Mar 19 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — No one has yet invented a vaccine against disinformation about Russia’s assault on Ukraine. That’s probably just as well, because the most needy recipients of a shot against disinformation wouldn’t likely roll up their sleeves for one anyway.
Feb 14 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — On Tuesday, Canada marks the 26th anniversary of the first official Flag Day, which also coincides with the day 26 years ago that a prime minister grabbed a protester and threw him to the ground. In the 2022 version of Flag Day, a shaken country is now under a federal emergency law, the flag has […]
Feb 12 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — In late 2018, Steve Bannon, one of the leading strategists behind the rise of Donald Trump, swaggered across a stage in downtown Toronto and spoke portentously about the “great turmoils to come” in the world order. “Our strength is the ‘deplorables,’ just like in Canada. It’s the little guy. It’s upon their shoulders everything rests […]
Feb 4 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Now can we stop saying that last year’s election changed nothing? That blockade of trucks sitting in front of Parliament Hill for the past week is only the latest stop in a trek that really began last year, when roving bands of demonstrators decided to insert lawless anarchy into Canada’s democratic process.
Jan 31 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — A lot of big trucks rolled into Ottawa this weekend and suddenly it became very dangerous to stand in the middle of the road. Go figure. Sometimes everything you need to know about a political event is what you learned as a child: don’t threaten others or urinate in public; Nazis and white supremacists are […]
Jan 28 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — This new year isn’t all that old yet, but it’s rife with talk all over about how to defend democracy; whether that’s globally or at home. Here is a current-affairs quiz that helps explain a significant news conference held this week by Justin Trudeau and some of his most senior ministers. Question: What is the […]
Jan 25 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — As things now stand, the so-called “freedom convoy” will not be treated to any high-level greeting party when it rolls into Canada’s capital this weekend. The rolling protest by truckers opposed to vaccine mandates may be picking up steam as it makes its way to Ottawa, but so far its disruptive potential lies mainly in […]
Jan 22 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — The more that politicians reach into their bags of communications tricks to “reinforce the message,” as they say, the less they seem like real people. Justin Trudeau made it through an entire news conference on Friday without saying his government had Canadians’ backs. This is progress. In an analysis of his latest numbers this week, […]
Jan 18 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Alexa McDonough might have been amused to see the spirited debate that erupted on social media after news of her death was announced over the weekend. It all revolved around which trails McDonough blazed for women in positions of political leadership in Canada — could the former leader of the NDP really be described as […]
Jan 16 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau is never going to move back into his childhood home at 24 Sussex Drive — this much is obvious. But he is also perfectly placed to seal the fate of the decrepit, uninhabitable official residence for Canada’s prime ministers. It is time to tear down 24 Sussex and Trudeau is exactly the right […]
Jan 10 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — No vaccination, no booze — Quebec’s new scheme targeted at the vaccine hesitant certainly gives a whole new meaning to “shots all around.” But something else may be at work here — a gamble that vaccination reluctance in Canada can be tackled with some of the same tools that governments have used to levy unpopular […]
Jan 4 2022 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — POLITICS OPINION Goodbye, BlackBerry. You were the coolest toy on Parliament Hill Many people may have forgotten how life-changing it was to type emails on a mobile device for the first time, Susan Delacourt writes. Susan Delacourt By Susan DelacourtNational Columnist Tue., Jan. 4, 2022timer3 min. read JOIN THE CONVERSATION It was only a few […]
Dec 31 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — When the New Year’s holidays rolled around last year, many Canadians were wishing that 2021 would be more like 2019. That wish, in politics at least, came true. Another federal election rolled around, with nearly the same result as 2019. As we head into 2022, Justin Trudeau is still the prime minister of a newly […]
Dec 31 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It is the one annual interview that makes the Prime Minister’s staff most nervous. When Justin Trudeau sits down for a chat with Terry Dimonte — as he has for two decades at Christmas time — he opens up about his personal life in a way he does not with any other journalist. That’s because […]
Dec 21 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It seems like only yesterday when inflation was the next big thing in Canadian politics. Actually, it was just last week. Omicron hasn’t just turned the holidays upside down. The arrival of this fast-moving COVID-19 variant means that Canada’s political conversation will almost certainly not pick up where it left off only a week ago, […]