Trudeau still dogged by questions about timing of the election during first leaders’ debate
In an election campaign where a defining ballot box issue has yet to emerge, the leaders of the four top parties in Quebec took to the debate stage on Thursday evening in an event that many have said marks the beginning of the campaign’s homeward stretch. Observers say there was no clear winner in the […]
Politics This Morning: Liberals release election platform, leaders face off in first debate
Good Thursday morning! The Liberal Party has released its re-election platform, which proposes $13-billion in spending this fiscal year and $78-billion in new spending over the next five years. The 53-page document proposes to invest more in Liberal priorities, such as fighting climate change, Indigenous reconciliation, and the arts and cultural sector, and promises tighter […]
Léger poll on eve of first French debate shows O’Toole gaining momentum in Quebec
As party leaders prepare for the Sept. 2 TVA debate—a crucial event for reaching many Quebec voters—a new poll from Léger Marketing suggests the Conservatives are on the rise in the province. “The reason why this poll is this really important is over the past two years, ever since the 2019 election, we’ve never had […]
A pox on all their houses: the major parties pander shamelessly on language
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—One of my mother’s cousins was married to a prominent Franco-Ontarian, Marcel Joyal, who was a lawyer in Ottawa and later became a Federal Court judge. They summered here, and I was lucky enough to enjoy his company from time to time. Joyal was a passionate Canadian, and late into the Kamouraska summer nights, […]
Paula Simons launches video series celebrating Alberta
Continuing her crusade to share the amazing variety in her home province of Alberta, Independent Senator Paula Simons has started filming a set of videos as of the week of Aug. 9 focused on exploring different aspects of the region and its people. “Calling them ‘mini-docs’ may be a bit grand,” she said in an […]
Promises, promises, but the GG might actually keep hers
In Beauty and the Beast, there is a scene where the Beast is looking for advice as to how he can win the love of Belle. Lumière, the talking candlestick, helpfully suggests that the Beast make Belle “promises you don’t intend to keep.” As we have entered the season where election promises are made, some […]
Vaccination passports should be an election issue
Inoculate but keep it secret. That seems to be the vaccination position of the premiers of Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. It is hard to understand how conservative values align with putting people’s health at risk in a global pandemic. But in the tug-of-war between collective and individual rights, for Doug Ford, Scott Moe, and Jason […]
Survey says: health care, COVID benefits, affordability, and climate change top of mind for voters
OTTAWA—Over the past two weeks, I have had the great pleasure of guest hosting VOCM’s Openline program in Newfoundland and Labrador. Openline is a long-standing platform for all manner of discourse in my home province. It can often be a useful barometer of which issues are top of mind for the people of the Rock […]
The life-and-death stakes of politicizing COVID
OTTAWA—Some of the more harrowing stories coming out of the COVID calamity in the United States concern nurses and doctors who, having struggled fruitlessly to keep a patient from dying of the virus, are told by the expiring patient in their last words that COVID is a hoax. After watching Americans elevate Donald Trump to […]
Election 2021 won’t be pay TV worthy
HALIFAX—Try as some might—including pollsters, consultants, ex-politicians, and ever-infernal party “insiders,” Election 2021 will not be an item for pay TV. Which is to say, it will have as much drama as a morning in traffic court when the ticketing officer doesn’t show up. What’s coming down in perhaps days is a political mismatch. The […]
