada is almost certainly headed toward some kind of inquiry into foreign interference in its democracy. But if its focus is solely on China or Russia and other state actors, it won’t be tackling the potentially far more troubling forces that proved so disruptive to Canada during last year’s convoy protest. Is the country ready […]
Jun 28 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre likes to call it the “crazy coalition” — the co-operation pact between Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats. But deals like that one could also be the future of politics in this country, especially if none of the federal parties can manage to win a majority government. Not so […]
Jun 25 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It takes a certain lack of humility to plunge into political life. But long-term survival in politics is a humbling experience, as all the federal leaders and their parties learned once again the hard way during the first half of this year. Canadians generally don’t mind seeing political figures knocked down a few pegs, so […]