These are the 30 most read items on National Newswatch, from the last seven days.
Alberta Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux says he’s resigning as a member of Parliament, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the resignation won’t come into effect until “next spring.” “I ran in the last election hopeful that Canadians would put faith in a team led by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, offering a chance to change Canada’s perception in our own country and...
MP says Conservatives felt like ‘part of a frat house rather than a serious political party.’ Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont says pushing and yelling from Conservative Party leadership "sealed the deal" on his choice to cross the floor of the House of Commons to the Liberals this week. After d’Entremont’s musings over a possible defection were reported by Politico...
In a stunning upset that has left the Liberal caucus “kicking ourselves,” the Conservatives have ousted a senior Liberal MP as co-chair of the powerful Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group. At the Oct. 29 meeting held to elect a new co-chair, Conservative MP Richard Bragdon (Tobique-Mactaquac, N.B.) defeated four-term Liberal MP and cabinet minister Terry Duguid (Winnipeg-North, Man.) for the position. The...
If the Liberals were to gain majority status amid the ongoing floor-crossing speculation, it would spell bad news for Pierre Poilievre’s leadership review, says Keith Beardsley, former deputy chief of staff to then-prime minister Stephen Harper. With one MP already gone to the Liberals, another one resigning, and more rumoured to be leaving the Conservative fold, the rapidly shifting political...
Betting on Poilievre is betting that someone who’s been in politics for 20 years will grow more popular, and the odds tell us that only rarely happens. The list of politicians who gain popularity after 20 years in public life is short. When it happens, it involves a major change in the politician, or a bigger change in the world...
So, this is how it ends for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Not with a bang but with a trickle of MPs slinking away from his side of the House — one defecting to the opposing Liberals, the other bailing out of politics altogether. First one to bolt was Chris d’Entremont, a Nova Scotia MP whom the Liberals have been courting...
B.C. Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson says he is “not unhappy” as a member of the Liberal government, despite a significant shift in environmental policies under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, pointed on Wednesday to reporting from the Toronto Sun that says Wilkinson – who served as both environment and climate change minister and energy and natural...
A high-profile Nova Scotia politician was booed at a Remembrance Day event on Tuesday. Chris d’Entremont, the longtime Conservative MP who crossed the floor to join the Liberals last week, attended the ceremony at the legion in Annapolis Royal, N.S. When he laid a wreath in front of the stage, booing could be heard, sparking some grumbles from other members...
Quebec Conservative MP Gerard Deltell says no other Conservative elected official will succumb to Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal charm offensive. Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont sent shock waves through the political world on Tuesday when he announced he was leaving the federal Conservatives to join the Liberals and support their budget.
Opposition was pushed off message during a key week to define the budget narrative. This is not the week Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wanted to have. For the Opposition, budget week is a communications gift. It’s an easy way for the party to call out government spending, shout about what’s been included and decry what’s left out. For a leader...
In his first media availability since two MPs announced they’re leaving his caucus, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he plans to continue leading the party as he has been. When asked by a reporter to respond to comments by former Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont — who last Tuesday announced he was crossing the floor to the Liberals and later blamed...
A former national security advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump says it was a mistake for Prime Minister Mark Carney to apologize for the anti-tariff ad that angered Trump and prompted him to terminate trade talks with Canada. “I think that showed weakness, and I think that will be in Trump’s consciousness as he looks to see what the next...
The NDP is considering how to fast-track its campaign readiness in the case of a snap election, sources say, as its MPs weigh a budget vote that could trigger the fall of the Carney government. The NDP is weighing how to fast-track its campaign readiness in the case of a snap election, sources say, as its MPs weigh a budget...
Last week was an awful one for the Conservative Party. It should have been a time when Leader Pierre Poilievre and his team were critiquing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget and laying out alternatives. Instead, they spent most of the week answering questions about Poilievre’s leadership as one of his Members of Parliament crossed the floor and joined the...
Conservative MPs facing questions about party loyalty are enduring unfair “harassment” fuelled by rumours and Liberal attempts to earn a majority in the House of Commons through convincing opposition members to defect to the government, a senior Tory claims. In an interview with the Star, Conservative whip Chris Warkentin bemoaned how MPs in his caucus are being repeatedly asked whether...
The second round of major so-called nation-building projects will be announced this Thursday in Prince Rupert, B.C., Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday. Carney confirmed the date during a press conference in Fredericton, following a meeting with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt. “We’ve got big strategies that then also have implications for provinces across the country,” Carney said, when...
