Conservatives to discuss nomination rules for incumbents, Leitch’s controversial immigrant ‘values’ test at national caucus retreat
After being shut out in Atlantic Canada in the last federal election, the Conservative caucus is meeting in Halifax this week to reach out to Atlantic Canadians, plot parliamentary strategy for the fall session, discuss nomination rules for incumbent MPs, and debate leadership candidate Kellie Leitch’s controversial idea of screening of immigrants for “anti-Canadian values.” The caucus retreat is taking […]
Trudeau will have to defeat himself
GATINEAU, QUE.—As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate, Justin Trudeau is clearly going to have to engineer his own, eventual defeat. There is simply no coherent, attractive and credible opposition to the popular prime minister, or his policies, on the parliamentary horizon. With the House set to re-assemble soon, the only threat to […]
With papers submitted, Obhrai begins to form leadership campaign team
Veteran Alberta Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai officially submitted his paperwork last week to run as a candidate in the Conservative Party’s leadership race, and Hill Climbers has learned of a number of the individuals working to support Mr. Obhrai’s bid to become the federal party’s next leader in May 2017. Leadership candidates must fill out […]
Conservative leadership race helps put Harper in context
OAKVILLE, ONT.—It’s fashionable these days for political observers to belittle Stephen Harper’s accomplishments. For instance, when Harper recently announced he was resigning his seat in Parliament, the CBC’s Aaron Wherry immediately took to Twitter and summed up the former prime minister’s long career in politics thusly: “Breaking: Rarely heard from opposition backbencher to resign seat.” […]
‘We didn’t help matters,’ Clement says Conservatives failed to make ‘valid case’ for re-election last year
Conservative leadership candidate Tony Clement says he’s the person who can “overhaul” the federal party and fix the communications problems that contributed to it losing power to the Liberals in last year’s election. “We have to overhaul our party organization in a big way—better training, better candidate support, better communications, better media relations, better social […]
Identity politics is one way for Leitch to stand out
OTTAWA—In fairness to Kellie Leitch—no wait, come back—it would have been surprising if no candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership had run on identity politics. Leitch, of course, is the physician and Conservative MP who has been vaulted from obscurity into a sort of pallid, sickly limelight for suggesting it would be a […]
Kellie Leitch should be embarrassed and ashamed
OTTAWA—Kellie Leitch apparently wanted to get some attention in what so far has been a catatonic Conservative leadership race. Well, she certainly has! Just like over the past decade, some smarmy campaign official somewhere is patting himself or herself on the back complimenting their sublime political genius for finding the winning formula for their candidate: […]
Liberals, NDP poised to receive millions through candidate-rebate system
The federal Liberals and the NDP are poised to rake in millions of dollars this year by withholding 60 per cent of rebates that local candidates are to receive for their campaign expenses from last year’s election. Both parties signed written agreements with their candidates before the 2015 election that allow party offices to receive all rebates […]
O’Leary’s decision on Conservative leadership depends on who else runs
TV personality Kevin O’Leary says he’s waiting to see who else enters the Conservative leadership race before deciding whether to run himself, and he’s likely to make a decision, one way or the other, by late October. Mr. O’Leary told The Hill Times last week that he anticipates other possible candidates will also make their intentions […]
Emerging world order requires Canada to partner with China
University of Toronto Prof. Goldwin Smith wrote a highly controversial book in 1891 called Canada and the Canadian Question. In the 21st century we face another important and equally controversial question. Is Canada prepared to move out of the American orbit and align itself with a new world order envisaged by China? The future of Canada’s […]
