A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute suggests a growing number of Conservative voters want to replace Pierre Poilievre as the party's leader. The poll surveyed 1,640 Canadians, including 590 who voted Conservative in last year's election and asked people if they believe Poilievre should lead the Tories into the next election. Almost 60 per cent Tory voters polled said he sho
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday he feels he’s being held to a “double standard,” when it comes to an outcry over the government’s purchase of a $30-million private jet for his use, but said he’s nevertheless heard “loud and clear” that the public isn’t happy about the purchase. “I heard loud and clear from the people that this was...
Mark Carney's Liberals risk repeating the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives’ past mistake by bypassing contested nominations, say Liberal sources. With Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals now in a majority government and holding a double-digit lead in public opinion polls, the governing party is drawing strong interest from potential nomination candidates for the next election cycle. But some long-time Liberals are concerned...
Premier Danielle Smith's government says Albertans will soon be ditching twice-a-year clock changes. Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally confirmed Monday the province plans to stick with daylight time year-round. "We'll be moving forward with having an extra hour of daylight in the evenings," he told reporters in the legislature. That means Albertans would stay on the current time and no...
Defence Minister David McGuinty is still without a timeline for the now-yearlong review into the purchase of dozens of F-35 fighter jets, telling reporters in Ottawa Monday that it’s ongoing. “What it says, I hope, for Canadians, is that we’re being very responsible,” McGuinty said, when asked whether the review is being delayed because the Canadian government is worried about...
The latest Weekly Federal Tracker from Liaison Strategies shows the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, widening its lead to 12 percentage points over the Conservatives. If a federal election were held today among decided and leaning voters, the Liberals would receive 45% of the vote, followed by the Conservatives at 33%, the NDP at 10%, and the...
Number of past Conservative voters calling for a new leader has risen significantly since last year. The erosion of the standing of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons has raised questions of the leadership of Pierre Poilievre to a new volume. The Liberals may have earned a majority government through three byelection victories, but the path to majority...
FOR ALL OF MY adult life, I’ve been a Liberal believing in the defence of rights, the constraining of power, an equitable society, and an independent foreign policy. It’s been a narrative that many Canadians have strongly believed and supported.
The instant Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles blasted out the words “gravy plane,” it became obvious that the private jet purchased by Ontario Premier Doug Ford was not long for this province. It wasn’t simply that the act of spending $28.9-million of taxpayers’ money on a private aircraft for the Premier’s office was hideously off-brand, though that was a major...
Claims that Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would invoke the Emergencies Act to quash Alberta independence appeared online last week. It was said Carney made the comments while addressing steelworkers at a March 29 event in Hamilton, Ont. A video from Hamilton in which Carney is seemingly heard referring to the use of emergency powers in fact uses spliced...
Ottawa has announced an increase in the number of direct flights permitted to bring passengers and cargo to and from China. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says there will be "an incremental increase" in flights between the countries in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney's outreach visit to Beijing in January. Canadian and Chinese airlines will be allowed to boost the...
Conservatives believe Canada is a country ready to build again. For too long, especially in our largest cities, young Canadians have watched governments make big announcements while the cost of living rises, opportunities narrow and major projects stall. After more than a decade of Liberal promises, overspending and delays, Canadians deserve a new approach that delivers real results people can...
Prime Minister Mark Carney in March put the North at the centre of Canada’s economic and security agenda when he announced more than $40 billion of investments in defence, economic corridors and electrification in our Northern and Arctic region. Article content For the Northwest Territories, that commitment has begun to take shape with the referral of three nation-building projects to...
The old Pierre Poilievre is back. After watching Mark Carney’s Liberals secure a majority government with a clean sweep in last Monday’s three byelections and with rumours of more floor crossers in the offing, the Conservative Party of Canada leader has decided to abandon his kinder and gentler personality reboot in favour of his more familiar brand of populist petulance...
Hungary has only 9.5 million people, but its election result is resonating across the democratic world. The resounding defeat of Viktor Orbán and his party Fidesz on April 12 brought an end to 16 years of governance by a prime minister who had established himself as a global icon of the populist far-right, the model to follow, the archetype of...
Let’s be clear: there is nothing improper about a government gaining a majority in Parliament between elections. Some have suggested otherwise, as if something outside the rules has taken place. It hasn’t. Canada operates under a Westminster parliamentary system. Voters don’t cast ballots for a Prime Minister. We don’t vote for or against a majority government. We vote for a...
