Jun 17 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — According to the premier of Quebec, it’s all about pride. Quebecers, Francois Legault claims, are forever stopping him in the street to tell him “‘Mr. Legault we are happy.’ I say why and they say ‘it’s because we are proud.’… To feel this regained pride among our people, who are standing up, advancing, makes me […]
Jun 17 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — In mid-June 2015, before that year’s federal election campaign began in earnest, Justin Trudeau released a package of 32 promised democratic and government reform measures. They were designed to provide a contrast with the incumbent Conservative government and, more importantly, garner the Liberals some publicity at a time when there was a very real risk […]
Jun 14 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — Wait, what? What did the federal environment minister just say? If I heard her right, Catherine McKenna announced there would be no increase in the federally-mandated levy on carbon dioxide (and equivalent) emissions — the carbon tax — beyond the $50 per tonne it is scheduled to reach in 2022. Here’s the quote: “The price […]
Jun 13 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — The Conservatives have been raising expectations over the climate change plan that leader Andrew Scheer will unveil next week. In a short video released to promote the speech next Wednesday, Scheer promised a “real plan to protect our environment, fight climate change and reduce global emissions.” To underline the emphasis on the international aspect of […]
Jun 13 2019 — Colby Cosh — National Post — There’s almost no other way to put it: the prime minister seems to be losing his marbles. On Monday, the premiers of five provinces and the Northwest Territories sent him a polite, conventional open letter raising familiar concerns with the Liberal government’s resource bills C-69 (which creates a new regime for federal review of big […]
Jun 12 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — In 2006, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced it had switched from a “passive” to “active” investment strategy. No longer would it merely seek to replicate the performance of the broad equity and bond market indexes in its own portfolio, as it had earlier been required to do; now it would free its managers […]
Jun 12 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — We can’t afford not to, apparently. On Wednesday the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare issued its report, which reads like the secret to the philosopher’s stone — a legendary recipe for turning lead into gold. The council, chaired by former Ontario Liberal health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, has recommended the federal government […]
Jun 12 2019 — Marie-Danielle Smith — National Post — Ahead of a climate policy announcement from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, the Tories are going all-in on attacking the Liberal government for its projected failure to meet emissions reduction targets, according to an internal memo obtained by the National Post. The memo to chief of staff Marc-André Leclerc, dated June 5, outlines the party’s communications […]
Jun 10 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has yet to release his environment plan but regardless, according to a new poll by the Angus Reid Institute he is judged to be better suited to handle climate change than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Both lag in the low-carbon emission wake of Green leader Elizabeth May, who has the backing […]
Jun 8 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — Good news for the economy, it is well known, is bad news for opposition parties. If you are a Conservative or New Democrat (or Green, or…), then, the news could not possibly be worse. A 5.4 per cent unemployment rate, the lowest since at least 1976 (and probably since the 1960s)? Poverty, on Statistics Canada’s […]
Jun 6 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall has compared the government’s environmental assessment bill to kindling, fuelling the flames of Western alienation, and its oil tanker ban to lighter fluid. If he’s right, the Prairie sun is about to be obscured by more smoke — this time emanating from Parliament Hill. The Trudeau government is planning an […]
Jun 6 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — The Commons justice committee’s hearings into the problem of online hate were thrown into chaos last week after a Conservative MP, Michael Cooper, rounded on a witness for suggesting terrorists like the one who murdered 51 Muslims at prayer in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier this year had been influenced, not just by anti-immigrant and alt-right […]
Jun 5 2019 — Brian Platt — National Post — The federal prosecution service says SNC-Lavalin misunderstands the role of the attorney general in criminal cases, and should not be allowed to file new arguments as the company fights in the Federal Court of Appeal to avoid a criminal trial on corruption and fraud charges. SNC-Lavalin is challenging the decision of the Director of Public […]
Jun 4 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — The most remarkable recent trend in Canadian politics has been the rise of the Greens. Since the last election, the party had been locked in at its usual six per cent in the polls, give or take a half a percentage point — until this year, when it suddenly began to take off. Recent polls […]
Jun 3 2019 — John Ivison — National Post — The final report of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is an uncomfortable read, particularly when it comes to the bitter agony evident in the testimony of family members of who have lost loved ones. Bernice C. talked about her daughter, Jennifer. “Somebody stole her, had no right to her, […]