Apr 21 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — One measure was missing in this week’s something-for-everyone federal budget — an extension of the looming income-tax deadline. It is such an obvious way to give relief in this third, relentless wave of the pandemic that its absence in Monday’s budget opus seemed like a mistake.
Apr 19 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — The chatter in federal circles in the months leading up to the budget was all about the value of unconventional thinking in desperate times. Former business leader Michael Sabia was brought to Ottawa to become the deputy minister of finance (via a short detour at the Canada Infrastructure Bank) for his aggressive and creative approach […]
Apr 19 2021 — Gillian Steward — Toronto Star — It didn’t take long for Erin O’Toole to realize that if he didn’t step up and force Conservatives to reckon with climate change he and his party were doomed. After all, it was less than a month ago that the majority of party delegates to a virtual policy conference voted against a motion to recognize […]
Apr 19 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau must have learned to enjoy all those talks he has been having been with the provinces throughout the pandemic. Much of his government’s big plans for the post-COVID-19 future, as laid out in the colossal 2021 budget unveiled on Monday, will force Ottawa to do a lot more talking with the provinces — […]
Apr 18 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole loves the colour blue. He is so fond of it that even his new green plan is true blue. That’s not just an observation on the colourful layout of the 15-page document that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are dismissing as a mere pamphlet, not a plan. O’Toole’s new climate change policy really […]
Apr 18 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — Child care will be the big, shiny headline, but the environment will be the subplot. Chrystia Freeland’s first budget will be historic, by definition, if only just because of the sheer size of it. After a full year of unbridled federal spending to underpin the pandemic economy, Freeland will show deficits that are far larger […]
Apr 18 2021 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — This week Erin O’Toole ended months of futile speculation when he announced details of the plan he hopes will take him to 24 Sussex (or at least Rideau Cottage) — also known as the Conservative Party’s climate change plan. The plan is built around replacing the Liberal carbon tax with a lower levy (a levy, […]
Apr 18 2021 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — This will be the most impressive first 100 days of an American presidency since FDR invented the benchmark. Consider: $2 trillion pandemic package — done; Paris Accord reconnect and climate summit — done; first gun control package in three decades — done; fastest Cabinet approval in four presidencies — done. And on and on. Coming: […]
Apr 18 2021 — Alex Boutilier — Toronto Star — Despite his public denials, Erin O’Toole knows he’s proposing a carbon tax. The senior staff around him know he’s proposing a carbon tax. The MPs in his caucus know he’s proposing a carbon tax. And the Conservative base knows he’s proposing a carbon tax. They say this openly, albeit in conversations where they insist they […]
Apr 15 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — The federal Liberals are poised to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2030, the Star has learned — a major ramping up of their climate ambition as the politics around their current target heats up. That’s easier said than done — especially since Canada has managed to lower […]
Apr 15 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Well, it was fun while it lasted. For four years, with Donald Trump in office, Canada basked in the comparison — peace, order and not-so-chaotic government here, relatively speaking. But now, with Trump not even 100 days out of office, American superiority to Canada is rearing its head again and Canada, alas, has lost its […]
Apr 14 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — When former senior government official Paul Boothe negotiated the $13.7-billion bailout of the auto sector just over a decade ago, Ottawa felt it didn’t have much of a choice but to pump public money into General Motors and Chrysler. The companies couldn’t go to the markets for financing because the markets were dry. The U.S. […]
Apr 11 2021 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the pandemic marches inevitably on toward its second summer of lockdowns and physical distancing, it can be easy to lose notice of just how much our lives have changed. This is especially true, I think, for those of us who have grown accustomed to working from home and to the reliable, quiet drift of […]
Apr 11 2021 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — We peered down from our broadcasting booth high above the convention floor at Maple Leaf Gardens. Beneath us were the floor management and candidate boxes of the leadership candidates. To our surprise, at a pivotal moment in the leadership balloting, we saw one of Ontario Liberals most esteemed grandees quietly emerge from the stands and […]
Apr 11 2021 — Toronto Star — Increasing the supply of quality daycare spaces makes so much sense to Paul Echlin that he is baffled as to why he is having such a hard time getting government support. Echlin’s church in Aldershot saw a community need for good, affordable child care and wanted to turn its church-basement half-day daycare into a full-fledged […]