Aug 14 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Maxime Bernier probably wasn’t trying to make life easier for Justin Trudeau when he put his fellow Conservatives on the hot seat by speaking out against the prime minister’s alleged “radical multiculturalism.” And NDP leader Jagmeet Singh likely wasn’t thinking too much about boosting Liberal fortunes when he decided to shoot back at some insults […]
Aug 10 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It’s official. Jagmeet Singh now has the worst political leader’s job in Canada. Granted, there may be other leaders struggling to keep their parties relevant, solvent and in contention for the next election. But none of them have to wrestle with those challenges while also on a high-wire bid to get a seat in Parliament.
Aug 7 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Goodbye free meds; hello $1 beer. This is truly a strange time to be living in Ontario. One month after Doug Ford’s new government scaled back the OHIP+ plan — the one that gave free prescriptions to Ontarians under the age of 25 — the premier was out on Tuesday paving the way for discounted […]
Aug 3 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It wasn’t exactly the wisdom of crowds on display in Florida this week, when supporters of President Donald Trump got openly hostile with CNN reporter Jim Acosta. Chanting “CNN sucks” and “go home, Jim,” the mob seemed intent on chasing the veteran reporter out of the pro-Trump rally in Tampa. But then something unexpected happened: […]
Jul 31 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — If money alone wins elections, the federal Conservatives have every reason to start banking on victory in 2019. Once again, the Conservatives have pulled in double the amount of dollars that Liberals amassed during a fundraising quarter — just over $6-million for the party in opposition compared to a little more than $3-million for the […]
Jul 27 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — What exactly is the difference between a crisis and a challenge? The distinction is clearly a significant one to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who chose his words carefully when asked this week whether Canada was in the midst of a crisis at the border.
Jul 24 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Gun control has never been one of Justin Trudeau’s favourite issues. But prime ministers don’t get to pick their controversies and like it or not, Toronto’s gun problem is fast becoming Trudeau’s gun problem. Well, to be precise, gun control at this very moment is Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s problem, the only minister who […]
Jul 20 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Lisa Raitt, deputy leader of the federal Conservatives, seems not to have received the memo on how mean is the new normal in politics. It was Raitt’s job this week to criticize the big shuffle of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet and she did just that for about half an hour in Ottawa’s National Press […]
Jul 18 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Justin Trudeau clearly had at least two elections on his mind when he did his big, new cabinet shuffle — next year’s federal vote, for sure, but also the election just over in Ontario. The more you look at this so-called pre-election shuffle, the more you see Doug Ford’s victory rippling through the some of […]
Jul 13 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — The world’s most influential and innovative person on Twitter is a senior citizen who just turned 72 last month — President Donald Trump, known by his Twitter handle, @realDonaldTrump. So much for the idea that young people will change the future of democracy with social media. Trump’s overwhelming dominance of Twitter was documented in a […]
Jul 6 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Very few Canadian political books would be classified as beach reads. But one newly released book — about the private lives of Canadian prime ministers — is about the closest we may get this year to a breezy, summer read about politics in this country.
Jul 3 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — It’s pretty clear that the friendship is over between Canada and Donald Trump; that no one is going to be calling Justin Trudeau the “Trump whisperer” when they meet again next week at the NATO summit in Brussels. But whatever happened with that other Trump — Ivanka Trump — who was going to serve as […]
Jun 29 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — So Donald Trump has somehow managed to wreck two annual parties in Canada’s capital in the coming week. Trump’s trade war has put a dent into the usual Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, as well as the big Fourth of July party in the capital.
Jun 26 2018 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — For many people who find themselves working on Parliament Hill, the job of a political staffer is the best and worst job they’ll ever have. The best parts revolve around proximity to power and history unfolding before your eyes. The worst parts? Well they are on public display this week — rather unusually — thanks […]
Jun 22 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — A cabinet shuffle may well be coming in the next couple of months in Ottawa, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have already jumped the gun and created a new job for one of his ministers. Chrystia Freeland, already Canada’s foreign affairs minister, is increasingly looking like the unofficial deputy prime minister to Trudeau.