Ford’s brand strength, low public appetite for change key to PC win in Ontario, say politicos
The strength of the ‘Ford brand’ that easily overmatched what the Ontario Liberals and NDP had on offer, combined with a low-key communications and media strategy, pushed Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party into a second straight majority government, say politicos, with pollster Greg Lyle saying the premier “essentially won the job a year […]
Conservative leadership candidates expected to challenge eligibility of ‘thousands and thousands and thousands’ of rivals’ party memberships
Conservative Party president Rob Batherson denies claims that the party is six to eight weeks behind in processing memberships, and says the leadership election will happen on time and the date won’t be extended.
Can innovation support right relationship with Earth?
It is clear (to many, if not most) that the root cause of climate change and biodiversity loss is the wholesale appropriation of nature over the last few centuries by industrial civilization. This, essentially, comes down to colonial society having the wrong relationship with Earth. What could the right relationship look like? Nothing in my […]
It should be illegal to spread misinformation about voting
Democracy is a fragile thing these days. Just last week, many Canadians undoubtedly watched the first U.S. House hearing into the siege on Capitol Hill that took place on Jan. 6, 2021. At that hearing, the chair and vice-chair, a Democrat and Republican, respectively, both said Jan. 6 was an intentional attempted coup and a […]
Federal Conservatives should look to Ford’s Ontario campaign for a more pragmatic, open-minded approach, say strategists
Ontario voters responded to Doug Ford’s more collaborative, open-minded approach to politics by sending the Progressive Conservatives to a second straight majority, say both a Liberal and Conservative strategist, but it’s not clear if any of the leading contenders for the federal Conservative leadership are interested in following that model. Shakir Chambers, who worked under former […]
What, if anything, does Ford’s victory in Ontario actually tell us?
OTTAWA—The outpouring of analysis on the re-election of Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative majority in Ontario makes interesting reading, but it may not amount to much. Ford benefited from the advantage of incumbency and having two main opposition leaders—the NDP’s Andrea Horwath and the Liberals’ Steven Del Duca—who couldn’t find a way to […]
‘The rift is getting bigger and bigger’: some Conservatives worried about party unity once ‘pretty nasty’ leadership campaign ends
The ongoing, divisive Conservative leadership campaign is causing serious concerns about party unity for some current and former senior Conservatives who say one of the key tests of the new leader will be to keep the party united. “The rift is getting bigger and bigger,” said Bert Chen, a former Ontario national councillor, in an […]
In Ontario, economic anxiety prevails
Last Thursday night, it took only 18 minutes for the major networks to declare Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives the winners of the 2022 Ontario election. Later, we would learn that his team won a record 83 seats in the legislature. In 1995, Mike Harris similarly swept the Ontario election, winning 82 of the […]
Federal parties spent $82.9-million in last federal election, Conservatives spent $28.9-million, Libs spent $27-million
Collectively, the five main political parties spent nearly $83-million in the last federal election, according to data from Elections Canada, with the Conservative Party leading the way in election spending with $28.3-million. Parties were required to file their expense returns for last year’s 44th General Election on May 20, to Elections Canada, and the data […]
Lost in the COVID haze: Ford’s record in Ontario seems largely forgotten by voters
OTTAWA—Whatever is in those mandate letters, it must be really politically embarrassing or damaging. In the summer of 2018, shortly after Premier Doug Ford took office, CBC Toronto asked that the mandate letters to his 23 cabinet colleagues be made public under freedom of information. The Progressive Conservative government refused, claiming they were exempt as […]
