Jun 26 2019 — David Taylor — The Conversation — When Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his long-awaited climate plan, he said he could eliminate the federal carbon tax and still meet Canada’s emissions targets by focusing on investments into green technology. Tech, not taxes, he said. Under the plan, major emitters would not pay a carbon tax and would, instead, have to invest in […]

Jun 26 2019 — Lorrie Goldstein — Sun Media — Making the rich pay higher taxes is, according to politicians like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, a tried, true and easy way of making life better for average Canadians. Trudeau, for example, hiked the top federal income tax rate in 2016 for those earning more than $210,000 annually by four percentage […]

Jun 25 2019 — Michael Barrett — National Newswatch — Little understood, yet critically important to our nation’s economy; political parties and candidates should seize the opportunity to understand the role co-ops play – and what the sector needs to thrive. As MPs prepare to leave Ottawa for their ridings this summer, and as political parties strengthen their war chests and finalize campaign platforms, a […]

Jun 25 2019 — Susan Delacourt — Toronto Star — First, the bad news: the big social media companies are not going to be able to keep stupid stuff and fake facts out of the fall election. The good news, however, is that voters already have a mechanism to sort between real and ridiculous reports in the heat of the campaign. It’s called the brain, […]

Jun 25 2019 — Gary Mason — Globe and Mail — Since its introduction last week, the federal Conservatives’ plan to fight the growing impact of climate change has been met with eye-rolling derision. The plan has been broadly portrayed as facile, vacuous and a cynical attempt to dupe a gullible public. Other than that, the rollout went swimmingly. You would think that this type of […]

Jun 25 2019 — Bill Kelly — Global News — A year ago, Doug Ford was the superstar of Conservatives from coast to coast. He had just put Ontario back under the Conservative banner for the first time in over 15 years, and it was no secret that federal Conservatives hoped that Ford’s victory would translate into strong Tory support in vote-rich Ontario in this […]

Jun 25 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — Each policy disaster, it would seem, must be revisited every 30 years or so. Debates one thought long settled — over deficits, inflation, socialism — are revived, as memories fade, the original participants die, and a new generation takes up the same discredited ideas, untainted by actual experience of their consequences. Hence the current vogue […]

Jun 24 2019 — Bruce Anderson — National Observer — The two main factions in American politics are like slabs of granite — giant political structures that can’t move each other, seemingly stuck in place. All the excitement comes down to a multibillion-dollar fight to persuade a handful of voters in a handful of states. The rest of the noise is just the Hatfields making […]

Jun 24 2019 — Rob Shaw — Vancouver Sun — When the price of gas in Metro Vancouver reached $1.50 a litre, NDP MLA Mike Farnworth rounded up 25 supporters and protested outside a Port Coquitlam gas station in his riding, demanding the government scrap the carbon tax because it was adding 2.4 cents a litre to the price at the pump. “I’d say about […]

Jun 23 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Discouraging people from voting, even actively suppressing their right to vote, is a fine political craft in many parts of the United States, even today. It is not in Canada. Before the 2015 election, the Harper government passed legislation forbidding Elections Canada from encouraging citizens to vote — a kinder, gentler Canadian form of vote […]

Jun 23 2019 — Tiffany Gooch — Toronto Star — This past week, women who served as Canadian first ministers came together in person for the first time in a historic event that culminated the No Second Chances podcast, spearheaded by Kate Graham. That included former prime minister Kim Campbell, former Alberta premier Rachel Notley, former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne, former Alberta premier Alison Redford, […]

Jun 23 2019 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the warm weather finally sets in and the House rises for the summer, the leaders of our federal parties will begin to have visions of electoral success dance in their heads. Conventional wisdom tells us Canadians don’t want to hear from their politicians at this time of year — they would rather tune out […]

Jun 23 2019 — Jim Warren — Sun Media — After one year in office, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has dramatically changed the way Conservatives play politics and, in the process, influenced how Alberta Premier Jason Kenney launched his government this spring. Ford’s new political playbook also will impact an Andrew Scheer government if he wins in October in Ottawa. Love him or loathe him, […]

Jun 23 2019 — Anthony Furey — Sun Media — Throughout the first half of the year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was against the ropes. He was hammered almost daily by first the China mess and then Lavscam and it even seemed – for a few days – that his political demise was imminent. A lot of that is gone now. Yes, Trudeau’s numbers dropped […]

Jun 23 2019 — Lorrie Goldstein — Sun Media — When Premier Doug Ford promised no one employed in Ontario’s public sector would lose his or her job in last year’s election, he made the same mistake as his late brother, Rob Ford. That was in the 2010 Toronto mayoral race, when Rob Ford guaranteed no city services would be cut.