Natural Resources Canada has evolved into the Department of Oil and Gas
A few decades ago, the department now known as Natural Resources Canada was called Energy, Mines, and Resources. The department had robust analysis and did work on our energy sector, as well as mines, and substantial research and science and policy innovation in forestry. Under Stephen Harper, the slaying of the Canadian Forest Service was […]
Ministers Bennett, Joly make director-level staff changes
Tourism, Official Languages, and La Francophonie Minister Mélanie Joly recently bade farewell to her director of operations, Maximilien Roy, who left the Hill around mid-November. Mr. Roy had joined Ms. Joly’s new ministerial office at the end of the summer, at the time moving over from Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s office, where he’d been since […]
Appealing to ‘the base’ may be a recipe for electoral failure
“It’s all about the base.” That was the refrain of the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015, when policies were examined through the perspective of right-of-centre Conservative partisans. Whether suppressing scientists from speaking publicly, changing the rules for the long-form census, supporting the Likud government in Israel, or cutting development funds […]
Instead of worrying about Scheer’s performance, Conservatives should be concerned about Bernier as a ‘disrupter’ in next election, says pollster Nanos
Even if Maxime Bernier and his newly launched People’s Party don’t make any significant electoral gains in the House in 2019, they’ll still be “disrupters and a nuisance” for Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, whose party could lose some seats, especially in closely contested ridings if the vote is divided on the right, says leading pollster […]
In talks to address cuts to francophone services, feds should not be so quick to cast first stone
Doug Ford’s purposeful neglect of Ontario’s francophone minority has sparked howls of outrage, especially from Ottawa. Without question, Ford’s recent decisions—even if he has walked back from them a bit—to relegate the standing of Franco-Ontarians to little more than an expense Ontario can no longer afford should be condemned in strong terms. But federal politicians […]
Andrew Scheer and Kevin O’Leary: Bosom buddies or burgeoning baggage?
Be careful of the company you keep. It is a warning many of us have heard from parents, friends, and colleagues before. It might have been something lingering in the back of Andrew Scheer’s mind as he recently spent some time with one-time leadership rival Kevin O’Leary. Earlier this week O’Leary and the opposition leader […]
Leeds-Grenville byelection the Conservatives’ to lose, but Liberals putting up a fight, say strategists
The Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes byelection is the Tories’ to lose, say strategists of all stripes, but the Grits are mounting a solid campaign to take back the seat the party held from 1988 to 2004. The byelection set for Dec. 3 was triggered by the sudden passing of former Conservative MP Gord Brown, […]
Trudeau to call remaining byelections in January, to take place in February: feds
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to call three byelections—including a highly anticipated contest in Burnaby South, B.C.—in early January for the following month, The Hill Times has learned. “We will be calling all three byelections, all three remaining ones, in January—early, early new year—for them to all take place in February,” said a senior government […]
National Security and Intelligence Committee’s report on Trudeau’s India trip to be released on Dec. 3
A report on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s calamitous February trip to India authored by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians will be released to the public by Dec. 3, according to news reports. Mr. Trudeau’s trip, which had a price tag of around $1.5-million, became a diplomatic scandal when invitations were sent to […]
“The Conservative Party reportedly plans to target media in the lead up to 2019. What do you make of this strategy?”
Cameron Ahmad Liberal strategist “Andrew Scheer seems committed to reliving the days of pre-election 2015, when constant attacks on Ottawa journalists by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were just the tonic for a news cycle consumed by the Mike Duffy spending scandal. “Consider the recent cascade of Conservative attacks on Canada’s media: “MP Pierre Poilievre trashes Bloomberg’s […]
