Toronto Star

Jan 21 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — For the third time in her life, Julie Payette has been brought spectacularly down to earth. Payette’s descent from the post of governor-general, she will no doubt agree, was bumpier and longer-lasting than any experienced in the former astronaut’s two space missions. Her lengthy resignation statement did not exactly confirm the reports that led to […]

Jan 20 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Dan Levy, the Canadian creator of the hit sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” put his finger on it when he watched the presidential inauguration ceremony in the U.S. on Wednesday. “The decency of it all,” Levy marvelled on Twitter, which itself is a much more decent place now that Donald Trump has been banished from the platform. […]

Jan 19 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — At least one party leader in Canada is taking some delight in Derek Sloan’s exploding political career in the Conservative party — and no, we’re not talking about Justin Trudeau. Maxime Bernier, head of the People’s Party of Canada, is positively upbeat about yet another former Conservative leadership candidate on the outs with the party […]

Jan 19 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — It’s time for the Keystone pipeline advocates to take a page from Ontario’s auto industry and move on. Just a few months ago, the two sectors were in a common position. They both had a rough reputation for enabling the ratcheting up of emissions, taking Canada further away from its climate goals. They both had […]

Jan 17 2021 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Sun., Jan. 17, 2021timer3 min. read Erin O’Toole is no fool — though you would be forgiven for wondering, given his performance in recent days. Having carefully plotted and executed a shift to the centre, and the beginnings of an appeal to working-class urban voters, he appears to be at risk of backsliding into the […]

Jan 17 2021 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The first two weeks of 2021 feel like they have been fifty-two. In those opening days, the world bore witness to an attack on the seat of American democracy — an attack without parallel, in times of peace or conflict, since the War of 1812. A crazed mob of citizens was instigated, cajoled and sanctioned […]

Jan 17 2021 — Toronto Star — When Canadians hear about Trump-style politics coming to the country, many collectively shudder. But within a day of them recoiling in shock while watching thousands of pro-Donald Trump rioters storm the Capitol in Washington D.C., news outlets were reporting on a photo of the deputy leader of the Conservative party, Candice Bergen, wearing a camouflage […]

Jan 14 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — It ended without either one of them saying goodbye. Barring some kind of contact within the next week, the fraught relationship between Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump is over. Unlike so many other endings in Trump’s world these days, this conclusion was a fade out, not a blow-up. The last conversation between the two men […]

Jan 14 2021 — Heather Scoffield — Toronto Star — updateArticle was updated 17 hrs ago Could something positive actually come from the jet-setting politicians who spent Christmas on a beach while telling the rest of us to stay home? Perhaps. The scandal has put access to paid sick leave in the spotlight because of a loophole in federal benefits that allowed travellers returning from […]

Jan 12 2021 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — Everyone’s circle of trust has tightened during the pandemic — Justin Trudeau’s circle, we’re learning, is no exception. The surprise shuffle of Trudeau’s cabinet on Tuesday was notable for many things, but its emphasis on long-term loyalty should not be overlooked. It tells us much about the evolution of Trudeau as a politician and as […]

Jan 11 2021 — Alex Ballingall — Toronto Star — Mon., Jan. 11, 2021timer3 min. read Google and Facebook received a growing share of the federal government’s advertising budget after the Trudeau Liberals took power, as Ottawa quadrupled how much it spent each year on ads from the American web giants between 2015 and 2019. Responding to questions from the Star, Public Services and Procurement […]

Jan 10 2021 — Penny Collenette — Toronto Star — The assault on American democracy was oh so carefully planned. Just hours after two game-changing political victories for the Democrats, the classic Trump pattern of distraction and discord replaced truth and facts. It didn’t matter to him that thousands of Americans have died from COVID. It didn’t matter that health care workers were overwhelmed. All […]

Jan 10 2021 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — When hundreds of Luftwaffe bombers cast a daily shadow over London during the Blitz, the Royal Family remained at Windsor Castle, just west of the epicentre, for the duration. Day after day members of the family would visit bomb sites and victims in hospitals. Princess Elizabeth joined the volunteer service that provided care for the […]

Jan 10 2021 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the pandemic explodes into the new year, the roller-coaster of emotions we all are experiencing continues. We have been afraid as we confronted an unknown virus, and we continue to be afraid. We have felt guilty as we wondered what more we could do to help friends, colleagues or neighbours get through these difficult […]

Jan 9 2021 — Peter Donolo — Toronto Star — The sickening spectacle of MAGA rioters storming the U.S. Capitol seems to have broken Donald Trump’s hold over at least some of the Republicans who have enabled him over the last four years. But a lingering question for Canadian political aficionados is: what will become of his small but influential Canadian fan base? To be […]