Sep 24 2020 — Brian Platt — Postmedia — Conservative leader Erin O’Toole isn’t calling for dramatic reductions in government spending as Canada comes out of the pandemic, but he says the Liberals have become complacent about the country’s debt and appear ready to “bankrupt” Canada with their new spending plans. “There is not an unlimited pot of ever-increasing deficit spending,” O’Toole told the […]
Sep 23 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Justin Trudeau beguiled the television networks into giving him free airtime to address an issue of “urgent national importance.” In the event, he delivered a political broadcast on behalf of the Liberal Party, a specious reiteration of the throne speech delivered hours earlier by the Governor General.
Sep 23 2020 — Jesse Snyder — Postmedia — Deputy Conservative leader Candice Bergen criticized the Liberal government’s speech from the throne on Wednesday for failing to acknowledge the role of the oil and gas sector. The throne speech laid out a variety of broad climate-related plans, including money for home retrofitting, ocean and land protections, and new funding for electric vehicles. The announcements […]
Sep 22 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Dominic LeBlanc is living proof of the vigour of Canada’s health system. The minister for intergovernmental affairs underwent a successful stem cell transplant a year ago to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma. “If I’m here one year later it’s because of that remarkable feat of medicine,” he said at a press conference last Friday.
Sep 22 2020 — Brian Platt — Postmedia — In the early days of the Conservative leadership race, Erin O’Toole released a policy that would eliminate vast swaths of Canada’s public broadcaster, shrinking it down to radio and French-language services. “The CBC is out of control and in need of reform,” O’Toole tweeted on February 14. “I’ll slash funding for English TV and CBC […]
Sep 19 2020 — Colby Cosh — Postmedia — Remember how the CBC brought a copyright infringement suit against the Conservative party with about 10 days left to go in the 2019 federal election campaign? We were so young then! The proceeding has not received much attention lately, but it is still underway, and I noticed this week that it has taken some turns […]
Sep 19 2020 — Shachi Kurl — Postmedia — A pretty good pro-tip for life, political or otherwise, is that if you make a mess, you should be the one to mop it up. With all eyes on this coming week’s speech from the throne, the prime minister has an opportunity to stay true to his promise to focus on the COVID-19 response while […]
Sep 19 2020 — Ryan Tumilty — Postmedia — Ahead of next week’s throne speech, Jagmeet Singh on Friday gave his demands to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in public hours before he was set to deliver them privately in a one-on-one meeting. Among the demands, Singh wants to ensure people transitioning from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to a revamped employment insurance aren’t worse […]
Sep 18 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — The ruling by the ethics commissioner that David MacNaughton, Canada’s former ambassador in Washington, broke the conflict of interest laws should not have come as a surprise, but it did. John A. Macdonald once said that while he did not believe all Grits were horse-thieves, “I feel sure that all horse-thieves are Grits.”
Sep 16 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — When Chrystia Freeland was appointed finance minister, I dispatched a tweet about the prime minister having replaced someone with extensive business experience with a journalist. “As a journalist, I find that concerning.” It was intended to be mildly amusing – an echo of Jerry Seinfeld’s concern that his dentist had converted to Judaism for the […]
Sep 15 2020 — Jesse Snyder — Postmedia — In a surprise move on Tuesday, the U.S. removed tariffs on Canadian aluminum only hours before Canada was to retaliate with its own levies against its southern neighbour. While Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quickly signalled the move was a win for Canada, other observers noted that new U.S-imposed quotas on aluminum exports could trigger another […]
Sep 15 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — A principled politician would not put his or her stamp of approval on a reckless policy that offers jam today but forwards the bill to the next generation. Good politicians adapt their most dogmatic beliefs to changing political circumstances. Justin Trudeau has evolved into a good politician, which is not necessarily a character endorsement.
Sep 11 2020 — John Ivison — Postmedia — It’s the green policy paradox. Governments want to achieve greenhouse gas reductions at the lowest possible cost, yet, in order to incentivize more environmentally-friendly behaviour, the price of pollution must be driven ever higher. The Trudeau Liberals have touted their ability to balance the demands of the economy and the environment but as we close […]
Sep 5 2020 — Brian Platt — Postmedia — In mid-February, about a month into the Conservative leadership race to replace Andrew Scheer, a meeting was organized in Ottawa to introduce Leslyn Lewis to pro-life members of the party’s caucus. Lewis had entered the race as a political unknown, at least outside of Toronto. Her only experience in running for office was as a […]
Sep 4 2020 — Brian Platt — Postmedia — On March 10, 2018, Erin O’Toole was locked up in a room at the Hilton Markham Convention Centre as part of Christine Elliott’s campaign to win the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. O’Toole was acting as a lawyer for Elliott’s campaign while ballots were being counted. It was an extremely tense process due to […]