Hill media matter more now than ever before, says former Maclean’s editor Lewis
To say that former prime minister Stephen Harper made it difficult to get information on government policy is an understatement, says former Maclean’s magazine editor Robert Lewis, but on the bright side, it honed the investigative skills of the parliamentary press gallery reporters. With bureaucrats gagged and reporters unable to scrum ministers as they exited […]
Pondering Canada’s political future
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Lots of people are busily pontificating and speculating about the upcoming federal election of 2019. And that’s fine, but I’d like to try something a little more challenging; I’d like to try pontificating and speculating about the federal election beyond 2019, the one that might occur four years later in 2023. Sounds like fun, […]
The next election will tell us a lot about Canada
OTTAWA—With a year to go before the next federal election, all the customary calculations indicate the Liberals appear in fairly good shape to repeat their 2015 election victory. Except the usual indicators may no longer apply. Voters are clearly in a volatile what-about-me frame of mind, driven by a desire for change and impatience with […]
Norman affair looks a lot like Duffy trial, and that’s bad for Trudeau
OTTAWA—The lead-in and trial of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, accused of leaking cabinet secrets related to a major naval procurement, could be the 2019 version of the Duffy trial. Political twists can be cruel. The Duffy trial enlivened Liberal souls. The Norman court case may suck those same souls away. You’ll remember much of the period […]
Major Conservative ad buy an ‘opening salvo’ for 2019 aimed at introducing Scheer to suburban men, female voters, say experts
The Conservative Party’s reported $2-million national ad push is its “opening salvo” of the 2019 election, and pollsters and strategists say the two ads currently on airwaves are both aimed at introducing new leader Andrew Scheer and putting “pocketbook” issues in focus in the lead-up to the next campaign. “I would consider this the opening […]
Harper’s decision to ‘cut and run’ from Afghanistan ‘left me ashamed and very close to resignation’: former Conservative MP Alexander
Former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander says he was “ashamed” and considered resigning from federal politics in 2012 after then prime minister Stephen Harper had first pledged not to “cut and run” from Canada’s mission in Afghanistan in 2006, but later did “precisely that.” “I considered resigning as parliamentary secretary for national defence and even […]
Canada needs Saudi Arabia ‘whether we like it or not,’ says booted Canadian envoy
Canada—and the world—needs Saudi Arabia “whether we like it or not,” according to Canada’s recently expelled ambassador to the kingdom, but a path to renewed relations is unclear with the impulsive Saudi crown prince showing no sign of backing down. As “imperfect as it might be,” a stable Saudi Arabia is key in the Middle […]
On populism, Harper buys into right wing’s old ruse
OTTAWA—I won’t be buying Stephen Harper’s book. As was usually the case when he was prime minister, Harper seems in his new tome to be keeping his real thoughts to himself—in this case in favour of some fairly mundane observations and warmed-over conservative shibboleths. Apparently worried about maintaining his celebrity status among U.S. billionaires, the […]
There’s no real ammunition for Conservatives against pot legalization
OTTAWA—Thanks be to God marijuana is now legal, because it’s been getting pretty tiresome constantly talking about it. It almost makes you long for the day when Senate reform was the hot topic. Well, maybe not. For me, this isn’t a question of self-interest as a cannabis aficionado. The last time I smoked weed I […]
Yan Plante back among Conservative staff on the Hill
Yan Plante is back on Parliament Hill and has joined Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer as a special adviser in the official opposition leader’s office (OLO). A veteran Hill staffer, Mr. Plante previously worked under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and his past roles include serving as a special assistant to then-labour minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, and later […]
