Harper to host riding fundraiser at ‘his final Calgary Conservative Stampede BBQ’ on Saturday
Stephen Harper is having what’s being billed as his last Stampede barbecue this coming weekend, put on in conjunction with his Calgary Heritage riding association, and you have to wonder if this will be his occasion to officially say goodbye to politics. There were some expectations that he would take the opportunity to announce his […]
Painful to watch Kenney, Clement support Brexit
OTTAWA—Watching some Canadian Conservative party “would-be” leadership candidates prostrate themselves to be on the winning side of the post-Brexit-vote debate has been painful. How are these possible candidates—supposedly avowed free-traders, and members of the cabinet that pushed to finish the Canada-Europe trade agreement—now Brexiters? Hypocrisy is often the bed-mate of a politician in search of […]
Jason Kenney as Alberta Conservative saviour? Good luck
OTTAWA—So Jason Kenney, the highest-profile social conservative in the Conservative caucus, is letting it be known that he’s got a dream: he’s willing to abandon plans to lead the federal party that appears keen to soften its edges on social issues to lead a merged provincial conservative party in the next Alberta election. It’s a curious […]
Trumpery on both sides of the border
TORONTO—In January, long before the first primary was held and when 17 candidates were still vying for the Republican nomination, a Virginian in South Carolina who spotted my Toronto T-shirt told me he worked as a consultant to Manitoba’s public auto insurance Crown corporation. It had been created by the NDP over the loud objections […]
Cameron’s first casualty of Brexit, won’t be the last
OTTAWA—British Prime Minister David Cameron was the first casualty of Brexit. But he certainly won’t be the last. The decision is a boost for Trumpism and separatism. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has been successfully beating the anti-immigration drum in the United States, promising to build a wall to shield his country from Mexicans. He […]
Path to power in Alberta tricky for Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney wouldn’t tell me when we exchanged emails on Wednesday whether he’s going to leave federal politics to unite Alberta’s conservative forces. I suspect he doesn’t know yet. He did say he’s “getting very close to a decision.” Here are the options facing the Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore. He could stay in federal […]
Top 10 good things about Harper, personal and political
TORONTO—And so it ends, not with a bang, but a whimper. Late last week, in a secluded part of Centre Block, staff were seen packing up Stephen Harper’s parliamentary office. Anyone wandering by could see the moving boxes and the packing tape, in plain view. Harper, the 22nd prime minister of Canada, had cast his last […]
Grits finally catch Tories in data game: pundits
If you’ve recently come into contact with the Liberal Party of Canada in one way or another, it’s very likely that you would have received an email asking to “get to know you better.” Perhaps it was signed by Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, or maybe another well-known Liberal. If you clicked through the survey that you were asked […]
‘It’s pretty hard when you’re working on Macdonald to not become extremely impressed with Laurier,’ former Harper speechwriter preparing book on Laurier speeches
Arthur Milnes, a speechwriter for former prime minister Stephen Harper from 2012 to 2014 and a political history expert, has been putting together a book that includes some of the most important speeches of former prime minster Wilfrid Laurier and essays from several prominent Canadians that put Laurier’s stature in perspective. The book is called […]
Conservative rebel, Maxime Bernier
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Watch out Conservative Party establishment, lurking within your midst is an unabashed, unapologetic, unequivocal rebel, a rebel with a right-wing cause. I’m talking about Maxime Bernier, whose candidacy for the Conservative Party leadership has taken on the form of an outright assault against traditional Canadian Toryism. Sounds like fun, right? Well, before anybody gets […]
