2021 election ‘one of the most challenging in our history,’ says Elections Canada chief
Issues around recruiting and training poll workers, along with a lack of suitable polling locations due to COVID-19, made the 2021 election a difficult one for Elections Canada, according to Canada’s chief electoral officer. “While no election is like any other, it is safe to say that this was one of the most challenging in […]
Nova Scotia Senator Bernard receives Bob Marley Day award
PSG Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, the first African Nova Scotian woman named to the Senate, is one of eight recipients of this year’s Bob Marley Day award. The awards are given every Feb. 6 as part of the City of Toronto’s annual proclamation marking the birthday of the iconic Jamaican musician and human rights advocate. Marley, […]
Feds cited caretaker convention to justify delays even after it wasn’t in ‘strict application’
In the weeks following the Sept. 20 election, the Liberal government cited the caretaker convention as a reason to delay releasing new policies or information, but, as the prime minister confirmed in information tabled in the House, the convention was not in “strict application” after election night due to results showing a Liberal re-election and […]
Veteran Hill reporter Joan Bryden retires, ‘Canadian politics is poorer for it,’ and Black History Month begins
Early in the morning on Feb. 1, long-time Parliament Hill and federal politics reporter Joan Bryden announced the beginning of her official retirement and an end to her time with The Canadian Press’ parliamentary bureau. “I am officially a retired person today. This will take some adjustment after 40 years in daily journalist, 34 of them […]
No plans for O’Toole’s leadership review before August 2023, says Conservative Party president Rob Batherson
The Conservative Party has no plans to hold an early review of Erin O’Toole’s leadership even though four ridings have passed motions demanding one by this summer and more are planning to do the same in the coming weeks, says party president Rob Batherson. “We’re having a good healthy discussion,” said Batherson, in an interview […]
COVID’s very real demands taking a toll on purveyors of populist flimflam
OTTAWA—Boris Johnson’s troubles have ballooned to the point of creating a moment of truth for the British prime minister. By the weekend, his ability to hang onto his job was dangling in the balance, as Johnson tried to fend off attacks on his integrity from across the political spectrum. One of the most successful politicians […]
Liberal leadership speculation a distraction, Trudeau should shut it down firmly, say Liberal MPs, political insiders, and pollsters
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is definitely planning to lead his party in the next election, he should put an end to the speculation about the leadership election, or it could become a serious distraction for the government at a time when the country is dealing with the serious health and economic challenges of COVID, […]
Introduction of party labels on the ballot in 1972 was a seismic change to Canadian party politics: Alex Marland
Re: “The problem with the ballot,” by Nelson Wiseman, (The Hill Times, Jan.17, p.11). For decades, Canadian political scientists have muddied the date of when party labels first appeared on federal election ballots. Some literature says 1970, when the Canada Elections Act was amended, and some sources say 1972 when that act took effect in that […]
The problem with the ballot
TORONTO—For decades the NDP, and before it the CCF, claimed that shielding information about election financing allowed corporations to exert undue influence in the making of public policy and awarding of government contracts. The underlying assumption in the law at the time was that elections were fought only by candidates in constituencies, not by political […]
In politics, it’s all about having the right enemy
LONDON, U.K.—The right enemy can be a major asset in politics, as Chilean voters have just demonstrated once again. All the opinion polls had the two presidential candidates neck and neck before the Dec. 19 election, but a few days before the vote it came out that the father of far-right candidate José Antonio Kast […]
