Oct 30 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — Has anyone else noticed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems tired lately? Like, really tired? A global pandemic, a climate crisis, BIPOC resistance, Donald Trump’s possible re-election — all this is enough to stress anyone out. Add on the ongoing WE scandal and violent racial and economic tensions rising in Nova Scotia and you’ve got […]
Oct 5 2020 — John Milloy — The Record — In 2003 I was elected to Queen’s Park as part of a government promising fixed election dates. Ontarians would now know that each election would be held four years from the last one. I privately disagreed.
Sep 21 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — For ambitious feminists living in this country, the challenges facing our head of state in recent weeks have been difficult to watch. Julie Payette has faced several waves of criticism since she was first invested as Canada’s 29th Governor General in October 2017. Initially it was just from news media. But more recently — and […]
Aug 30 2020 — David Olive — The Record — In the short space of the next four weeks, the Trudeau government will design not just a proposed economic recovery plan for Canada, but a lasting economic renaissance only a notch or two shy of Sir John A. Macdonald’s National Policy in its impact. The government will present highlights of its plans for pandemic economic […]
Jul 17 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — I’ll never forget the impeccable grace by which a close friend once reacted to a bundle of sage that was for sale at a chain department store, not long before shopping in stores became so complicated and anxiety-inducing. Half Mohawk and half Anishinaabekwe, my friend was justifiably furious as this sacred medicine was to be […]
Jul 6 2020 — John Milloy — The Record — As Canada emerges from COVID-19, our public policy to-do list is very long: long-term care; precarious workers; systemic racism in policing and other institutions; jobs; and poverty — to name just a few. Justin Trudeau better step up — right? Get with the program, people. Canada is a federation in which responsibilities are divided between […]
Jun 11 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — There’s no swab test for the illnesses in the looming echo pandemic, but they pose a threat just as urgent as COVID-19. Mandatory isolation orders, though imperative, have fractured tangible human connection for months. The front-line is burnt out, businesses are collapsing, and parents are justifiably exhausted. The coronavirus has made life difficult even for […]
Jun 10 2020 — John Milloy — The Record — Ontario’s next election is only two years away — is Doug Ford beatable? Although the last few weeks have been rocky, most Ontarians appear pleased with our premier. Like the citizens of Whoville on Christmas morning, we celebrate how a pandemic has caused the heart of the man — who once joyfully cancelled a minimum […]
May 7 2020 — Alex Boutilier — The Record — As Canada’s closest allies call for a probe into China’s early handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Ottawa is steering clear of the issue — and for good reasons, experts say. The federal government is calling for a comprehensive “postcrisis review” into the COVID-19 pandemic, including the virus’s origins and how countries and the World Health […]
Apr 27 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — By now you’ve surely heard about the 51-year-old white man who — during a horrific global pandemic that’s already turned our whole world upside down — terrorized Nova Scotia, killing 22 innocent people and burning five or more family homes to the ground.
Apr 1 2020 — Jenn Jefferys — The Record — In principle, reconciliation is something most Canadians can get behind. In practice, that changes. Until the novel coronavirus took hold, Wet’suwet’en Nation solidarity demonstrations like the ones held in Kitchener and Waterloo back in February were pushing reconciliation back onto the public agenda. Morning commutes were disrupted, farmers became anxious, and provincial exports were delayed […]
Oct 27 2019 — Geoffrey Stevens — The Record — Justin Trudeau meet Joe Clark. You prime ministers have a few things in common, starting with your election outcomes. Conservative Clark became prime minister in 1979, following an election in which he, like Trudeau a week ago, failed to win the national popular vote, yet took enough seats to form a strong minority government — […]
Jun 3 2019 — The Record — They say that new students spend their first few weeks at university or college making a ton of friends and the next four years trying to ditch them. Politics is similar. New governments often develop quick friendships they come to regret over time. The Ford government is no exception. Despite low polls numbers, they still […]
May 6 2019 — The Record — Politics is full of distractions. Every elected official knows the heartbreak of having an important announcement eclipsed by news that a colleague expensed a $25 hamburger. It can work both ways. Although petty distractions can undermine positive initiatives, governments also proactively use them to divert attention from less savoury topics that they don’t want you […]
Apr 8 2019 — John Milloy — The Record — Although there is much speculation about the details of the Doug Ford government’s first budget, there is no doubt about its overall theme — spending cuts. Finance Minister Vic Fedeli seems poised to deliver a “tough-love,” “it’s-worse-than-anyone-thought,” “slash-and-burn” budget on April 11. The signs are everywhere. Since taking office, the Ford government ended the Ontario […]