A dozen MPs won’t run again in 2019, starting ‘snowball effect’ with more to come, say insiders
NDP MPs David Christopherson, Hélène Laverdière, and Conservative MP Bev Shipley all announced in the last week they will not seek re-election in 2019, adding to a list that has now reached a dozen, and political insiders expect this is the start of a “snowball effect” of MPs calling it quits in the months to […]
A government reboot is in the cards this summer
OTTAWA—Is Justin Trudeau’s government in need of a reboot? Summer speculative stories are coming fast and furious about a possible cabinet shuffle, the potential retirement of long-standing Liberal Parliamentarians, and a 2019 pre-election season, which will kick up a notch in the fall. As the introduction to the never-ending soap opera Days of Our Lives […]
Fickle voters keep parties on their toes, say strategists
Canadian voters are less and less likely to stick to voting for the same party election after election, say political strategists, who estimate this is one of the reasons why there have been large swings between parties in recent elections. In the 2011 federal election, the NDP swept Quebec, taking 59 of the then-75 seats in […]
Tories building on ‘large bedrock of support’ ahead of August convention: party president
As the Conservative Party prepares to huddle in Halifax at its end-of-summer policy convention, the party president is feeling buoyed by polling patterns and fundraising stats that he says put them in a prime position for the 2019 election. When the Conservatives’ three-day national convention begins in Halifax on Aug. 23, it will come on […]
A dozen ridings obvious targets for Conservatives as they seek to reclaim Liberal territory in Ontario next year
The federal Conservatives are well-positioned to make gains in Canada’s largest province in the next election, and a dozen Liberal ridings in Ontario may as well be painted with bullseyes. Those include Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, held by Leona Alleslev; Newmarket-Aurora, held by Kyle Peterson; Richmond Hill, held by Majid Jowhari; King-Vaughan, held by Deb Schulte; […]
Conservatives topped Liberals in fundraising for second year in a row in 2017: annual report
For the second year in a row, the Conservative Party topped the governing Liberals in fundraising in 2017, raking in roughly $4.9-million more in donations, as detailed in the parties’ published annual financial returns released last week. Overall, the Conservatives led the pack in 2017 with roughly $18.8-million in donations from 94,786 individuals, while the […]
GRIC exec stay on to see through review of Lobbying Act
The Government Relations Institute of Canada has extended its executive team’s terms by one year to focus on the upcoming Lobbying Act review. The ongoing executive, approved on June 28, are Global Public Affairs’ Philip Cartwright as president, Shaw Communication’s Alayne Crawford as vice-president, Canadian Automobile Association’s Jason Kerr as treasurer, and Earnscliffe’s Mary Anne […]
Political parties busy laying groundwork this summer for 2019 election, Conservatives already ahead
Conservatives are already ahead in recruiting candidates for the 2019 federal election and all the political parties are using these critical summer months to start laying the groundwork for the next national campaign, say political strategists. “This is the last summer before the election. Next summer, we’re pretty well in a writ period, regardless of […]
Brand control, ‘beefed-up’ war rooms more important in era of digital campaigns
Campaign war rooms are more important than ever, turning into “content shops” churning out material with the potential to go viral as the fight for attention turns away from conventional approaches to get the message out, say campaign veterans and experts. But even though incoming Progressive Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford shot to power earlier this […]
How the party leaders stack up, as campaign machines rev up for 2019
OTTAWA—Summer is upon us. Members of Parliament have returned to their ridings to kiss babies and shake hands wherever they can. Ottawa will feel a bit like a ghost town between now and mid-September until the elected officials return when they will begin the big push to the 2019 election. Through this session of Parliament […]
