Jan 20 2020 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — The campaign for the Conservative Party leadership officially is on, with more on the line than a job for one person yearning to become prime minister. In many ways, Canada’s idea of democracy is at stake. Unlike ever before, Conservatives face choices about what their party stands for and where it is headed. Will Conservatives […]
Jan 13 2020 — Jim Vibert — Chronicle Herald — The Conservative Party of Canada is setting a high bar for potential leadership candidates, but the decision of one woman will have as much – maybe more – of an impact on the size of the field as the steep entrance fee or the required proof of significant, broad-based support. Rona Ambrose, the Harper-era cabinet […]
Jan 6 2020 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — Australia is so vast that even Canadians struggle to comprehend the scale of the disaster unfolding there now. Think Fort McMurray in 2016, only monstrously larger and with no end in sight. The Fort McMurray fires burned 589,000 hectares and caused $11 billion in damage with an epic firefighting battle that transfixed the country. Australia’s […]
Jan 4 2020 — Lezlie Lowe — Chronicle Herald — New year. New decade. And as we hit reset, we desperately need a new war. Because as I see it, we’ve got the 2020s to engage in a concerted battle against the climate emergency, and not much longer. So far, we’ve proven ourselves wholly incapable of doing the society-bending work required to save what we […]
Dec 28 2019 — Jim Vibert — Chronicle Herald — Red Tories show signs they might be back. A couple of former Liberal premiers are considered viable candidates for the federal Conservative leadership, so it’s safe to assume the party is open to all options, particularly those that line up to the centre of right. These are the fantasy-fuelled, fun-filled preliminaries that precede the serious […]
Dec 13 2019 — Chronicle Herald — This time of year is one people often spend time with family, reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, says Peter MacKay. That’s something MacKay says he will be doing a lot of this holiday season – especially given the recent job posting for Conservative Party leader. In the spring of 2003, the […]
Dec 12 2019 — Chronicle Herald — Former Central Nova MP has long been considered a possible contender to head party. With Andrew Scheer’s resignation, Peter MacKay will most likely be thrust into the limelight once again, as a possible successor to fill the Conservative Party leadership. It’s speculation that has surrounded MacKay, even before the Conservative Party failed to unseat Justin […]
Dec 9 2019 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — Lately, I’ve found myself asking whether 2019 will some day be seen as the year disunity returned in force to Canada. Harmony is distinctly at a premium. Alberta’s government says national unity is threatened by the province’s economic swoon, which Canada didn’t do enough to prevent. Saskatchewan’s government says that province, too, is being crippled […]
Nov 27 2019 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — In politics, the reward for strong performance in a difficult job is often an even harder job with tougher challenges. So it is for Chrystia Freeland, Justin Trudeau’s new deputy prime minister and envoy to the Liberal government’s two hottest trouble spots: Washington and the West. As deputy prime minister and minister for intergovernmental affairs, […]
Nov 11 2019 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — Westerners, we’re forcefully told, are sick and tired of people speaking for them, whom they don’t like and didn’t vote for. That especially means Justin Trudeau and his Liberals, but really also anyone east of Winnipeg or near any coastline. Some Westerners are so fed up, they want to separate Alberta and Saskatchewan from Canada, […]
Oct 28 2019 — Dan Leger — Chronicle Herald — Because politics always ends up being personal, losing at it hurts. For candidates, it’s direct rejection by an electorate of peers. For party supporters, their values and beliefs are being dismissed and that’s hard to take, too. Most defeated candidates swear off further adventures in elected politics, even if remaining active on the sidelines. Others […]
Oct 28 2019 — Chronicle Herald — I hate to say it, but Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer has to go. And in light of the delicate nature of today’s minority government situation, he needs to depart the political scene very soon. Yes, the Conservatives boosted their seat total, bested Justin Trudeau in the popular vote and reduced the federal Liberals to […]
Oct 24 2019 — John DeMont — Chronicle Herald — Election night was not a good one for Peter MacKay, the former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. The longtime Central Nova member of Parliament, who now calls Toronto home, watched the results at the campaign headquarters of Kim Fawcett, the Tory candidate in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, for whom he had […]
Oct 18 2019 — Chronicle Herald — A Pictou County teenager was almost turned away from an event with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer because of the shirt she was wearing which said “Honour the Boat Habour Act” on one side and “A’se’k #31 January 2020” on the other. “We went to the Little Harbor Community Center to see Andrew Scheer. We were […]
Oct 15 2019 — Jim Vibert — Chronicle Herald — Just about the last thing a leader wants to hear in the midst of an election campaign is speculation about his successor. Andrew Scheer got a taste of it last week when a story surfaced about some disgruntled Conservatives pondering a post-election putsch to depose him and install former Central Nova MP and Harper-government cabinet […]