With political fundraising mostly suspended, some MPs floating idea of reviving per-vote subsidy

While the country is reeling from the health and economic hardships due to COVID-19, MPs say political fundraising will be a tough challenge in the coming months and some are floating the idea of reviving the per-vote subsidy to help deal with the loss of revenue and to keep it in place going forward. “The only […]
New Green Party executive director sees opportunity, potential amid challenging times

Along with a new party leader to be announced in the fall, the Green Party of Canada will soon have a new executive director at its helm, with Prateek Awasthi set to take over on May 4, becoming the first person of colour to hold the post. “The Green Party’s in an interesting place, where […]
Next federal election a referendum on Trudeau’s management of COVID-19, say pollsters, ‘a crisis like no other’

With the country deep in the throes of a deadly global pandemic, veteran pollsters are predicting that the next federal election will be a referendum on how Justin Trudeau’s minority government managed COVID-19 and its impact on Canadians after this global crisis is over. “We won’t know until the very end how much damage this […]
Canada’s chief electoral officer Perrault consulting provincial counterparts regularly on how to hold an election if one is called in the midst of COVID-19

While it’s highly unlikely that an election will be called in the midst of a global pandemic, Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault is still consulting with his provincial counterparts regularly to plan for the possibility if one is called in this minority government. “The chief electoral officers from the various electoral management bodies across […]
Inside the Campaign: Managing Elections In Canada: a new book pulls curtain on the people and machinery behind the vote

Crashed buses and a blackface scandal highlighted the 41-day campaign of the 2019 election. A new book with contributions from political staffers, campaign managers, pollsters, and journalists takes readers inside Canadian political campaigns. From the day the writs are issued and the race is off and running, politicians crisscross the country stumping, but behind the […]
Conservative riding presidents, candidates, MPs rebelling against party’s decision to claw back half of election rebates

The Conservative Party is facing serious pushback from riding associations, candidates, and caucus members over the Conservative Fund’s decision to claw back 50 per cent of the election rebates from Elections Canada that candidates receive for their expenses after an election, and the three main leadership candidates are vowing to cancel the “rebate sharing program” […]
Discrepancy between Elections Canada, StatsCan reports likely due to social desirability bias

Despite an 11-percentage-point discrepancy between self-reported and actual voter turnout, a recent Statistics Canada survey still provides valuable information on the electorate and voting trends, experts say. The StatsCan survey, which relies on self-reporting, collected data by adding five election-related questions to the 2019 Labour Force Survey, which is distributed to approximately 56,000 households. The […]
It’s high stakes: senior House Liberals hold ‘tactics meeting’ every morning to plot daily strategy in minority Parliament

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals deal with the new reality of the minority Parliament, their senior House leadership team is holding a high-stakes “tactics meeting” every morning when the House is sitting to plot strategy for the Commons and committees, Liberal sources told The Hill Times. In interviews last week, Liberal sources said the […]
Platform costing measure gets nod, but fixes for getting info needed, says PBO

A platform costing service offered by the Parliamentary Budget Officer is receiving a thumbs up from one expert, but the office is looking to Parliament to clarify an “oversight” in its powers in accessing information to do its work, ahead of the next election. In a report released Jan. 24, the PBO wrote that “legislative […]
Liberals still haven’t had a national caucus discussion about federal election outcome and they want one, say Grit MPs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberals were reduced from a majority to a minority Parliament three months ago, still hasn’t held a full-blown national caucus meeting to discuss the last federal election’s outcome, and some Grit MPs say they wonder if the leadership is trying to avoid it. The Liberals, who won 157 seats on […]