Oct 19 2018 — Jason Kirby — Maclean's — The early results are in from the trade war the U.S. and Canada are waging against each other, and so far, it’s more or less a draw: each country is punching itself in the face with the same relative dunderheaded force. On Friday Statistics Canada released a study looking at the duties Canada has applied […]
Oct 19 2018 — Andrew MacDougall — Maclean's — What are the chances the next election turns on whether a decorated Vice-Admiral was unjustly banged up by the Trudeau government for leaking a story about the cabinet discussion surrounding a $668 million sole-source contract for a military supply ship? Slim to none, in all probability. That’s because, despite the ship’s hefty price tag, it’s […]
Oct 7 2018 — Jen Gerson — Maclean's — Sitting at the back of Jason Kenney and Doug Ford’s “Scrap the Carbon Tax” rally, it became clear how this is all going to work. It’s the Friday night before the long weekend and a windowless conference hall in downtown Calgary is standing room only, more than a thousand people inside. Another 200 were locked […]
Oct 6 2018 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — I’m as surprised as you are that Brian Pallister just became the most interesting man in Canadian federalism. The Progressive Conservative premier of Manitoba, impossibly tall and lanky, likes to talk like a straight shooter. But his politics are mostly cautious and moderate. In a national political landscape increasingly populated by firebrands—Doug Ford, Maxime Bernier, […]
Oct 1 2018 — John Geddes — Maclean's — The trade agreement finalized in the late hours of Sept. 30 between Canada and the U.S. amounts to a triumph of the desire to do a deal over what often seemed to be irreconcilable differences. From the outset of these renegotiations, the dissonance between the tough-talking American rhetoric and the soft-pedaling Canadian tone made it […]
Sep 26 2018 — Scott Gilmore — Maclean's — Watching the world’s diplomats laugh at Donald Trump yesterday, as he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, reminded me of a quote from George R. R. Martin’s in his book A Clash of Kings: “Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.” Of course, in the fantasy world of the […]
Sep 25 2018 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — Oh good, a confidence crisis. The good people of New Brunswick having voted in Monday night’s election, the results are entertainingly not decisive. Even if you didn’t know which parties had received which seat totals, the numbers 22-21-3-3 would gladden the hearts of parliamentary geeks everywhere. And some of what happens next will depend on […]
Sep 18 2018 — John Geddes — Maclean's — As he prepares for a meeting with the premiers later this fall on economic issues, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an hourlong Maclean’s Live interview that he’ll be pressing for what he called the “easy-win scenario” of bringing down trade barriers among provinces.
Sep 18 2018 — Shannon Proudfoot — Maclean's — In a world roiled by Trumps and Fords, polarized electorates and often-toxic public discourse, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meditated on the nature of democracy and the reasons for its seeming fragility at the moment, in an interview on Monday. Trudeau sat down for an hour-long interview with senior writer Paul Wells for the Maclean’s Live […]
Sep 17 2018 — Tom Parkin — Maclean's — Andrew Scheer is leader of the Official Opposition. He’s supposed to be focused on opposing the incumbent Liberal government. And working to replace it. But he has other problems. Maxime Bernier problems. You’d assume the Bernier split from the Conservative Party would put Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the clear. And it might. But Conservative […]
Sep 13 2018 — Jason Markusoff — Maclean's — Bobby Kennedy spent much of his time with lawyers and in court during the summer that was supposed to usher in Canada’s era of legal marijuana. In mid-July, the City of Kelowna had ordered him to shut down the display counter of his downtown skateboard shop, BKRY, where since winter he’d been dispensing weed gummies, […]
Sep 12 2018 — Anne Kingston — Maclean's — When Doug Ford, newly minted as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, took the stage at the party’s leadership convention last March, he conspicuously thanked one person standing behind him: Tanya Granic Allen, an outspoken social conservative and leadership hopeful. Ford spoke of his intent “to return our province to where it belongs” […]
Sep 11 2018 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — I’m with Emmett Macfarlane, basically: Justice Edward Belobaba’s ruling invalidating Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s law to reduce the number of Toronto city councillors from 47 to 25 is based on shaky constitutional reasoning at best. But the Ontario Conservatives saying “So of course the notwithstanding clause is the logical recourse” are being reckless.
Sep 11 2018 — Tom Parkin — Maclean's — It’s always easy to demand the release of a report when you know it never can happen. You can sound like a victimized soul who just wants the truth to come out. But you never have to worry it will. That advantage is being used by Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir, who was recently expelled from […]
Sep 7 2018 — Murad Hemmadi — Maclean's — The re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has proceeded with the punctuality and scenery of Ottawa’s Macdonald–Cartier International Airport on a particularly snowy winter day: Cascading delays, missed connections, numerous cancellations, and rushing politicians and staffers as far as the eye can see. Since the timetable for the talks was agreed in […]