Mar 27 2022 — Philippe J. Fournier — Maclean's — The June 2 Ontario general election is fast approaching (only 67 days, but who’s counting). Opinion polls over the past months have shown little movement in voting intentions, meaning Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party remains, at this point in time, the favourite to win the most seats. And while the Ontario Liberal Party and Ontario […]
Mar 16 2022 — Shannon Proudfoot — Maclean's — In a rare in-depth interview the Conservative leadership frontrunner talks to Shannon Proudfoot about his politics, parenting, and making Canada ‘the freest place in the world.’ In early February, Shannon Proudfoot interviewed Pierre Poilievre for our April cover story on the Conservative leadership candidate. It was a wide-ranging discussion with a politician who typically doesn’t […]
Mar 15 2022 — Shannon Proudfoot — Maclean's — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been the most compelling person on the planet for the last month, standing in the breach alongside his terrorized but indomitable people in the face of a Russian onslaught. The world has watched him grow paler and strained while his facial hair sketched itself into a beard. His spectacular ability […]
Mar 10 2022 — Shannon Proudfoot — Maclean's — He’s smart, savvy and he’s steering a new brand of Canadian conservatism. How Pierre Poilievre became the champion of the anti-Trudeau mob. The bellowing honks of freedom nearly drowned out Pierre Poilievre’s voice as he stood on a frigid overpass in late January, cheering the truck convoy on its way to lay siege to downtown […]
Mar 10 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — In a world whose horizons have shrunk to the length of a TikTok video, Jean Charest’s career is still measured in decades. His Parti Libéral du Québec—sorry, that’s what it said on the buses—lost the 2012 election in one of the softest landings a defeated party ever managed, only 33,000 votes and four seats behind […]
Mar 3 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — It was a surprise to see the Prime Minister making an announcement on e-business on Thursday, since his government and most others around the world are properly preoccupied with events in Ukraine. Surprising but encouraging. Wanting to work on more than one thing at a time is so rare a merit that it should be […]
Mar 2 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — It’s true that, for a lot of people, the sight of the hot tub was hard to take. At some point during the first week of the Siege of Ottawa, the little plaza across Wellington Street from Parliament’s Centre Block took on some of the atmosphere of a carnival, complete with an inflatable hot tub. […]
Feb 15 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — “The War Measures Act is too broad and too sweeping,” Perrin Beatty told the House of Commons when he launched debate at second reading on Bill C-77, a proposed new Emergencies Act, in November of 1987. Beatty was the Minister of National Defence in Brian Mulroney’s government in those days. He said the War Measures […]
Feb 14 2022 — Philippe J. Fournier — Maclean's — The Conservative Party of Canada is (once again) entering a leadership race after Erin O’Toole was precipitously expelled by his own caucus last week. The favourite candidate at the starting line of this race is Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre. According to the latest Leger poll released on Tuesday, Poilievre is by far the preferred candidate […]
Feb 8 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — The MPs astonishing criticism of Liberal policy on COVID restrictions is the most serious threat to Trudeau’s leadership since Jane Philpott quit the federal cabinet. Here’s Dillon McGuire, Operations and Tour Assistant to the Minister of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion (that’s Ahmed Hussen, I learn), calling for Joël Lightbound to be removed from the Liberal […]
Feb 8 2022 — Marie-Danielle Smith — Maclean's — Like so many conversations in this era, my talk with former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz happened on a Zoom call. Mostly, we discussed his upcoming book, The Next Age of Uncertainty, a primer on the economic volatility ahead. But we also talked about lessons from the pandemic, the political discourse on inflation, the […]
Feb 3 2022 — Jen Gerson — Maclean's — Well, it looks like the Conservative caucus has decided to do the stupid thing. Shortly after the election, I wrote here at Maclean’s that dumping leader Erin O’Toole would be short-sighted—regardless of how angry anyone was over the disappointing results or their leader’s performance. Very few nail it on their first time out, and there […]
Feb 2 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — I’m sorry to see Erin O’Toole’s leadership end. He really is a nice guy. Unfortunately they often finish, if not last, at least out of the running. Let’s talk numbers, then personalities, then sociology. I’ll start by updating some stats I keep handy. Of the last nine federal elections going back to 1997, the Leader […]
Feb 1 2022 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — A strong rule of journalistic etiquette holds that reporters mustn’t grant anonymity to sources for the purpose of badmouthing political opponents. Follow along with me now as I trample that principle underfoot. I will be ably assisted by a member of the Conservative caucus, here unnamed, with whom I chatted on Monday night. This MP […]
Jan 30 2022 — Philippe J. Fournier — Maclean's — The Conservative leader’s latest personal popularity numbers are bleak, inside and outside his party. Erin O’Toole has been leader of the Conservative Party for close to 18 months now, and during his leadership the only time his favourability numbers showed any sign of improvement was the two-week span between the Prime Minister calling an election […]