Canadian politics has never been for the faint of heart. Every party has its fractures, leadership wars, and moments of chaos. But what’s happening inside the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre isn’t normal turbulence. It’s institutional decay disguised as discipline. Let’s be clear: what’s unfolding inside the halls of Ottawa isn’t strategy — it’s rot. When an MP from Atlantic...
A new Code of Values and Ethics for Senate Staff—developed and adopted behind closed doors last spring—caught many by surprise when it was implemented earlier this fall, and its requirement for staff to disclose their political activities has sparked concerns among both Senators and their staff. Thanks to a motion from Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald (Cape Breton, N.S.) adopted by...
The Conservatives helped the minority Liberal government survive a second confidence vote on the budget this afternoon. The House of Commons recorded a vote of 307 against a Bloc Québécois motion to reject the budget, and 30 in favour. On Thursday, the Bloc and NDP teamed up to vote against a Conservative motion that also called on MPs to reject...
U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra is facing internal criticism over his management of the Michigan Republican Party before he took up his duties as Donald Trump’s voice in Canada. Some Republicans, including the current chair of the Michigan GOP, say Mr. Hoekstra left the party saddled with a US$1-million debt.
The first thing to know about last week’s floor crossing is that everybody likes Chris d’Entremont, an easy-going Acadian from Yarmouth, a fishing town on the southwestern end of Nova Scotia, across the Bay of Fundy from Maine. He’s a natural politician — calm, low key and pleasant — a good MP for Acadie-Annapolis, which he has represented since he...
Mark Carney’s minority Liberals survived a second budget-related confidence vote on Friday, the day after easily defeating an earlier Conservative attempt to reject the budget as the Pierre Poilievre-led party grappled with another looming caucus departure from their ranks. The House of Commons voted 307 to 30 to defeat a Bloc Québécois motion that called on MPs to reject a...
Expert says event exemplifies worrying overlap between martial arts and extremism. Some of the country’s most prominent white supremacist groups gathered in Vancouver this summer for a secretive neo-Nazi conference that also included martial arts gym owners, coaches and trainers. Held at the Scottish Cultural Centre in the city’s south end, the event was organized by a group called Exiles...
Canada's official leader of the opposition has finally come up with an auto industry policy—and it’s a complete dud! Lost in all the fuss that was the Liberals’ “generational” budget this week was that the leader of the official opposition, Pierre Poilievre, finally unveiled something bordering on automotive industry policy. As always — because Mr. Poilievre is nothing if not...
Canada’s chaotic minority Parliament is at a critical juncture as Mark Carney’s Liberals scramble to lure more Opposition floor-crossers to secure support for the budget’s passage, and the Conservatives, reeling at Tuesday’s loss of an MP, struggle to frame themselves as the government-in-waiting. Political tribalism and parliamentary shenanigans were on display all day, starting first thing Wednesday morning when a...
Scheer says Carney trying 'to cobble together a majority.' Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer held a brief media availability Friday morning in an attempt to redirect attention from the Official Opposition's internal crisis to the Liberal Party. Instead, the senior Conservative was pelted with questions about Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux’s surprise decision to quit federal politics six months after...
Reimagining this country is not only possible, it is essential. I present the following thought exercise to you: if some overeager, industrious journalist were to write an obituary for Canada, how would it read? Today, the world marked the passing of Canada, younger than most, older than some. Canada, on her best days was a beacon in the world for...
Three critical mineral extraction projects, a nickel mine in Ontario and a transmission line on the northern B.C. coast are among the new initiatives added to the growing list of projects referred to the Major Projects Office. Prime Minister Mark Carney says the “transformational” projects announced Thursday in northern B.C. represent more than $56 billion in new investment and will...
Alberta’s premier hopes to make a deal before Grey Cup. The Alberta and federal governments are in negotiations to sign a major accord that could reset their relationship. Both sides have said the aim of the talks is to sign a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU). The Alberta premier’s office has said they hope to ink the deal before the...
Peterson Spring court filing claims it can’t afford to ship parts below cost to produce them in Woodstock. Stellantis and one of its Canadian auto suppliers are battling in court over the price of brake rotors in a dispute that threatens to shutter multiple auto assembly plants in the U.S. Peterson Spring says in a court filing it can’t afford...