Congratulations to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals on securing their majority. Now, please, please, pick a fighter jet already. No one can stop you! This isn’t the first time I’ve made this exact plea in these very pages. It was just last September that I begged the prime minister to get around to picking a jet to replace...
The Conservative Party of Canada launched two new ads recently, backed by what the party says is a million-dollar-plus media buy across television, radio, connected TV and digital platforms. They will be running through the end of June. The ads are well produced. One features Pierre Poilievre speaking of a country that stands on its own feet and bows before...
Nearly one year after the election that validated Mark Carney’s instincts about pursuing a career in elected politics, the principal casualty of that choice, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, finds himself in a peculiar position. Poilievre, whose party lost that election from a starting lead of 20 points, who lost his own seat, and who has witnessed a mini stampede of...
For someone relatively new to elected politics, Mark Carney has developed a habit of leaning into his pre-political past. When Carney unfurled his middle-power response to the geopolitical upheaval fronted by Donald Trump’s weaponized presidency, he didn’t do it at the Canadian Club, the United Nations, or Chatham House. He delivered his code-cracking economic GPS from the annual gathering of...
Not once have I ever thought that Doug Ford has much in common at all with U.S. President Donald Trump. Sure, the Ontario premier is a blustery, (in-theory) right-leaning politician who even has a passing physical resemblance to the U.S. president. But anyone actually making the comparison has always been, in my mind, confessing how superficial their understanding of either...
For two decades, Canada pursued a values-based foreign policy, although the values pursued by Liberal and Conservative governments were very different. Today, Canada is pursuing a more hardnosed foreign policy that puts Canada’s national interests front and centre. Putting Canada first, so to speak, has proved to be a far better approach. Of course, values and interests have always comingled...
Where did this idea come from, of Canada joining the European Union? I know the Prime Minister likes to say that Canada is “the most European of the non-European countries,” whatever that means. (More European than, say, Argentina? Uruguay? New Zealand?) And sure, we’ve all joked about it, at least once, in the heat of Donald Trump’s latest outrage (“that’s...
As political weeks go, Prime Minister Mark Carney couldn’t have asked for a better one. Fresh from the Liberals’ convention where he was fêted as the party’s new Messiah, his candidates won all three byelections Monday by larger percentage margins than in last spring’s general election.
The Political Pulse panel breaks down Week 1 of the Liberals' majority government, and how opposition parties are responding.
When federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared on the popular right-wing American podcaster Joe Rogan’s show last month, many in his party were ecstatic with the result. Mr. Poilievre resisted his worst instincts, passing on invitations to dump on Prime Minister Mark Carney, fuel separatist sentiment in Alberta or indulge in the conspiracy theories being propagated by Mr. Rogan. Over...
The newly cobbled together majority government in the House of Commons has given the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Mark Carney more time and more leeway to peruse its far-reaching, extremely expensive “Build Canada” agenda. But the new alignment in the Commons has also changed the calculations of at least two of the three opposition parties. The majority created by...
There is a particular kind of political delusion that sets in after a loss. It is quiet. It hides behind familiar talking points. It feels like conviction, but it is really just refusal to accept reality. Too many Conservatives in this country are still running against Justin Trudeau. And it’s not really a strategy, it’s a combination of a putrid...
Coming off three byelection wins and a handful of floor-crossers, Prime Minister Carney is now armed with a newly minted majority government. The benefits of going from a minority to a majority for the government are quite clear. As the PM noted in a press conference earlier this week, a majority government will make for a much more substantive and...
The Liberals have their Majority Government. For the past few years, politics in Ottawa has been about counting votes, negotiating support between parties, and legislative gridlock. For Liberals it’s been about surviving, not thriving. That problem is now gone. It has been replaced by a new challenge: managing a diverse caucus. The Liberals no longer need opposition parties to stay...
I don’t know what the Conservatives’ path back to electoral relevance looks like. If I did, I might try to sell them the roadmap for a heap of money. I do have a strong hunch it won’t involve attacking the academic credentials of Prime Minister Mark Carney, he of the Liberals’ newly established majority government. That’s why it’s been so...
