Campaigning during COVID-19 ‘very weird and it’s very different,’ says NDP B.C. provincial MLA Sims
Campaigning in the midst of COVID-19 is a “very weird and different” experience, but it’s also the “new normal” until the pandemic is over, and politicians should learn new tools of engagement with voters in an era when social distancing requirements now bar politicians from going door knocking, shaking hands, and getting close to people. […]
Incumbency, ‘cooperation, and a multi-partisan approach’ electoral advantages for conservative-leaning provincial governments during pandemic, say pollsters
With a number of popular, conservative-leaning provincial leaders either heading to the polls in the near future, fresh off a recent election win, or facing pressure to call an early election while riding particularly high approval numbers, pollsters, and political insiders say incumbent provincial governments are at an advantage politically at this point in the […]
Maverick Party to target 49 strong Conservative ridings in Western Canada in the next election, ‘where Conservatives won by very wide margins,’ says Hill
The upstart right-of-centre Maverick Party will try to target 49 ridings in the next election that the Conservatives won with wide margins in 2019, in an offensive that the party’s leader says won’t risk losing seats to the NDP or Liberals. In an interview with The Hill Times, Jay Hill, the interim leader of the […]
Half-hour ‘House parties’ on Zoom: MPs adjust to the transition to electronic voting
The introduction of drawn-out voting proceedings over Zoom have given the usually staid practice a new tone. Some MPs serenaded their colleagues with the piano, mandolin, saxophone, and guitar—some musical accompaniment to wile away the wee hours. “Charlie Angus had his guitar; people were singing. Generally, people were in good spirits,” said NDP MP Lindsay […]
First virtual Commons vote featured lags and laughs
The House of Commons held its first hybrid in-person/remote recorded division on Sept. 28, with a vote on a Bloc Québécois change to a Conservative amendment to the House’s Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. It wasn’t without a few hiccups. A world-wide Microsoft outage delayed the vote by more than 30 […]
Committee should study proposed changes to election rules to prepare for future vote, say MPs
Legislative changes that Elections Canada is looking to make to election rules require a deep dive by a House committee, say some Parliamentarians, while one expert says there is a need to be “innovative” beyond tweaks to the Canada Elections Act. The agency will submit its recommendations to Parliament with amendments to the act sometime […]
Conservative riding presidents, 2019 candidates want O’Toole to deliver on promise to return election rebates
With Erin O’Toole now in place as the Conservative Party leader, riding association presidents and former candidates are eagerly waiting for him to deliver on his promise to return all the election rebate money the party has received for candidates in the 2019 election. Prior to the 2019 federal election, the Conservative Party made all […]
Election cat and mouse games begin
OTTAWA—The election cat and mouse games begin. In a minority situation, an election can happen at any time if parties clash on spending priorities. But these are not ordinary times. In the middle of a pandemic, even getting to the polls is complicated. The British Columbia government just called an Oct. 24 election. Hours after […]
‘It’s much lonelier’: MPs talk about doing politics in the age of the pandemic
Backbench MPs say the global pandemic has turned doing retail politics on its head, say the legislative job is much lonelier without all the human interaction on the Hill and in the ridings, and some even say pressing the flesh could be off bounds forever. Liberal MP Judy Sgro (Humber River-Black Creek, Ont.) and other […]
Political parties reach last-minute deal to temporarily change House rules for hybrid Commons, electronic voting
With no time to lose, the federal political parties reached a last-minute deal on Wednesday and unanimous consent for a government motion to temporarily change the rules for parliamentary proceedings so that a hybrid House and remote Commons voting can happen this fall during the global pandemic. Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez (Honoré-Mercier, Que.) introduced […]
