National Newswatch

Blind to the obvious, David Johnston testifies against himself

Jun 6 2023 — John Ivison — A recent episode of the excellent podcast The Rest is History explored the world of freemasonry, debating whether the masons are “a secret cabal of devil worshippers that run the world” or a “fraternity of like-minded individuals who enjoy eccentric rituals.” As with most conspiracy theories, the truth tends towards the banal. However, the appearance […]

From power to powerless: The high costs of a political life

Jun 4 2023 — Bryan Passifiume — Current Liberal House Leader Mark Holland has spent nearly his entire career in politics except for one four-year gap after losing a close race in the 2011 federal election. That loss was so crushing he attempted to take his own life. “I volunteered and lived in my community my entire life,” Holland told the National […]

The activist, anti-industry Trudeau minister who wants to unteach First Nations to fish

May 31 2023 — John Ivison — Isaiah Robinson embodies the enterprising spirit found in many Indigenous communities among a younger generation fed up with being stereotyped as welfare recipients. He is an elected councillor of the Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation from Klemtu, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia’s coast, 500 kilometres north of Vancouver, and head […]

A temptation for prorogation lures the limping Liberals

May 29 2023 — John Ivison — Late May in Ottawa is marked by swarms of mosquitoes and angry MPs. Thankfully, by July both irritants will have abated. Things get a bit nutty when the mercury rises in the House of Commons. At one point on Monday, the leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, appeared to forget who he was meant to […]

Opposition must not be silenced on the David Johnston report

May 27 2023 — John Ivison — In early 2015, just four months after the shootings on Parliament Hill, Stephen Harper’s government introduced anti-terror legislation that then NDP Opposition leader Tom Mulcair felt was too sweeping and too vague. In the face of strong public pressure, Mulcair stuck to his guns — in the parliamentary sense — and opposed the bill.

Tory attempts to demand more from David Johnston at committee blocked by NDP-Liberal tag team

May 26 2023 — Catherine Lévesque — The NDP supported Liberal attempts to pressure Conservative and Bloc MPs to get the security clearance needed to read Johnston’s secret intel. NDP MPs teamed up with Liberals Thursday to block Conservative attempts to accelerate the timetable for David Johnston to appear before a House committee, after the “independent special rapporteur” on foreign election interference […]

David Johnston sneers at the public in Chinese interference report

May 24 2023 — Sabrina Maddeaux — “Democracy is built on trust,” reads the first line of special rapporteur David Johnston’s report on foreign interference. He’s right about that, which is why it’s a travesty that, 55 pages and one rambling news conference later, Johnston failed to take the one action that could begin to restore public trust in Canada’s system. Johnston, […]

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