Still waiting for Scheer’s investigation into Dykstra’s candidacy
HALIFAX—Andrew Scheer needs to get his ass in gear. If he is much later in releasing the “independent” investigation into former federal Conservative candidate Rick Dykstra, he will have to bring a note. Scheer announced the inquiry on Jan. 31, 2018. At the time, he said: “My job is to make sure that those types […]
Bernier says he ‘won’t spend a cent’ on internal People’s Party polling
The People’s Party of Canada has less than two per cent support, nationally, according to the latest polls, but leader Maxime Bernier says polling isn’t something that’s part of his new party’s process. Where other parties conduct internal polling to help gauge their next move or base support, Mr. Bernier (Beauce, Que.) almost visibly recoils […]
Kenney finds the new politics of personal destruction disturbing: cue the nasal coffee rockets
HALIFAX—At one level, the latest tribulations of Jason Kenney are drop dead funny. Currently embroiled in an expenses dust-up, the leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party had, in part, this to say about allegations that he fiddled his housing expenses while a Conservative cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s government. Referring to lawyer Kyle Morrow’s charges, […]
Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party is an inconvenient truth
OTTAWA—By writing this very column I am playing into his hands. Whose hands, you ask? Those of Maxime Bernier, once a Conservative Party leadership candidate of some renown, now leader of the People’s Party of Canada. You see, Bernier is still finding a way to generate attention, be part of the political conversation, and appear […]
Can Irwin Cotler become Canada’s second Nobel Peace Prize winner?
Irwin Cotler has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by his former boss Paul Martin. Mr. Cotler is the founder and chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and has a noted history of defending human rights around the world from fighting for the release of Nelson Mandela in the 1980s to […]
Byelection delay is petty, not positive, politics
The new year is off to a pretty petty start. It’s more than a week into 2019 and there’s still no byelection call for the increasing number of vacant seats in the House of Commons. In November, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Hill Times that at least three of these calls would come this […]
Ministers Sohi, Rodriguez hire new political aides
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has a new senior adviser for Quebec-related files in his office: Audrey Cloutier. Previously a Quebec Liberal staffer, Ms. Cloutier officially started on the job in the minister’s office on Nov. 26. Mr. Rodriguez is the MP for Honoré-Mercier, Que., which is in Montreal. Until earlier this fall, Ms. Cloutier had […]
Politicians might not be keen for 2019
This year was a bad year for provincial incumbents in Canada. In Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, voters fired their premiers after single terms in office. Year-end polls suggest the same fate could await the premiers of Alberta and P.E.I. in 2019. In just the past six years, Quebec has disposed of three premiers. None […]
This just in: a carbon tax won’t kill jobs
CHELSEA, QUE.—How does the old expression go? A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on in the morning. With social media, as we see every day, the lie travels even farther and faster. One of the most dangerous current lies—although it has been around at least a decade—involves the […]
Freeland named most valuable politician, NAFTA voted biggest story in The Hill Times’ 22nd Annual All Politics Poll
In a year stacked with headlines of men behaving badly amid the #MeToo movement, this was Chrystia Freeland’s year. She handled the volatile NAFTA file, defiantly spoke in defence of human rights and a rules-based global order much to the ire of a certain U.S. president, and refused to publicly bow to the Saudis after […]
