How to benefit from electoral royal rumbles
OAKVILLE, ONT.—When it comes to formulating grand strategies, military planners always seek to avoid the nightmare of fighting a “two-front” war. Such is not the case, however, for political strategists, who, when concocting their electoral battle plans, are always ready, willing and able to wage war on multiple fronts against multiple opponents. Napoleon would probably […]
Has the wind finally gone out of the sails of conservative, populist politics?
HALIFAX—Has the wind finally gone out of the sails of conservative, populist politics? Here in Canada, Erin O’Toole’s leadership has taken the CPC backwards. Instead of making the tent bigger, as leadership candidate O’Toole promised, some of the existing members of the party are running for the exits. The CPC trails PM Justin Trudeau by […]
O’Toole’s pivot to the centre and carbon pricing calculated risks to win next election, say pollsters
By introducing policies like carbon pricing and pivoting to the political centre, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is taking a calculated risk to expand and build his party’s winning coalition for the next election, but it remains to be seen if this will pay off at the polls, say pollsters. “He’s made a big gamble,” said […]
Joel Etienne wins Tory nomination in York Centre
Joel Etienne will be the Conservative Party’s candidate in York Centre, Ont., in the next election, after winning a nomination contest for the riding early this week. Mr. Etienne defeated Julius Tiangson in the nomination election, which was conducted online. Voting took place from April 25 to 27. York Centre is located in the northern […]
Tory candidate for York Centre to be decided early this week
The Conservative Party will select its next candidate for York Centre this week, after nearly turning the riding blue in a 2020 byelection decided by 701 votes. Julius Tiangson is running to recapture the Conservative nomination in the riding. He narrowly lost last year’s byelection there to rookie Liberal MP Ya’ara Saks. Mr. Tiangson is […]
Conservatives waving an ideological white flag
OAKVILLE, ONT.—When Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole decided to impose a carbon tax (I know he says it’s actually a “price on pollution” but you and I both know it’s really a tax) he basically loosened the last tether connecting his party to its ideological moorings. Indeed, the party has been gradually disconnecting itself from its […]
O’Toole’s bold carbon pricing pitch shows he’s willing to take risks to win
OTTAWA—Erin O’Toole made a bold move last week. He became the first leader of the modern Conservative Party of Canada to acknowledge that consumers directly have some price to pay for carbon consumption. He announced this a few short weeks after a slim majority of party members at the Conservative policy convention refused to acknowledge that […]
‘It’s getting worse, we’re going backwards’: Ontario MPs say constituents confused, frustrated, angry with vaccine supply issues, and partisan ‘finger-pointing’ as COVID cases skyrocket
Canada’s most populous province is facing an increasingly uphill battle in reining in the pandemic with new cases of COVID-19 hitting all-time highs last week, intensive-care units stretched to capacity, and what a number of Ontario MPs describe as confusion, frustration, and anger with the vaccine rollout among their constituents. Ontario recorded 4,250 new COVID-19 […]
Conservative Green philosophy is real
TORONTO—By all accounts, the grassroots of the Conservative Party embarrassed their leader, Erin O’Toole, by recently rejecting a resolution at their policy convention saying that, “climate change is real.” But instead of opposing Green philosophy, Conservatives should be astutely looking at what genuinely Conservative and genuinely Green ideas have in common. Erin O’Toole is desperately […]
O’Toole and the problem of pessimistic conservatism
OAKVILLE, ONT.—A conservative friend recently texted me to ask if there’s any chance Stephen Harper will ever return as Conservative Party leader? When I replied that, in my opinion, the chances of that ever happening were next to nil, he responded by texting me a sad emoji face. Not a good sign for the Conservative […]
