Elections debate commissioner coming before 2019 election, but not through legislation: Minister Gould

Time has run out for legislation to set up the promised independent commissioner to run leaders’ debates, says Karina Gould, who will rely on recommendations made by a House committee in the spring.

Canada’s Mali extension shortens medevac gap, but questions remain over when replacements will arrive

The Canadian government's commitment to peacekeeping weakened following the removal of Stéphane Dion as foreign affairs minister, says former adviser Jocelyn Coulon.

Phoenix replacement vendors say they’re ready for the challenge of competing pay systems

‘All we ever wanted out of this was a working pay system, and if it's working pay system(s), we’re OK with that, too,’ says PIPSC president Debi Daviau.

Journalists inherit ‘institutional blindspots’ that cloud coverage of race in politics, says media expert

When confronted with their biases, Prof. Tolley says journalists she interviewed for her research tried to explain away differences in their framing of a candidate’s electability.

‘Embarrassing,’ ‘bullying’ social media posts prompt some Senators to push for policies governing how Senators, staff use the platforms

‘Harassment is harassment and it must be recognized and we must tackle it,’ says Sen. Tony Dean.

Early third-party advertising ‘unintended consequence’ of fixed election dates, says minister

Democratic institutions critic calls period prior to pre-writ ‘open season,’ with both politicians and academics saying they expect more political advertising during sporting events.

Trudeau lays out case for re-election in Trans Mountain speech

The prime minister said construction on the pipeline is scheduled to begin this summer. He was less clear about whether more pipelines will be needed, or how the government will recover the cost of the Trans Mountain.

Liberals getting ‘homework’ done on new NAFTA before passage in U.S. and Mexico, but NDP say bill being rushed

The House of Commons International Trade Committee will have a pre-study on June 18 to hear from between 12 and 15 witnesses in preparation for the possibility that the committee will review Bill C-100 in the summer.

If he wants to win, Scheer needs to build his own brand, separate from Ford’s and Kenney’s, say political analysts

The risk for Andrew Scheer is that the Liberals will try to connect Doug Ford to Andrew Scheer and then try to connect that to hidden agenda, that’s not flattering to Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives,’ says Nik Nanos.

Pollsters expect ‘acrimonious, intensely fought’ federal election campaign, high-tech ‘black ops’ from domestic and foreign third parties

'It’s game on. Buckle up, it’s going to be an extremely unpredictable election,’ says EKOS Research president Frank Graves.