Apr 7 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — The incoherence of the federal and provincial responses to COVID justifies the public inquiry being called for by Conservative leader Erin O’Toole. But Canadians should not be surprised at such disorganization, according to a senior public servant who has witnessed Ottawa’s emergency response in action (he agreed to speak to the National Post on condition […]
Apr 7 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — Two days before Superbowl LV in Tampa in early February, someone hacked into a water treatment plant in nearby Pinellas County and tried to poison Florida’s water supply. The unknown attacker used a password to break into the remote access software platform that controls the plant and adjusted the level of sodium hydroxide to more […]
Apr 5 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — The NDP policy convention, taking place online this week, rarely disappoints. In advance of the event, the party has released a raft of reckless resolutions submitted by riding associations across the country. In this modern socialist utopia, the rich are taxed into insolvency, the military is disbanded and capitalism abolished.
Apr 1 2021 — Randall Denley — National Post — Messages don’t come much more mixed than the ones delivered Thursday by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his top COVID-19 advisers. In the morning, Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the province’s science advisory group, presented his usual prophecy of doom. The latest COVID modelling projects sharply increasing case numbers as the deadlier, more contagious virus […]
Apr 1 2021 — Rupa Subramanya — National Post — A March 17 poll by the Angus Reid Institute should put a smile on the faces of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals. Although 49 per cent of those surveyed say it’s time for a change in government, the Liberals still hold a significant four-point lead over the Conservatives (35 per cent to 31 […]
Apr 1 2021 — Christopher Nardi — National Post — The Conservatives are asking the commissioner of lobbying to investigate if former Liberal Minister Sheila Copps broke the law last spring when she reached out to the government regarding a COVID-19 “procurement opportunity”. But Copps told the National Post that she ran any personal protection equipment (PPE) purchasing discussions she had with government by the […]
Mar 31 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — The Trudeau government’s brazen dismissal of the will of the House of Commons, when it comes to sending political aides to testify before parliamentary committees, is deepening divisions between partisans. “Why would anyone vote for the Liberals?” bemoaned one Conservative on social media, citing WE, SNC, rail blockades and vaccine missteps as evidence that hanging […]
Mar 30 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — If the Liberals are trying to bait the opposition parties into finding the government in contempt of Parliament and thereby sparking an election, they are doing a fine job. It would be hard to conceive a more convincing display of disrespect toward open government than Pablo Rodriguez’s performance before the ethics committee on Monday, where […]
Mar 30 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — Flip-flop, flip-flop. What’s that sound? It’s the making of Canadian health-care policy on COVID-19. The long list of COVID policy reversals began even before the pandemic officially took hold a year ago, and continue unabated. Here’s a short trip down memory lane:
Mar 30 2021 — Tristin Hopper — National Post — Today, the WHO will publish the final report of its investigation into the origins of COVID-19. The paper may offer some new details on the virus that has defined the last 12 months, but it would be a mistake to characterize it as a definitive or unbiased probe of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, why we […]
Mar 25 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — It was a close shave but the Trudeau government has been given pass marks for its response to the COVID pandemic by the federal auditor general. In her report, Karen Hogan says the “all-hands-on-deck” emergency prompted a startling reaction from the bureaucracy, where a service mindset replaced the process-oriented approach that often sees the machinery […]
Mar 25 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — Parliamentarians are often derided as trained seals – interchangeable bobbleheads who always vote at their party’s call and never think for themselves at all. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as Liberal MP John McKay has proven in his nearly quarter of a century in the House of Commons.
Mar 23 2021 — Tasha Kheiriddin — National Post — At their policy convention this past weekend, the Conservatives had one job: Emerge ready to fight the next election. To do this, they needed to appear credible, constructive, and united. They needed to showcase their leader, Erin O’Toole, as a man ready to be prime minister. They needed to reassure voters that they were not […]
Mar 23 2021 — National Post — The Conservative leader’s policy speech was long on cue card rhetoric, short on actual specifics. A friend recently asked what Erin O’Toole was thinking bringing forward a Conservative convention resolution that “climate change is real” instead of saying “man-made climate change” or specifying policy options. Which, though superficially very sensible, seemed to me to incorporate […]
Mar 23 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — “He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil”: Dromio of Syracuse in William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. This quote came to mind while reviewing last weekend’s Conservative convention. In truth, the plotline was more like one of the Bard’s tragedies, in which the flawed hero is consumed by his own ambition. […]