Oct 22 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — id absent Tory MPs help guarantee the Liberal government’s survival? Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau might have hit the campaign trail today, but the opposition ensured he wouldn’t get the chance. He wouldn’t have had the travelling national media in tow but virtual visits to three battleground ridings the Liberals hoped to hang onto might have […]
Oct 21 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party wants to avoid another general election but won’t say if it plans to vote down or abstain on a contentious Conservative motion. Canadians are looking for help right now, Singhtold reporters Wednesday afternoon. “They are not looking for an election.”
Oct 17 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — Has the blame game started? Canada’s pandemic response has, until now, mostly been defined by a collegiality between different levels of government. The sparring that existed a year ago, when Ontario Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford’s unpopularity found him guest-starring in the federal Liberals’ election attack ads, has been replaced with beaming smiles and kind […]
Oct 16 2020 — Zi-Ann Lum — HuffPost Canada — The federal government is citing a national security exemption (NSE) to withhold details of a “vast majority” of its COVID-19 related contracts struck at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The exemption expedites the weeks-long procurement process — and keeps details of domestic and international contracts, including costs and supplier information, secret.
Oct 3 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is out to modernize his party, and his first week in Parliament demonstrated just how he plans to do that — and the instincts he may need to keep in check as he prepares for the next election. Dressed in a blue suit and wearing a striped orange tie to mark […]
Oct 2 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — The Green Party of Canada’s leadership race has been plagued by so many problems that one of its leadership candidates says she will doubt the outcome of Saturday’s vote. Meryam Haddad, a 32-year-old Syrian-born immigrant, who is also a bilingual lawyer and a lesbian, told HuffPost Canada’s political podcast, Follow-Up, that she believes the party’s […]
Sep 25 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he could see his party supporting the Liberals for their full mandate. In an interview with “Follow-Up,” HuffPost Canada’s political podcast, which will be released late Friday, Singh said his goal is to use his current position — as one of three opposition parties with the balance of power in […]
Sep 19 2020 — Zi-Ann Lum — HuffPost Canada — Despite the Liberal caucus’ push, and the prime minister saying the throne speech would focus on closing the gaps and caring for Canada’s most vulnerable, a guaranteed basic income won’t be the landmark of the government’s agenda Wednesday. The throne speech will neither explicitly endorse nor close the door on basic income, two officials told […]
Sep 16 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole ’s tacit support for Quebec’s discriminatory Bill 21 caught the National Council of Canadian Muslims by surprise this week, leading it and the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) to denounce the move, saying they are deeply disappointed by the Tory leader’s “lack of courage.” “It is an absolutely horrific situation […]
Sep 14 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to avoid a fall election, he hasn’t sought the opposition’s ideas for what to include in his minority government’s renewed agenda. Trudeau told reporters outside the cabinet’s in-person two-day retreat in Ottawa that the Liberals have been engaging with the opposition parties throughout the crisis. “They have made […]
Sep 14 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — Nearly 1.2 million Canadians voted for the Green Party in the last election — 6.5 per cent of all voters — yet the Greens only managed to elect three Members of Parliament. It’s been a long struggle for a party whose support is not regionally concentrated. The Bloc Québécois, for example, received 1,387,030 votes in […]
Sep 3 2020 — Zi-Ann Lum — HuffPost Canada — The federal NDP is pushing the Liberal government to recall Parliament earlier to ensure legislation can be passed to extend the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) before the program’s scheduled end, four days after the throne speech. A letter sent by NDP House Leader Peter Julian to Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez Thursday said it’s […]
Sep 2 2020 — HuffPost Canada — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brushed off a question about his ethical compass Wednesday, saying Canadians will have an opportunity to draw conclusions on his record in “election campaigns.” Trudeau made the comment during an interview on CBC Radio’s “The Early Edition” after host Stephen Quinn asked if it’s fair for Canadians to wonder about their […]
Aug 25 2020 — Zi-Ann Lum — HuffPost Canada — When Erin O’Toole was named the next leader of the federal Conservative party early Monday, his caucus colleague Cathay Wagantall watched the live televised results from the headquarters of a rival campaign. Wagantall endorsed Leslyn Lewis, a newcomer to the federal political scene and one of two social conservatives in the eight-month leadership race.
Aug 21 2020 — Althia Raj — HuffPost Canada — Have the Trudeau Liberals become what they used to rail against? This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau escorted Bill Morneau, his finance minister, out the door (after leaving him twisting in harsh winds) and welcomed Chrystia Freeland as his replacement. While the callous way Trudeau thanked Morneau for his loyal service was not surprising — […]