Jan 29 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — The United Kingdom’s Harold Wilson, in his second period as British Prime Minister, was in Ottawa on this day in 1975 for talks with Canada’s Pierre Trudeau. As any political history fan knows, our British friends are masters at keeping diaries. In Ottawa with Wilson was his senior policy advisor, Bernard Donoughue, who turned out […]
Jan 28 2022 — Kevin Bosch — National Newswatch — As you know, nothing takes precedence in “Art’s History” over Prime Ministerial birthdays! Only in Canada would the bicentennial of the birth of one of our early Prime Ministers go largely ignored. We are a funny bunch, we Canadians. So, while official Ottawa might ignore today’s anniversary, we will not. As Alexander Mackenzie was our […]
Jan 28 2022 — Paul Summerville and Eric Protzer — National Newswatch — In their recently-published book entitled Reclaiming Populism, co-authors Paul Summerville and Eric Protzer examine the threats to democracy caused by the increasing enthusiasm for illiberal populist ideas. They examine what is driving the phenomenon and policy policy prescriptions for safeguarding democracy in the face of these pressures. The following is an excerpt – in fact, […]
Jan 27 2022 — National Newswatch — The last Conservative campaign suffered from eroded trust after years of party infighting, poor outreach toward ethnic communities in urban centres and disappointing communication from leader Erin O’Toole in the final weeks of the last federal election.
Jan 27 2022 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — The federal and provincial governments need to be involved. Ottawa-Support for the development of a national strategy to expand agriculture research and innovation in Canada has grown quite a bit during the last two months, says Serge Buy, CEO of the Agri-Food Innovation Council (AIC). He’s hoping for a meeting soon with Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude […]
Jan 27 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — Walter Gordon was born on this date, in 1906, in Toronto. Today’s anniversary of the birth of Canadian economic nationalist allows us to recall the life and legacy of this very important and impactful political leader from the 1960s. In 1957, as Chair of the Royal Commission on Canada’s Economic Prospects, Walter Gordon had warned […]
Jan 26 2022 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Agriculture got some attention at an international trade ministers meeting, Ottawa-Two late January meetings have shown both the progress and the long road ahead to achieve a strengthening of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that was launched almost four areas ago. That’s when Canada joined by Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European […]
Jan 26 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — It was a big moment in Newfoundland politics on this date in 1996 with former federal MP and cabinet minister Brian Tobin becoming Premier of his home province. First elected to Ottawa’s House of Commons in 1980, Tobin was re-elected in 1984 and quickly became a well-known critic of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative […]
Jan 25 2022 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — CFA submits a long wish list to the finance committee. Ottawa-The wish lists for the 2022 federal budget presented to the Commons finance committee by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Food and Beverage Canada (FBC) reinforce proposals that will resonate with much of the agrifood community. The date of the budget hasn’t […]
Jan 25 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — It was a big day in political history on the Prairies on this date in 1912 as MLAs in Saskatchewan first held their discussions in their brand-new legislative chamber. The legislative complex had been under construction for four years. Premier Walter Scott and his government had led the charge to build the new home for […]
Jan 24 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — A remarkable political and cultural relationship was cemented on this day in 1848 with early Canadian reformers, Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, and their followers winning convincing victories in legislature elections in Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East (Quebec). In a matter of months, with these two giants of Canadian political history serving as co-Premiers […]
Jan 23 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — History was made on this date in 2006 with Stephen J. Harper and his Tories earning a minority mandate from Canadians to form the first Conservative government in more than a decade. They would be returned to power with another minority victory after the 2008 campaign and then, in 2011, Harper won a convincing majority […]
Jan 22 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — When I worked at Queen’s Park as a young political assistant in the 1980s, I was fascinated by the portraits of the past Premiers that adorned the Ontario Legislature. And for whatever reason, seeing the portrait of Ontario’s first (and only) United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) Premier, Ernest Drury, left me with a great interest […]
Jan 21 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — Lester Pearson was in Washington, D.C. on this date in 1964 and Canada’s Prime Minister hosted a small dinner for President Lyndon Johnson at Canada’s embassy. At the end of the night, Lady Bird Johnson, America’s First Lady, recorded her impressions of Pearson (who was joined at the dinner by Paul Martin Sr. and Canada’s […]
Jan 20 2022 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — The late Lester B. Pearson would not enjoy the fact we are recalling today perhaps the worst day in his political life. It was a Monday and, on the previous weekend in 1958, he’d been elected national leader of the Liberal party. Entering the Commons for the first time as Leader of the Opposition, it […]