Jan 22 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — When allegations about a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall began to surface, Justin Trudeau dismissed the idea of replacing the “excellent” Julie Payette as Governor General. The country doesn’t want a constitutional crisis to add to the existing health crisis, he said in September.

Jan 22 2021 — Paul Wells — Maclean's — I did a TV panel on Thursday night and of course we mulled the fallout from Julie Payette’s resignation. I can usually be counted on to relish a good Trudeau scandal, but this one doesn’t produce the usual thrill. The mistake was made in 2017, it was obvious pretty fast, and ignoring the problem—which is […]

Jan 22 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — In the U.S., the media are full of fury at the sluggish pace of the country’s vaccination rollout. Headlines describe it as a “debacle,” a “disaster,” even a “total disaster,” and why not? As of Thursday, just 36 million doses had been distributed nationwide, of which 17.2 million had been administered, i.e. injected into people’s […]

Jan 22 2021 — Jörg Broschek — Policy Options — No, it’s not the virus’s fault as Ontario’s deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe suggested earlier this month. Observing the disastrous response to the second wave of the pandemic in Ontario has been unnerving – as a resident, parent and federalism scholar. To be fair, the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 […]

Jan 22 2021 — Peter Donolo — Globe and Mail — The eyes of the world have been so riveted by the shocking rhetorical and physical violence of the U.S. presidential transition that it’s been easy to miss the other big story: the apparent transformation of Joe Biden. Gone are the tentativeness and discomfort of many of his campaign appearances. He no longer seems a politician […]

Jan 22 2021 — John Ivison — Postmedia — Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize winning novel about Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a sensitive boy growing up in a tough housing estate near Glasgow in the 1980s while tending to his alcoholic mother, is a gripping, relentlessly grim portrayal of a society in transition from industrial hub to … well, at the time no-one was quite sure […]

Jan 22 2021 — Arthur Milnes — National Newswatch — What an incredibly important day on the Canadian political history calendar. First off, as always, we start with birthdays. So, happy birthday from Kingston to Canada’s Leader of the Opposition, Erin O’Toole. Mr. O’Toole turns 48 today. Then, we should note that it was on this date in 1874 that Alexander Mackenzie and his Liberals […]

Jan 22 2021 — Massimo Bergamini — National Newswatch — It is likely that there was more to last week’s surprise cabinet shuffle than just some pre-electoral housekeeping triggered by the decision of the former minister for innovation Navdeep Bains not to seek re-election. Considering the growing clamour over air service cuts that are leaving communities — in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere — isolated from […]

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 21 2021 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau issued his cabinet additional marching orders in the form of new mandate letters late last week. Most of Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna’s letter was unremarkable – lots of talk about “building back better” and supporting the finance minister to restore employment to levels experienced prior to the pandemic.

Jan 21 2021 — Cameron Fenton — National Observer — Back in 2019, just a few days after the September climate strikes brought millions of people to the streets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood before a crowd in Burnaby and laid out his party’s climate platform. Most of the speech was pretty standard: Liberal climate promises based on a vague pledge for more ambition and […]

Jan 21 2021 — Chris Varcoe — Postmedia — On his first day as president, Joe Biden pulled the pin on Keystone XL. The political fallout reverberated on both sides of the border, as pipeline opponents set their sights on other infrastructure that transports Canadian oil into the United States, such as Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement project.

Jan 21 2021 — Kelly Cryderman — Globe and Mail — In the past, Alberta’s oil wealth has helped to soothe voter angst about risky investment bets. But with the Biden administration’s revocation of the presidential permit for the Keystone XL project Wednesday – which could be the final stop for the controversial pipeline after more than a decade of stops and starts – that era […]

Jan 21 2021 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — The inauguration of President Joe Biden was wonderful; the banishing of Donald Trump even better. But Biden’s ascension also comes with a severe blow to Alberta’s economy — the presidential cancellation of Keystone XL’s permit.

Jan 21 2021 — Kevin G. Cai — Policy Magazine — It has been two years since the two “Michaels” were detained by Chinese authorities in response to Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou. Her arrest came at the request of the Trump administration under the Canada-U.S. extradition treaty. The consequence of these mutual detentions has been the derailment of Canada-China relations over the past two years. […]