After this week’s byelection results, Carney’s governing Liberals will have more unchecked power. But the party has moved away from its old progressive politics
George W. Bush took up painting when he left the Oval Office in 2009. In 2014, he unveiled his first public exhibit, entitled “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy,” which featured portraits of world leaders he met during his time in office. The whole thing was sort of … odd. It wasn’t just that Mr. Bush’s portraits were...
With the flock of floor-crossers from the Conservative Party and the by-election results Monday, Mark Carney and company can remain in power until 2029. That will mark a 14-year stretch since Justin Trudeau’s dismantling of the Stephen Harper Conservatives in 2015. And who knows how much longer this run might extend. Ho hum, here we go again, another Liberal dynasty...
Prime Minister Mark Carney would likely keep — and possibly enlarge — his new-found Liberal majority if a general election was held today, according to the latest projection from The Signal polling aggregator. Prime Minister Mark Carney would likely keep — and possibly enlarge — his new-found Liberal majority if a general election was held today, according to the latest...
Conservative and Bloc Quebecois MPs are calling on the Liberals to follow through on a trade co-operation framework with Taiwan after the territory's envoy to Canada said Ottawa halted the process suddenly. A senior Canadian diplomat said last week it's up to cabinet to decide how to move forward on the agreement, which he suggested is almost ready for a...
Number of past Conservative voters calling for a new leader has risen significantly since last year. The erosion of the standing of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons has raised questions of the leadership of Pierre Poilievre to a new volume. The Liberals may have earned a majority government through three byelection victories, but the path to majority...
The Canadian military just had a banner year for recruitment -- but not enough for the defence minister to declare an end to what his predecessor called a personnel "death spiral." Military recruitment hit a three-decade high when the Canadian Armed Forces brought in 7,310 new members over the past year, Defence Minister David McGuinty said Monday. That's roughly 60...
Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 2.4 per cent in March, Statistics Canada said on Monday. High prices for energy, especially gas, due to the war in Iran drove inflation higher. Energy prices were 3.9 per cent higher compared to a year ago, and the data agency said March's 21.2 per cent monthly increase in the price of gasoline was...
The federal government is unveiling $25 million to support 14 projects meant to boost advanced manufacturing in Canada. The new spending adds to $38 million allocated by industry, for projects ranging from more efficient battery production to using artificial intelligence in packaging cosmetics. Other projects include converting methane gas into stored energy and automated manufacturing for small nuclear reactors.
With the United States acting more like an economic foe than an ally under the presidency of Donald Trump, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada’s former strength, built on our bond with America, has become a “weakness” that must be corrected. In a pre-recorded address released Sunday morning, Carney said his intention was to talk “directly and regularly” about his...
Ford 'felt the heat' after purchase publicized, now 'scrambling' to sell, says interim Ontario Liberal leader. Ontario is looking to sell the $28.9 million private jet that was recently purchased for Premier Doug Ford's use "as quickly as possible." It comes just days after the purchase of the Bombardier Challenger 650 was publicized and confirmed by the province. The decision...
There's a new cost-of-living crisis unfolding around the world. And it's clear Canada will not be immune. Gas prices are already shocking drivers. But they're just the beginning. Inflation numbers this week will assuredly show the cost of living has sharply increased since the war in Iran began at the end of February.
Eight years after Canada launched free trade negotiations with the Mercosur bloc of nations, a Brazilian official says an agreement is on track to be signed by the end of the year. Paula Barboza, director for extra-regional negotiations and economic governance at Brazil's ministry of foreign affairs, told The Canadian Press the talks have been propelled by a "political push"...
Ottawa's temporary suspension of some fuel taxes kicks in today, with Canadians likely to save 10 cents per litre on regular gasoline, and four cents on a litre of diesel. Prime Minister Mark Carney had announced last week a pause on those fuel excise taxes up until Labour Day.
A former Mountie has pleaded not guilty to a charge under Canada's Security of Information Act as his trial gets underway in British Columbia Supreme Court. William Majcher stood as he entered his plea in the Vancouver courtroom, charged with one count of committing "preparatory acts" to commit an offence, with the Crown alleging that he was prepared to coerce...
But young people are more tempted by the idea, and federalists should concentrate on narrowing that generation gap. In 1980, 40% of Quebecers voted to separate. Fifteen years later, 49% took that position in a second referendum. Fast forward 30 years, and the Parti Quebecois is promising a third referendum if they win the next election, a promise that is...
