Hill lobbyist ties the knot, with help from legendary curler
Hill denizens Derek Nighbor and Joey Taylor wed on Aug. 11 with the help of Canadian curling legend Colleen Jones. Mr. Nighbor is a lobbyist and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada, and Mr. Taylor is a public affairs manager at Engineers Canada. Since they met through curling and both watched it religiously on […]
‘The only thing Ford understands is brute strength’, says Vaughan, as more Liberals endorse John Tory for mayor
The Toronto mayoral race saw a recent flurry of endorsements from Liberal MPs for candidate and incumbent John Tory, a move some observers say is a low-risk decision with easy political benefits at the local level, and a play to outflank PC Premier Doug Ford. On Aug. 8, Mr. Tory announced that Liberal MPs Marco […]
‘Buzz’ around Ford’s media strategy ‘almost bigger than the tactic,’ says digital strategist
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s strategy of delivering spin straight to his base through his Twitter channel is less about hoodwinking Ontarians, and more about playing to his base and to the narrative of the media as an opposition party, say some political observers, while others see the start of a concerning trend. The launch of […]
‘Just as they’re struggling to rebuild, they’re hit again,’ MP says, as constituents brace for devastating wildfire season
British Columbia is in a state of emergency for the second straight year as it grapples with controlling the wildfires that have blanketed vast pockets of the province, and one MP in the area says that while the fires aren’t as huge as last year’s, this season is breaking new records. “The smoke is literally […]
Poverty, homelessness, inequality: a few causes that might outweigh cheaper beer
OTTAWA—Populism scrambles a lot of markers, so maybe nobody cares that Ontario Premier Doug Ford is making a big deal, using government promotional incentives no less, to prioritize in the early days of his administration a possible slight decrease in what Ontarians pay for beer. It’s an amateur move, to be sure, and would seem […]
Media needs to stop labelling Ford, right-wing parties as populist, says reader
Re: “Ford’s right-wing populism: the gift that keeps on giving, for the rich,” (The Hill Times, June 20, p. 9). Why do you insist on labelling Ontario Premier Doug Ford as “populist”—a term the mainstream media continues to label right/centre parties to suggest that they would not have been elected if voters had been thinking […]
Opioid crisis symptom of society that’s sick
With Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatening to fulfill his campaign promise to close the province’s seven supervised injection sites despite the rising number of overdose deaths, it’s worth stepping back to consider where the endless stream of people willing to risk their lives comes from in the first place. It’s a key question that hasn’t […]
Quebec-related cabinet changes ‘clear signal’ Trudeau’s Liberals want to make gains in province in 2019: strategists
Recent cabinet changes impacting ministers from Quebec indicate how crucial the province and its 78 seats will be in the 2019 federal election, say strategists, with Quebec set to be a top target for all of the major parties. The July 18 cabinet shuffle saw the number of federal ministers from Quebec jump by one, […]
On policy durability
Doug Ford has been premier of Ontario for roughly a month, and already his legislative changes are creating a policy U-turn on many fronts. Cap and trade: cancelled. Green spending programs: gone. Some 758 renewable energy contracts: poof. What’s noteworthy in these changes is not that they’ve happened—Ford did campaign on doing as such—but in […]
Natural Resources minister affirms commitment to nuclear energy, say feds are examining path forward with small reactors
A new minister is at the helm and Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi, who took over from Jim Carr on July 18, is highlighting commitments to nuclear power, renewables, increased trade in the world and between provinces, and natural gas. In an email interview with The Hill Times, Mr. Sohi (Edmonton Mill Woods, Alta.) said Ottawa is […]
