Jul 17 2019 — Emma Teitel — Toronto Star — When the late Republican leader John McCain ran for U.S. president (and lost) against Barack Obama in 2008, he spent much of the campaign, like any politician, telling people who he was. But he also told them who he wasn’t. “I’m not George Bush,” he said in a speech, referring of course to the sitting […]

Jul 17 2019 — Jennifer Wells — Toronto Star — Child labour in supply chains. Forced labour. Non-existent safety regulations. Rape. The list is tragically longer. Hopes were high that the Trudeau government would act smartly in creating a robust office with the powers to track and investigate Canadian corporations operating abroad after a dismal showing on this issue under the Harper years. The previous […]

Jul 17 2019 — Don Braid — Calgary Herald — Alberta’s politics are carved in stone right now. It seems that the UCP dynasty, like the Sphinx, won’t begin to erode for a couple of millennia. That’s the prevailing thought, especially among conservatives. They earnestly believe that with a stark right-left choice the NDP will now start to fade and lose most of its 25 […]

Jul 17 2019 — Licia Corbella — Calgary Herald — A while back I spent a day hanging out in the chuckwagon barns at the Calgary Stampede. It was an eye-opening experience. As the driver and crew of each team started harnessing each of their four horses that would pull their chuckwagon and prepared to saddle up their two outrider horses, a racket ensued — […]

Jul 16 2019 — John Ibbitson — Globe and Mail — Sometimes Liberals act for the best possible reason and the worst possible reason at the same time. Their move to criminalize conversion therapy is a case in point. Conversion therapy, which is not therapy and converts no one, can be so harmful to LGBTQ patients that some provinces and municipalities have moved to restrict the […]

Jul 16 2019 — Andrew Coyne — National Post — Every election campaign begins with the pollsters and the pundits attempting to divine the big issues that will decide how people vote. Some even try to predict what THE issue will be: the so-called “ballot box” question on which the election supposedly turns. This is a fool’s errand. The electorate is not a single collective […]

Jul 16 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — Like it or not, and whether it is indeed an accurate assessment, the terms “populism” and “class war” are increasingly creeping into our political language the closer we get to this fall’s federal election.  Numerous pundits have spent the past year assuring Canadians that nothing like Brexit or the Trump phenomenon would happen here in […]

Jul 15 2019 — Gillian Steward — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau came to Alberta last week and amidst stoneface employees at the Trans Mountain pipeline terminal just outside Edmonton held what can only be described as an election campaign photo-op. He spoke forcefully about tackling environmental issues while at the same time ensuring jobs in the energy sector by green lighting controversial projects, such […]

Jul 15 2019 — Michael Coren — iPolitics — Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is in a very difficult position. A genuinely decent man, considered by many to be far too timid for the cut and thrust of party politics, he’s a devout and orthodox Roman Catholic leading a party that is divided on socially conservative issues, hoping to govern a country that is largely […]

Jul 15 2019 — Tom Walkom — Toronto Star — The brief get-together of five conservative-minded premiers last week was meant to highlight the divide. Alberta’s Jason Kenney, Ontario’s Doug Ford, Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs all gathered before the cameras to flip pancakes at the Calgary Stampede. They were joined by Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod who, while technically non-partisan, shares […]

Jul 14 2019 — Andrew MacDougall — CBC — If the past few months of Canadian politics have taught us anything, it’s that bile works. Weeks of Liberal caterwauling about abortion and hidden agendas have put Prime Minister Justin Trudeau back on top of the polls. Desperate times brought desperate measures and they have, in turn, brought relief. There was a point in April, […]

Jul 14 2019 — Lorne Gunter — Sun Media — Justin Trudeau wants Quebec seats so badly in this fall’s election that he doesn’t care what he does to Alberta, as long as it brings him votes in Montreal. On Wednesday, there was the prime minister and Liberal leader hoisting clutched hands high with long-time anti-oil activist Steven Guilbeault who had just become Trudeau’s nominee […]

Jul 14 2019 — Lorrie Goldstein — Sun Media — With 98 days to go before the Oct. 21 federal election, the pollsters say human-induced climate change will be high on voters’ minds. Given that, voters should understand the election debate about this issue will be entirely about political perception as opposed to political reality. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna want […]

Jul 13 2019 — Murray Mandryk — Regina Leader-Post — Ontario Premier Doug Ford was met with a lot of nods of agreement at this week’s Council of the Federation (CoF) conference in Saskatoon and elsewhere when he suggested there are more interprovincial trade restrictions within Canada than our country faces internationally. That one of those nodding in agreement was federal Liberal Public Safety Minister […]

Jul 13 2019 — Adam Radwanski — Globe and Mail — Doug Ford couldn’t help himself from taking shots at Justin Trudeau this week. First, while in Calgary, the Ontario Premier accused the Prime Minister of not co-operating with the provinces, slammed federal carbon pricing policy, and punctuated it with a “God help us if Trudeau is re-elected.” Later, in Saskatoon, Mr. Ford proclaimed that a […]