John Wilkinson is well-versed on environmental issues and said to be a good listener. But his initial comments do not signal any urgent resolve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

From now until April, Andrew Scheer’s entire focus is on saving his job when it comes up for review at the party’s convention in Toronto. His public comments are aimed only to Conservatives, especially angry ones. And he seems to think the way to win their favour is to double down on Trudeau.

The Alberta premier’s belligerent and distorted attacks on 'Ottawa,' and his deafness to the climate change concerns that influenced the outcome of the recent election, is winning him no friends.

Monday’s outcome will be a verdict on the shameless brand of Trumpian politics that crept into this campaign. Does it work, or does a fair-minded, open-hearted, slow-to-judgment country assert itself and say 'enough'?

So while science, a new generation, this particular moment, popularity,and history are all on Elizabeth May’s side, the electoral cards are stacked against her.

A brace of new Green members could keep a new government’s feet to the fire on what is, arguably, an issue that transcends all others. For everyone else, there’s the Conservatives.

The NDP has ceded the environment to the Green Party, and is struggling to distinguish itself from other progressive parties on issues other than Quebec's Bill 21.

The only conclusion is that florid opposition to the federal carbon tax has less to do with protecting hard-pressed consumers, than with defending the oil industry’s ongoing right to pollute.

Public trust in politics takes a more sustained beating from legitimate political leaders every day than from any foreign bot, online troll, or basement-dwelling saboteur.

Water may flow to the sea, but will Canadian oil ever get to Chinese ports? There are indisputable environmental and practical reasons to oppose the idea.

But what about the planet? There's been too little room for a thoughtful, passionate defence of stringent environmental protections, unfettered by short-term economic considerations—before it's too late.

Justin Trudeau has two personality traits that have deeply harmed his prospects. The first is a stubborn refusal to acknowledge a mistake. The second is that he appears to love the sound of his own voice.

The main parties are on the same page on ending subsidies; they're just having trouble reconciling their schedules. Complete phaseout starting in 2019? No. How about 2050? How about never? Does never work for everyone?

Justin Trudeau is in trouble as the October election looms, but he has a good story to tell on trade. Besides the new U.S./ Mexico/Canada deal, his government signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other Pacific Rim countries.

It is a flawed attempt to buy permission for a major industry to continue producing a product that is harming the planet and that is increasingly reviled globally. That this is the best we can do is distressing.

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are doing politics differently, as, it must be said, is Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. The sad thing is that they are so alone.

The government sacrificed two cabinet ministers, handed a bludgeon to its political opponents, made itself vulnerable to more 'jobs blackmail,' and made a mockery of the PM’s tributes to 'an independent judiciary.'

Justin Trudeau, himself, has signalled an openness to rescue a company that has repeatedly fallen afoul of legal and ethical practises, overseas and at home.

This pre-election period in Canada needs several Daniel Dales, news organizations that will assign an individual, or a team, to full-time research of incendiary political claims.

It sounds as if Andrew Scheer is opposing for the sake of opposition, and, worse, not with an eye to Canada’s larger interests.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls it reconciliation. But until Indigenous voices are truly heard, it looks more like the same old bribery and bullying.

No one ever advances evidence of a specific carbon tax, in a specific place, killing specific jobs. Instead, this threat is accompanied by vague warnings.

The future of Canada’s oil industry, the future of oil itself, is a complicated and divisive issue, ridden with false claims. It may also be the defining issue of the next federal election.

The threat lies south of the border where a crazed, but effective demagogue has turned lies into truth and the media into the enemy. We can’t let that happen here.