Liberals aiming to win Harper’s former Calgary Heritage riding
Bolstered by a breakthrough in Alberta in the last federal election, the Liberals are now going for the jugular and targeting former prime minister Stephen Harper’s riding, one of the safest and symbolically most important Conservative Party seats in the country. However, Conservatives are vowing to win the riding again in the byelection, expected to be […]
Conservative leadership race portends a return to ugly
GATINEAU, QUE.—The least edifying moment in an eventful week in the Conservative leadership campaign came in the form of a shame-free lie from Kellie Leitch’s campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis. Kouvalis—a political organizer for hire, who has also worked for Rob Ford and John Tory—accused the Trudeau Liberals last week of sending international aid to terrorist […]
Conservative MP Andrew Scheer surpasses 50 high-profile endorsements for leadership bid
Former commons speaker Andrew Scheer retains an overwhelming lead in publicized high-profile leadership endorsements from past and current Conservatives, as well as other politicians, as the party edges toward a March deadline for the 14 current candidates to sign up new members for the May vote. Mr. Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) had accumulated more than 50 […]
Trudeau gets more done outside QP than inside
OTTAWA—Question Period is the one hour a day that belongs to the opposition. So it is understandable that opposition members should chastise the prime minister for skipping the majority of Question Periods in his first year on the job. But it is also the reason that Justin Trudeau used his first year in office to […]
Trudeau voted most valuable politician in 2016, despite some political setbacks: The Hill Times’ 20th Annual All Politics Poll
PARLIAMENT HILL—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was voted both the No. 1 most valuable politician in 2016, a runner up in the biggest political comeback category, the second most approachable cabinet minister in his own cabinet, and the second favourite dinner guest in 2016, as he continues to lead his Liberals through a number of political […]
Angus to announce leadership intentions early in new year
New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said in a Facebook post last week that he’ll indicate early in the new year whether he’ll run for the party leadership, but he first wants to see if there’s enough financial support for him to do it. “Making a run for national leader is a massive commitment and I […]
Trudeau’s an establishment prime minister in an age of rebellion
TORONTO—Honest question: can you think of anybody more establishment in Canada than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? The answer didn’t matter during the 2015 election campaign. A sizeable chunk of the country was desperate to kick Stephen Harper to the curb, and what better antidote to a man thought of as grumpy and mean-spirited with a […]
‘Night and Day’ difference between Trudeau’s press relations and Harper’s, say media observers
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has held nine news conferences in Ottawa’s National Press Theatre since the day after he and his party won a majority government in 2015, compared to only five NPT appearances by Stephen Harper over his 10 years as prime minister, according to press theatre records. And as of Dec. 15, Mr. Trudeau […]
Media continues to make hay out of Conservatives’ ‘hidden agenda’
TORONTO—Despite everything else going on, big news has been made about an Ontario Progressive Conservative backbencher promising his constituents a revisit on some social issues once in government. The news is, of course, that Conservatives have a hidden agenda to make abortion illegal again, reinstate capital punishment, abrogate same-sex marriage, and support the geocentric theory that […]
A word of advice for Mr. Wonderful
Kevin O’Leary, if he does read or study political history, ought to look at the chapter on Michael Ignatieff. Because if the self-described Mr. Wonderful does enter politics, he doesn’t want to suffer the same spectacular flameout that the former can’t-miss candidate and Liberal leader Ignatieff experienced. The putative political career of O’Leary has some […]
