Scheer’s elephant problem
OAKVILLE, ONT.—The recent spate of Liberal attacks on the Conservative Party reminds me of the six blind men and the elephant parable. You’ve heard that story, right? It’s about six blind men who come across an elephant for the first time, and to ascertain its appearance, each man touches a different part of the animal’s […]
‘Canada is warming at twice the rate of the global average. Is the government doing enough to combat climate change? Is your party offering anything powerful on that front?’
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “Canadians trusted Justin Trudeau when he said he would protect the environment and lower Canada’s emissions. Instead, all they got was a carbon tax. Not only is Canada failing to hit our Paris Agreement targets, we are getting further away. As an environmental policy, the carbon tax is a failure. It […]
Trudeau book authors Wherry, Ivison talk challenge of penning political tomes as story unfolds
It’s “hard to write simple conclusions when the story itself is changing,” says Aaron Wherry, author of Promise and Peril: Justin Trudeau in Power, one of two new books on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But John Ivison, author of Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister, says the emergence of the SNC-Lavalin affair “more or less […]
Party’s place in political ecosystem can influence platform rollout, strategists say
The Liberals under Jean Chrétien broke platform ground with the much-vaunted “Red Book,” which inspired copycats for its detailed accounting of the party’s promises. The Stephen Harper Conservatives stuck to a disciplined, five-point platform in the 2006 campaign. Progressive Conservative Doug Ford’s campaign for Ontario premier bucked tradition when he decided not to release a […]
Fearing the Seinfeld election campaign
OTTAWA—Maybe it is the result of being a little bit older or having been in the political arena for a while, but there doesn’t seem to be much excitement in the air heading into the 2019 election. While you now do see lawn signs about and political ads popping up, the energy that usually comes […]
Deepak Obhrai’s son among deep field of expected candidates for Conservative nomination in Calgary Forest Lawn
A crowded field of candidates is emerging in the Conservative nomination contest for the safe and coveted riding of Calgary Forest Lawn, which became vacant earlier this month after the death of seven-term MP Deepak Obhrai, the party’s nominated candidate there for the upcoming election. Obhrai’s son, Aman Obhrai, is among as many as 10 […]
Harper, Scheer, Baird, and MacKay to top speakers list at Deepak Obhrai memorial
Former prime minister Stephen Harper and senior members of his cabinet will be in Calgary on Aug. 26 to honour the life of former caucus colleague Deepak Obhrai. Mr. Obhrai died on Aug. 2, shortly after being diagnosed with late stage liver cancer. He is noted for being the longest-serving parliamentary secretary to the foreign […]
Despite majority support for a Canadian handgun ban, the politics of doing so may remain insurmountable
OTTAWA—There’s nothing like the gun lobby. Imagine if car manufacturers objected to the registration of automobiles because it was an infringement on the liberties of people with cars. Canadians are rightly reassured, however, that the obsession with these weapons here is nothing like in the U.S., where possessing guns is constitutionally guaranteed, and ownership of […]
OECD praise of ‘model’ skilled labour track system a rejection of anti-immigrant stereotypes, says Kwan
Canada’s high marks from an international organization for its skilled-labour migration system can serve as a rebuke against anti-immigration attitudes in Canada leading into the election, says the NDP’s immigration critic—an environment that is already expected to be ugly. “Canada has not only the largest in terms of numbers, but also the most elaborate and […]
Late MP Obhrai demonstrated the good that can still be found in federal politics
OTTAWA—One of Canada’s most genuine and likeable political figures, Deepak Obhrai, died Aug. 2 of an aggressive form of liver cancer. He was only 69 and still had so much to offer to his constituents and country. Like many others, I was an unabashed fan of Obhrai. He was a legitimately warm and welcoming fellow. […]
