Jun 23 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The main takeaway from Canada’s uncommonly intense political spring is a wilder-than-ever Donald Trump card. That is first and foremost a challenge for a federal government that has had to deploy more resources to do damage control on the Canada/U.S. front than any of its recent predecessors — with so far less than optimal results.
Jun 22 2018 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Jagmeet Singh was supposed to be in Chicoutimi. Headlines heralded the arrival of all three major party leaders to the riding north of Québec City last week, just days before a federal byelection. Singh, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer were actually expected to appear at the same event: the opening leg […]
Jun 22 2018 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — The polls were right. Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford won a majority on June 7, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath secured official opposition status for her party, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were decimated, and the Greens finally got a seat.
Jun 22 2018 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — A cabinet shuffle may well be coming in the next couple of months in Ottawa, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have already jumped the gun and created a new job for one of his ministers. Chrystia Freeland, already Canada’s foreign affairs minister, is increasingly looking like the unofficial deputy prime minister to Trudeau.
Jun 21 2018 — Alex Boutilier — Toronto Star — The cohort of young immigrants was protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which the Trump administration announced they will phase out. They now remain in legal limbo, as court challenges against their deportation proceed and the U.S. Congress remains unable to craft a legislative solution. “While some DACA recipients may […]
Jun 21 2018 — Daniel Dale — Toronto Star — He said he had been “totally exonerated” of colluding with Russia by a report that did not address the subject of collusion with Russia. He blamed a nonexistent “Democrat bill” for his own policy of separating parents and children at the border. U.S. President Donald Trump lied a whole lot over the last two weeks. […]
Jun 20 2018 — Tonda MacCharles and Bruce Campion-Smith — Toronto Star — As a Canada-U.S. trade dispute threatens to grow nastier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is encouraging Canadians to travel and spend at home though he stopped just shy of urging a boycott of American goods and destinations. Asked by reporters how Canadians should respond to the ongoing trade actions of the U.S. administration of President Donald […]
Jun 20 2018 — Rob Ferguson — Toronto Star — Ontario is getting ready to hit the brakes on rebates of up to $14,000 for motorists buying electric vehicles like the new Honda Clarity and Chrysler Pacifica hybrid. The purchase incentives, which were established years ago by the recently defeated Liberal government to kick-start a shift to low-emission cars, have been funded in part by […]
Jun 20 2018 — Betsy Powell — Toronto Star — The widow of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford is fighting to stay out of jail at a sentencing hearing Wednesday for an impaired driving conviction. The Crown asked the judge to send Renata Ford to jail for 45 days after she pleaded guilty in October to a 2016 charge. She has two previous convictions […]
Jun 20 2018 — Bruce Campion-Smith — Toronto Star — The Peace Tower clock is ringing 8 a.m. and Parliament Hill is just starting to stir as Conservative strategists gather in a Centre Block office. Question period is still hours away but the political aides are already plotting strategy — what questions to ask and what Conservative MP will ask them. A white board hanging […]
Jun 20 2018 — Toronto Star — In 2014, Paul Calandra became the poster boy for the perennial problem of parliamentary dodges. Faced with a tough grilling in question period from then-NDP leader Tom Mulcair about Canada’s military operation in Iraq, the Conservative MP responded with a non-sequitur. He spoke not about the matter of life and death at hand, but about […]
Jun 20 2018 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — The 2019 federal election campaign is little more than a year away, and yet you could be forgiven for believing it had already begun. On stages big and small — at conventions, at the doorstep, at lunchtime podiums, and especially on the floor of the House of Commons — Canada’s federal political parties are hammering […]
Jun 20 2018 — Toronto Star — David Tilson, the eldest member of the Conservative caucus, has been in politics for almost 30 years. The 77-year-old has witnessed or participated in eight different governments at both the provincial and federal level, and he is easily one of the most experienced MPs in Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. But since the current Parliament opened […]
Jun 20 2018 — Toronto Star — A team of Star reporters put MPs under the microscope, fact-checking every query and answer during five days of question period. What did they find? Some truth, some lies and lots of stretches and dodges.
Jun 19 2018 — Toronto Star — Worried that fake news is making it more difficult to find accurate sources of information? You’re not alone. A survey by Nanos Research for the organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression found a strong majority of Canadians — more than eight in 10 — say false information that looks legitimate is making it harder to […]