Tories must ‘find a way to manage Max,’ but Bernier’s ‘selfish gesture’ won’t cast too dark a shadow over convention: strategists, MPs
As Conservatives huddle in Halifax this week to hash out their plan to topple the Liberal government next year, Tory MPs and politicos say they expect the convention’s focus to firmly remain on 2019 strategy, despite the recent distraction caused by MP Maxime Bernier. The three-day Conservative National Convention kicks off on Aug. 23 at […]
400 per day? Advocate questions reliability of summer border-crossing predictions after figures fall short
Recent figures on monthly border crossings show that a prediction made by the Quebec government on flows of people coming into Canada this summer—and one frequently cited by the media and federal Conservatives—has so far fallen flat, raising questions about how border-crossing predictions are handled, says one advocate. In April, the Quebec government told the […]
Halifax policy convention Scheer’s time to focus on homegrown visability
A policy convention is something like a Seinfeldian Festivus, or a biennial airing of grievances. As former Conservative strategist Tim Powers told The Hill Times in today’s paper, it’s three days on the therapist’s couch—a massive counselling session to get everything out in the open. But there’s a reason most people don’t broadcast their own […]
‘Buzz’ around Ford’s media strategy ‘almost bigger than the tactic,’ says digital strategist
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s strategy of delivering spin straight to his base through his Twitter channel is less about hoodwinking Ontarians, and more about playing to his base and to the narrative of the media as an opposition party, say some political observers, while others see the start of a concerning trend. The launch of […]
Bernier’s diversity rant adds to Scheer’s headaches
OTTAWA—One week before the first Conservative national convention on Andrew Scheer’s leadership watch—and the last such gathering before the next federal election—one would not normally expect Conservative MPs to be debating each other on social media about whether to draw a line on Canada’s diversity. Against the backdrop of a simmering trade war with the […]
Putting off byelections until 2019 could help Liberals: strategists
Four federal ridings will soon be vacant, and strategists say putting off the byelections to fill them—including Burnaby South, B.C., where NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will fight for a seat in the Commons—would be to the Liberals’ advantage. “If I were the Liberals I would not hold that byelection [Burnaby South] before Christmas. No rush […]
Andrew Scheer has done little to deserve so much support, says Riley
CHELSEA, QUE.—Disillusionment with Justin Trudeau’s government is understandable, even inevitable. Over three years, various ethical embarrassments, policy reversals, and double messages are bound to take their toll. But what is frankly inexplicable is that Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are either tied, or close behind, the struggling Liberals in recent polls. It raises the question: what, if […]
Conservatives’ spat a gift for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals
Andrew Scheer is clearly facing a challenge to his leadership. So far, his response reminds us the Conservative Party leader made a fine Speaker of the House of Commons. The problem for Scheer is that a Speaker could take his time and make a sage ruling based on arcane rules and precedent, but a leader […]
Expect more deputy minister retirements as the pre-2019 transition machine rumbles to life, say insiders
With a little more than a year until the next election, civil service insiders say there will likely be an increase in deputy minister retirements in the coming months before the bureaucracy starts its process of preparing for a potential change in government in 2019. No one wanted to guess who was leaving or how […]
New operations director joins Fisheries Minister Wilkinson’s team
New Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has hired Laura Mitchell to serve as his new director of operations. Ms. Mitchell joins the new minister’s team straight from Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s office, where she was since September 2017 a parliamentary affairs adviser and assistant to the minister’s parliamentary secretary, a role Mr. Wilkinson filled […]
