Conservative MPs divided on how protected they should be from nomination challenges
Conservative MPs are divided on how much protection they should get from nomination challenges in the run-up to the 2019 election. In May of last year, Dustin van Vugt, executive director of the Conservative Party, informed caucus at a weekly meeting about proposed nomination rules. MPs were told that, under the proposal, they could avoid […]
Comms directors to McKenna, Foote depart
Summertime on the Hill means plenty of staff changes while the House of Commons is on break, and two directors of communications have recently left their respective ministerial offices. Frédérique Tsai-Klassen has exited her role as director of communications to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, and a listing on the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner’s […]
How 63 lobby groups landed meetings with the PM
Getting into the same room as the prime minister demands a lot of legwork, meetings with ministers, matching government language, and a little luck, according to consultants and insiders who say Justin Trudeau is leading his consultation-focused government by example. Since the October 2015 election, 63 groups filed 96 communication reports from meetings with Mr. Trudeau […]
‘Some people just can’t leave the campaign behind’: O’Toole rips libertarian website run by Bernier supporters
Conservative MP and former leadership candidate Erin O’Toole has harsh words for a new pro-libertarian organization started by a former aide to Maxime Bernier, calling it a continuation of Mr. Bernier’s campaign for the Conservative Party leadership even after that race wrapped with a victory for Andrew Scheer in May. “All campaigns need to step […]
The cities’ problem with CETA
POWELL RIVER, B.C.—The trouble with demonizing the leader of an unpopular government is that it gives the next leader a way too much slack. I remember writing a column years ago comparing Brian Mulroney with Paul Martin (who more or less ran Jean Chretien’s government). Who was more destructive to the public interest and progressive […]
‘How cool is this, little guy from Stony Plain, Alberta, and he gets to walk in and work in this place every day,’ Keller reflects on Hill work as he mulls ‘next challenge’
PARLIAMENT HILL —As with many a career in politics, Garry Keller’s started off knocking on doors—lots and lots of doors. He helped then Reform MP John Williams get elected for the first time in 1993, and then four years later and fresh out of university, Mr. Keller again hit the pavement in the 1997 federal […]
Former Conservative leadership candidate Rick Peterson considers run in Ambrose’s riding
Former Conservative leadership candidate Rick Peterson won only four votes in the Alberta riding of Sturgeon River-Parkland in his unsuccessful leadership contest in May, but the British Columbia-based venture capitalist is considering a run at his party’s nomination to succeed the outgoing MP and former interim party leader Rona Ambrose. “I grew up in Alberta […]
A few more staff depart Conservative leader’s office, including chief Keller
A few more Conservative staffers bade farewell to new leader Andrew Scheer’s office at the start of the summer break, bringing the total of departed—or departing—staff up to 16 in all to date since Mr. Scheer’s transition began. More than 40 staffers remain listed in the Conservative leader’s office, and intertwined research bureau, on the […]
From Macdonald to Mulroney: transformative Conservative leadership
Like most political movements, Canadian Conservatives in the past 150 years have celebrated the heights of achievement, suffered the ignominy of defeat, seized opportunities and lost them, been divided, reunited and redefined several times, recovered to regain victory and persevered. As other parties, they have celebrated heroic leaders and spurned bad ones who left behind […]
Religion still influential in Canadian politics, presents challenge to Conservative politicians: book authors
Much of Canadian society today is secularized, with only a slim portion of the population viewing religion as very important to their lives. But it nonetheless remains influential in the politics of this country, as seen federally of late with the Conservative Party, according to a new book, Religion & Canadian Party Politics. The book, […]
