‘Tense’ fall sitting begins, with Liberals under pressure from Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc Québécois, say pollsters, lobbyists
The House is back. Get ready for a lot more parliamentary tactics, a lot more focus on the House, and a lot more of day-to-day instability in the government, says pollster Darrell Bricker. NDP House Leader Peter Julian, meanwhile, says his party will approach the fall sitting on a ‘vote-by-vote basis, much as we did during COVID.’
Poilievre didn’t bully Singh into breaking Liberal deal
I’d suggest Pierre Poilievre likely knew Jagmeet Singh would inevitably cancel the deal with the Liberals this fall, which is why he ran his attack ads in the summer. He wanted to take credit for what was going to happen anyway.
Blame games on politically-targeted bot campaigns ‘irresponsible’ without verification, says researcher
Newsrooms ‘didn’t do a great job’ when first reporting on the bots promoting a Poilievre rally, and that’s ‘the danger in horse race political coverage,’ says media expert Brian Daly.
Federal Liberals face ‘wipeout’ in B.C. blue wave, say pollsters
Angus Reid’s Shachi Kurl says B.C. United sunk under a rising Conservative tide, and warns previously safe Vancouver federal Liberal ridings could face similar flooding.
Only pushback from members will drive party leadership to loosen grip on nominations, say campaign veterans
‘Most people will back out because they realize there’s no point running if the leader doesn’t want you there,’ says former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps.
Federal nomination contests yield candidates beholden to party leaders, not constituents, say ex-MPs
Former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps says when the central party tips the scales it ‘poisons the well.’ This means fewer people ‘are going to believe that their vote has any value,’ says Rachel Gilliland, who was rejected from seeking a Tory nomination.
Poilievre lacks pizzazz, and that’s OK
For conservative politicians, lacking star power is actually a feature, not a bug.
Cabinet retreat policy announcements show Liberals ‘waking up,’ but lack ‘unique vision,’ says pollster
A day-one housing announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shows the Conservatives have been ‘beating the Liberals over their head’ on that issue, says former Tory staffer Shakir Chambers.
‘He doesn’t play by the rules’: local Ontario media’s interactions with Poilievre gain national attention
‘Local reporters seem to be doing a fairly decent job of asking fairly tough questions,’ says Carleton University journalism professor Randy Boswell after interviews with the Conservative leader in two Ontario cities went viral.
Amid brewing ‘recipe for backlash,’ Savoie stresses need for ‘good public debate’ on Canada’s civil service
A public backlash on the horizon if the growing federal civil service doesn’t deliver the goods, says Donald Savoie in his new book.
