Liberals shore up their left flank
In the eternal balancing act of Canadian Liberalism, it’s a week for tilting left. One after another, cabinet ministers are lining up to resuscitate programs that please the Liberal base and that the Harper Conservatives fought tooth and nail. On Feb. 6, Health Minister Jane Philpott announced approval for three supervised drug injection sites in […]
Liberals and Conservatives tied in nationwide poll, Grits still strong in Central Canada, but losing younger voters
The federal Liberal and Conservative parties would each win the votes of one-third of Canadians if an election were held now, according to a poll taken at the beginning of February. A year and four months after taking power, the Liberals have lost about one-third of the voters who supported them in the October 2015 […]
Saxton Conservative leadership campaign to unveil economic policies later this month
Former MP Andrew Saxton, who’s running for the next Conservative Party leadership and is supported by former political staffers and activists at the riding level, will release his economic policy platform later this month. “Andrew Saxton’s focus is on making sure that we have a policy that’s Conservative and practical, so that when we’re up against Justin Trudeau […]
Six things we learned from the latest Conservative leadership fundraising data
1. Caroline Mulroney Lapham donated to Lisa Raitt Caroline Mulroney Lapham, daughter of former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, at one time had her name bandied about as a possible contender for the leadership of the Conservative Party. She quickly announced she was flattered but not interested. But that doesn’t mean she’s not paying attention […]
MPs take aim at Islamophobia after six men killed at Québec City mosque, and Trump’s ‘racist’ anti-Muslim travel ban
PARLIAMENT HILL—While praising Canada’s dedication to diversity, MPs are calling on each other to dump the divisive rhetoric and politics of fear seen bubbling up in various spheres, after news of U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting immigrants from predominately Muslim countries and the Québec City mosque shooting dominated headlines during the first week […]
Conservative leadership debate planned for Manning Conference
This year’s ninth annual Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa will, for the first time, feature a debate between participants of a political race. A debate of Conservative Party leadership candidates is being planned as a centrepiece of the event, slated for the Shaw Centre from Thursday, Feb. 23 to Saturday, Feb. 25. The debate itself […]
Peterson running policy-driven leadership campaign, putting focus on Quebec
Conservative leadership candidate Rick Peterson says he’s running a policy-focused campaign with the help of a growing team of organizers across the country, and will be putting more focus on Quebec in the coming weeks, with plans for two new campaign offices in the province. “The fact that we’re focusing on Quebec is real key […]
Crowded Conservative leadership race means ‘short-term pain for long-term gain’ for party fundraising
The Conservative Party is seeing fewer donations while a portion of the money from its donor pool is flowing towards leadership campaigns. Communications director for Conservative Party of Canada Cory Hann says any party that’s “even somewhat organized” is going to plan and budget in anticipation of a leadership race. But, Mr. Hann himself acknowledged that no […]
Conservatives should not turn their backs on Harper accomplishments
TORONTO—The post-Harper Conservative Party is a déjà vu of the post-Mulroney era of more than 20 years ago. In both cases Conservatives were seriously divided. In the 1990s, the Progressive Conservative Party tried disassociate itself from the Mulroney legacy. The Conservative Party today might do just the same with what was accomplished during the Harper era. Of course, there are […]
Angus launches website for possible NDP leadership run
NDP MP Charlie Angus is acting more and more like someone who’s planning to run for the NDP leadership, but he’s playing hard to get. He recently launched a campaign-style website, charlieangusndp.ca, and promoted it through his Facebook page in attempt to gauge the level of support that’s there if he decides to vie for […]