Canada Post workers start voting today on a five-year contract agreement that follows labour strife and their union leader urging they reject the deal. The 55,000 employees represented by Canadian Union of Postal Workers can vote starting today until May 30 on whether to ratify an agreement with the Crown corporation.
Critics of the government’s anti-hate bill now working its way through the Senate are concerned about possible infringement on “fundamental freedoms” due to vague wording, but legal experts argue the bill won’t criminalize Bible passages or legitimate displays of symbols. “The bill has some explicit removal of the ‘good faith’ defence in religious speech, but that doesn’t mean that there’s...
An eastern Canadian logistics, trucking and courier company with a fleet of more than 200 vehicles says Monday's federal tax break on fuel should provide relief to hard-hit customers. Karanjeet Singh, owner of Dartmouth, N.S.-based NovaExpress, said his company's fuel bill has doubled since the war in Iran began spiking prices. The company previously offered some clients all-in-one rates, but...
Two First Nations leadership sources say British Columbia Premier David Eby is backing down again on the suspension of key parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, scrapping plans to table legislation on Monday. One of the sources says the suspension bill -- which was already delayed last wee
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he plans to regularly update Canadians with a frank assessment of efforts to diversify away from the U.S. In a 10-minute video posted this morning, Carney says Canada's deep economic ties with the U.S. used to be a major strength, but are now a weakness. Carney says it would be wrong to try waiting for...
A former Bank of Canada governor is predicting Canada has about a 30 per cent chance of falling into a recession, amid growing global economic pressures. The ongoing war in the Middle East — with blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and damage to production facilities — is taking a striking toll on the global economy, sending fuel prices soaring...
Alexander Stubb was in Ottawa to talk international relations with Mark Carney amid a shifting global order. Alexander Stubb has been called Europe’s "Trump whisperer" in some circles, but according to the Finnish president, that’s not quite accurate. "President Trump has very much his own mind. If I get one idea out of 10, I'm very happy, but quite rarely...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is defending her government's upcoming motion that, if passed, will establish a new commission to take another shot at redrawing provincial riding boundaries. Smith says the proposal to establish a new panel, that will reassess a previous bipartisan panel's recommendations on new boundaries, is about securing effective representation for rural Alberta. "Back in the olden days...
The strait will not be fully reopened “until America allows full freedom of navigation for vessels traveling from Iran,” Iranian military officials indicated. Iranian military officials said Saturday that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz have reverted to "strict control," citing the continued U.S. blockade of its ports, just one day after declaring the waterway “completely open.”
Perhaps it was the widely cited speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, or maybe a so-called George Clooney-like swagger. Whatever it is, Prime Minister Mark Carney is finding himself in the international spotlight again, this time in the pages of Time magazine as part of its annual most influential people list. Championed by Christine Lagarde, president of the...
Lewis calls for 'fundamental structural changes' during first Ottawa visit on the job. While standing outside the House of Commons, Avi Lewis recalled that it has been five decades since his grandfather — former federal NDP leader David Lewis — stood inside the chamber to advocate for the Canadian left. After David, there was Avi's father, Stephen Lewis, a former...
Despite wobbly French, an oil pipeline deal with Alberta and a recent speech on Canada’s colonial history that appeared to be wildly miscalculated, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s opponents grudgingly admit that – at least for now – he can do no wrong in Quebec. Mr. Carney is in many ways an unusual choice for a province not often moved by...
After more than a decade of involvement, Canada’s special forces are dropping out of a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Africa, with Ottawa saying it needs to reconsider where to deploy its resources. The decision to stop participating in the annual Flintlock exercise, a key Pentagon priority in Africa, could be a sign that the Department of National Defence is stretched...
The new official languages watchdog says Canada needs a governor-general who is fully bilingual in English and French, given the strong, symbolic role of the office, which involves a mix of ceremonial, constitutional and other duties. Official Languages Commissioner Kelly Burke says Prime Minister Mark Carney must follow through on his recent commitment to recommend the appointment of a governor-general...
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) employees who came forward as part of an external study investigating mental health at the spy agency described a sometimes isolating and bleak environment "laden with stigma." One participant told researchers the "service has a fear of mental illness." Those comments are included in a first-of-its-kind research project commissioned by CSIS and published earlier this...
