Oct 20 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Firsts for women happen less often in Canada’s capital these days — and that’s probably good news. Julie Payette is the new Governor General, but she’s the fourth woman to occupy that post in this country’s 150-year history. Women have served at the top of the Supreme Court of Canada and even, briefly, in the […]
Oct 17 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Justin Trudeau has never been very fond of the “old” Liberal party — “old” generally being defined as people who were Liberals before Trudeau became leader. Is he paying a price now for that bias against the party’s history? Trudeau, who spent his childhood at 24 Sussex Dr., is probably one of the few people […]
Oct 13 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — “Retail politics” doesn’t sound all that smart or easy these days in Canada. It’s been a bruising week for the retail business, with the imminent collapse of the Sears department store empire and accompanying job losses all over Canada. There was also the news that the Canada Revenue Agency had some plan to treat employee […]
Oct 10 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — In what’s becoming an annual holiday tradition, Liberals all over the country were called to the Thanksgiving feast this past weekend armed with talking points. Yes, I said ‘talking points’. Called ‘Turkey Talk Tools’, they were emailed to any Liberal who needed snappy answers ready for when grumpy uncles or sarcastic cousins started piping up […]
Oct 6 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau is off to Washington next week for what might well be called adventures with the rich and powerful. Or, as his critics might say, another day at the office for this prime minister. Wisecracks aside, Trudeau really is paying a call on Tuesday at a Fortune magazine gathering billed as the summit of […]
Oct 3 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Jagmeet Singh’s victory in the NDP leadership race is, no question, a major cultural achievement. For the first time in this country’s political history, a person of colour has been elected to lead one of the major national parties. Momentous as that is, let’s not get carried away with triumphal declarations about the dawn of […]
Oct 2 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton didn’t always agree during their political careers, but they’re sounding very similar warnings these days about the descent of democracy. Both former residents of the White House were in Toronto late last week, doing what former presidents (or would-be presidents) do when they leave elected politics: speaking to large crowds […]
Sep 29 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Donald Trump may be fond of social media, but so is Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, pouring more than $13 million into sponsored posts on Facebook, Twitter and other digital platforms since it came to power. While that’s an impressive amount of money — far more than the government spends on newspapers and magazines, for instance […]
Sep 27 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Arnold Chan’s final speech in the Commons has been quoted a lot since the Liberal MP’s tragic death nearly two weeks ago — as a clarion call for better political behaviour in Ottawa. But was it also a clue to how the Liberal government is trying to escape the ongoing furor over its tax-reform proposal? […]
Sep 19 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Here’s the proof that the Canadian political scene has turned totally upside-down in just two years: The Conservatives are holding parties for the media, while Justin ‘Sunny Ways’ Trudeau is getting testy with reporters. Today was the second day of the new fall session of Parliament. New Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s people spent part of […]
Sep 15 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It’s unlikely that there will be a moment of silence at this weekend’s NDP gathering in Hamilton to mark the passing of the legendary Liberal cabinet minister Allan J. MacEachen. But perhaps there should be. MacEachen, arguably more than any other politician in the 20th century, put a socially progressive stamp on Canada — from […]
Sep 12 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Hard as it is to believe now, Bill Morneau’s controversial tax reform proposals were designed originally to prevent a populist revolt. So how did the finance minister manage to arrive at exactly the opposite outcome? Let’s cast our minds back to the end of March this year, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government unveiled its […]
Sep 8 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Last September, Hillary Clinton was getting ready for the presidential candidates’ debates — a spectacle that would include Donald Trump creeping up behind her on stage. A year and what probably feels like a lifetime later, Clinton is getting ready for another public tour, and a different, old rival is following close behind her — […]
Sep 5 2017 — Susan Delacourt — iPolitics — Two Liberal MPs got promotions in last week’s cabinet shuffle. Another 150 backbench MPs did not. Is this going to be a problem for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the weeks and months ahead? Liberal MPs who aren’t in cabinet are a hard bunch to keep happy, as just about any former leader of that […]
Sep 1 2017 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Is it just a coincidence that two of our national institutions — the CBC and federal cabinet — have become big fans of job-sharing? The CBC announced this summer that the next anchor of The Nationalwould be four people: Ian Hanomansing, Adrienne Arsenault, Rosemary Barton and Andrew Chang. Then this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau […]