Trudeau’s ethical incoherence could be a stepping stool for May
HALIFAX—Perhaps Justin Trudeau is just whistling past the political graveyard—where his opponents have already reserved a plot for him. The PM is rolling the dice that Canadians will believe him when he says we can have it both ways on practically everything. It doesn’t have to be chocolate or vanilla because, hey, it’s Canada. Some […]
Passions, not reason, will determine the 2019 federal election
Emotions trump reason. This isn’t news to anyone who has read or heard about books such as Nudge and Thinking Fast and Slow. More and more people are coming to understand that emotions, not logic, drive our decision-making in all parts of life, including politics. So how do voters feel about the key parties and […]
Greens focus on B.C. while pollsters see opportunity in Atlantic Canada
Pollsters say the Green Party has a real chance to win seats in Atlantic Canada this fall, but so far the party has focused on sending money and support to candidates on the West Coast, leaving some eastern Greens on their own. A Leger poll released Aug. 21 suggested the Green Party in third place […]
Leaders’ debate format a recipe for populist fodder
OTTAWA—The broadcast debate rule makers need to take another look at their election work. By the current rules established for party leader participation, floor-crosser Lucien Bouchard would have been silenced. At the time of the 1993 election, Bouchard was the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, having been previously elected as a Progressive Conservative. His party did […]
Rookie Quebec Liberal MP Nassif unexpectedly says she won’t seek re-election
Rookie Quebec Liberal MP Eva Nassif was “confident,” until recently, the party would nominate her as a candidate. But on Thursday night, she announced unexpectedly she won’t seek re-election, “because of recent events of a personal nature” that she said she does “not take lightly.” In a statement on Twitter, Ms. Nassif (Vimy, Que.) did […]
Canada’s life-saving supervised consumption services could be in jeopardy
Supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites save lives by allowing people to use drugs safely under the supervision of trained volunteers and staff. This should be reason enough for any government to take bold, rapid action to scale up access to these services, especially as Canada is now fully immersed in an opioid overdose crisis—fuelled […]
Liberals on Ethics Committee kibosh motion for hearing with commissioner
PARLIAMENT HILL—A motion for a House committee to hear from the federal ethics commissioner on Wednesday fell one vote short, with all but one Liberal MP voting against the opposition’s push to have Mario Dion testify on the SNC-Lavalin affair. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York, Ont.) broke with party rank, voting 5-4 alongside the […]
Youth more likely to talk politics than older generations, Samara survey suggests
There are hopeful signs that more young people will hit the polls this fall after an unprecedented turnout among youth voters in the last election, says one researcher. A new survey from the Samara Centre for Democracy suggested youth are more politically engaged on a number of fronts than older generations, including when it comes […]
Early Manitoba election call bad news for Trudeau Liberals: observers
Manitobans are going to the polls on Sept. 10, a year earlier than planned, and observers say the timing could mean a harder slog for federal campaigns in the province, with Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives most likely to benefit. “[The Manitoba provincial election] is most likely to benefit the Conservative Party,” said Mitchell Davidson, an executive […]
PSAC head says avoiding Conservative government ‘No. 1’ election issue
The head of Canada’s largest federal public service union says the number one issue for the Public Service Alliance of Canada is “not to end up with another Conservative government” and to “get the NDP elected wherever we can.” “There’s no way we can have more of Stephen Harper, and that’s exactly what Andrew Scheer will […]