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says Ottawa has hinted that it wants liquified natural gas shipping out of Churchill by 2030 or federal support for an expansion of a port in the community could be off the table. Kinew met with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week in Ottawa to discuss, among other things, a plan to expand the Port of...
'Sometimes I find Canadians don’t actually realize how good they have it,' said IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department head. The International Monetary Fund lauded Canada’s fiscal position relative to its peers as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to give an update on his government’s finances. “Across the Group of Seven, Canada’s probably in the strongest position fiscally,” Nigel Chalk, director of...
NEW YORK (AP) -- A refund system for businesses that paid tariffs which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the constitutional authority to do so launched Monday.
FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic magazine for $250 million on Monday, claiming an article that talked about his alleged excessive drinking was false and a "malicious hit piece."
NEW YORK (AP) -- A refund system for businesses that paid tariffs which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the constitutional authority to do so is scheduled to launch Monday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- As he seeks to retain his U.S. Senate seat this fall, Ohio Republican Jon Husted has been unable to escape the shadow of a $60 million bribery scandal that has roiled state politics for more than five years.
Ottawa has announced an increase in the number of direct flights permitted to bring passengers and cargo to and from China. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says there will be "an incremental increase" in flights between the countries in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney's outreach visit to Beijing in January. Canadian and Chinese airlines will be allowed to boost the...
The strait will not be fully reopened “until America allows full freedom of navigation for vessels traveling from Iran,” Iranian military officials indicated. Iranian military officials said Saturday that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz have reverted to "strict control," citing the continued U.S. blockade of its ports, just one day after declaring the waterway “completely open.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney told world leaders today Canada welcomes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The Prime Minister's Office says Carney took part virtually in a meeting with dozens of world leaders to talk about securing the strait.
Strait will remain completely open for rest of ceasefire, Iran's foreign minister says. Iran's foreign minister announced Friday that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is completely open following a ceasefire agreement reached in Lebanon yesterday, but President Donald Trump said the U.S. naval blockade on Iran will remain in place until a deal with Tehran...
Canada’s finance minister plans to discuss Anthropic PBC’s Mythos model when he meets with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week.
A comparison of two separate surveys conducted during the 2021 and 2025 election years shows a misalignment between the positions of election candidates and those of their constituents on the division of powers in Canada. While the views of candidates and voters were relatively close on this issue in 2021, the gap widened in 2025. The percentage of voters who...
Canada needs to make workforce upskilling a central pillar to the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. The global economy is entering an AI accelerating phase. Countries that have relatively large knowledge economy sectors, like Canada, face higher exposure to AI-driven change. Budget 2025 focused on AI infrastructure investments. Budget 2026 must expand the focus to AI workforce upskilling. AI is...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
I nearly drove off the road when I heard Pope Leo’s powerful message on the radio this week.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office wants to bust up a monopoly. I think I’m the target. Let me explain. The Privy Council Office (PCO), home of the prime minister and cabinet, has been flooded with complaints about its failures to comply with the Access to Information Act.
Canadian troops may be only days away from deploying to the Middle East to aid the U.S.’s and Israel’s war on Iran. The latest indication is a joint statement expressing concern about Iran’s restriction of oil tankers through the narrow Strait of Hormuz signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO allies late in the week.
When the Iran War started it was hard to know why Donald Trump ordered the attack. Lately he's settled on just one reason and had all his people parrot the same line. Nuclear. So what do we really know?
It’s running short of oil, electricity, food, medicine and currency, but Cuba’s communist regime is digging in as the Trump administration demands economic and democratic reforms. Brian discusses the situation with his guests, former State Department insider Mike Gonzalez, now with the Heritage Foundation, and author and longtime regime critic Humberto Fontova. They explain Washington’s imperative to finally curb Cuba’s...
During the spring, farmers around the globe work to get the seeds and enough fertilizer in the ground to maintain the growing season. If that doesn't happen, food prices spike and farmers could face lower crop yields. That is very much at risk of happening right now because of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure. About a third of the world’s...
Sage regular Peter Nicholson and guest Janice Stein, Founding Director at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, join hosts Allan Gregg and Edward Greenspon to talk about AI through a geopolitical lens. We are at a point in the development of AI where even creators like Dario Amodei and Sam Altman are anxious about its expanding powers...
