Jun 7 2023 — Althia Raj — Toronto Star — It’s tradition, some might say politeness, that when a witness appears before a parliamentary committee, MPs welcome the witness. They shake hands and thank them for coming. So perhaps it was a sign of things to come — or perhaps a sign of declining times — when all but one Conservative (Wellington—Halton Hills MP Michael […]
Jun 6 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Former governor general David Johnston has revealed he’s been using not one, but two reputation-management firms to do his work looking into foreign interference in Canada’s democracy. He might need a couple more. For more than three hours on Tuesday, Johnston was plunged into the politics he’s tried to stay above during his long career […]
Jun 6 2023 — Toronto Star — Officials from Stellantis and LG Energy Solution are poring over an enhanced subsidy deal from Ottawa designed to save a 2,500-worker Windsor electric-vehicle factory from being moved to the U.S. “Stellantis and LGES are in receipt of a written offer that is currently under financial and legal review,” Stellantis Canada communications head LouAnn Gosselin told […]
Jun 5 2023 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — If you have interviewed many candidates in recruitment or in politics you probably came anyway with this insight: character should always outweigh credentials. Character is usually strengthened over time and has meant showing great courage against long odds. In politics character is often revealed by supple coalition-building skills and the ability to maintain a sharp […]
Jun 4 2023 — Stephanie Levitz — Toronto Star — The Liberals’ legislation to tighten gun restrictions started out as a bill largely focused on banning handguns. Then, it expanded into a sweeping ban on hundreds of long guns so broadly seen as a direct attack on hunters and sport shooters that the Liberals simply had to walk that aspect back. Now, in the version […]
Jun 3 2023 — Toronto Star — Longtime B.C. politician Dave Hayer knew his campaign people. And his people included Chinese Canadians. They volunteered for him. They voted for him. And then in his 2021 campaign to become a federal Conservative MP, they vanished. The former MLA was running to represent the riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells, drawing on the same base of […]
Jun 3 2023 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau’s government has been on the defensive in the House of Commons for months. By now, fewer than one in three Canadians approves its handling of the China electoral interference file, a topic that has monopolized the federal political conversation throughout the first half of the year. To listen to the furor in the […]
Jun 1 2023 — Toronto Star — Auto giant Stellantis says it is still awaiting a formal offer from the federal government in order to keep its massive new battery factory in Windsor. The Star reported Wednesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford reached a tentative deal on subsidies to ensure the plant’s survival. But the parent company of […]
Jun 1 2023 — Martin Regg Cohn — Toronto Star — We are warned daily that Canada is a nest of spies, a den of Chinese espionage undermining our democracy. But who is the enemy, exactly? And who is the casualty, precisely? First, we were cautioned that certain Chinese-Canadian politicians were the villains ― with supposed spies or collaborators named and shamed in the media. Later, […]
Jun 1 2023 — Linda McQuaig — Toronto Star — There’s sure a lot of sound and fury going on, but is the Chinese-meddling-in-our-elections scandal really worth all the airtime it’s devouring? Going out on a limb, I’d argue that we have plenty of channels for spotlighting any wrongdoing (including public hearings, already announced) and for punishing any wrongdoers, including expelling foreign diplomats (already done). […]
May 31 2023 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — MP Han Dong is not back in the Liberal fold yet. The question of whether to allow the Don Valley North MP to rejoin the Liberal caucus will be studied by fellow MP Dominic LeBlanc, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister and trusted confidante of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Star has learned. That means Dong’s future is […]
May 31 2023 — Toronto Star — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford have reached a tentative deal with Stellantis to save its Windsor battery factory that could be worth more than $13 billion in subsidies, the Star has learned. That means the French parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat might receive even more Canadian tax dollars than Germany’s […]
May 31 2023 — Toronto Star — Canadian news publishers have shed new light on how journalism in Canada could be harmed if big tech platforms make good on their threats to block the posting of their content, should Ottawa’s online news bill pass unchanged. Jeff Elgie, the CEO of community news company Village Media, told senators studying the bill that Google […]
May 31 2023 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — The latest Alberta election has rendered the map of that province into a highly polarized territory, riven between Danielle Smith’s re-elected, but weaker United Conservatives and the strongest opposition ever with Rachel Notley’s New Democrats. The obvious conclusion is that the centre has disappeared in Alberta and the next four years will be a tug […]
May 31 2023 — Toronto Star — Halfway through an at times rocky campaign, insiders describe the “nightmare” moments where it seemed to be a lost cause — and how the party pulled it out. From their headquarters at a nondescript building at the Calgary airport, the brain trust behind Danielle Smith’s election bid would watch the flights taking off and landing […]