To win, O’Toole doesn’t need a bigger tent
OAKVILLE, ONT.—One of the most common bits of advice pundits like to offer to Canada’s Conservative Party is that it needs a “bigger tent.” As the CBC News’ Éric Grenier recently wrote, “If the Conservatives want to win the next election, they’ll need a broader coalition of voters behind them.” Always implied in this sort […]
Conservative Party’s national council rejects Sloan’s appeal to run under its banner in next election
The Conservative Party’s national council rejected the appeal of booted Conservative MP Derek Sloan on Thursday night to be allowed to run as a party candidate in the next election, according to senior Conservative sources. Mr. Sloan (Hastings-Lennox and Addington, Ont.), who now sits as an Independent and ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative leadership last […]
O’Toole’s pivot to centre, Sloan’s expulsion, and Kenney’s tanking popularity could help Maverick Party win out West, say Conservative political insiders
Erin O’Toole’s pivot to the political centre, Derek Sloan’s expulsion from the caucus, and Jason Kenney’s falling polling figures are all going to contribute to a significant bump up for Western Canada’s upstart Maverick Party, which could win a few seats in the Western provinces in the next election, say Conservative political insiders and the […]
O’Toole needs to channel Reagan’s optimism
OAKVILLE, ONT.—If Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole is looking for New Year’s resolution suggestions, I’d advocate he pledge to emulate former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Now let me quickly add here, I’m not saying O’Toole should copy Reagan’s brand of “small government conservatism,” a philosophy which likely wouldn’t resonate too well in 2020 Canada, rather […]
Christmas gift ideas for our leaders
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Now that Christmas is just around the corner, it’s time to ponder that most important of seasonal questions: what gifts would each of the main federal party leaders like to see under their tree this year? Okay, a trite way to start things off I know, but given the sad state of 2020 I […]
Championing a coup in plain sight, Trump’s latest outrage is a lesson in the dangers of post-reality extremism
OTTAWA—It’s interesting to look back at the comments by U.S. analysts in the early aftermath of the Nov. 3 election, when most were saying President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede, though troublesome, was likely to be short-lived. A month later, while many denizens of the White House have reportedly internalized the reality of Joe Biden’s victory, […]
Erin O’Toole has fumbled the push for Canada’s 988 suicide hotline
Suicide is serious. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, which has been a source of unprecedented emotional stress, 11 Canadians died by suicide, and dozens more attempted to end their lives, every day. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth; in some Indigenous communities it has reached epidemic levels. Since the upheavals produced by […]
For O’Toole, a carbon tax should always be a bad idea
OAKVILLE, ONT.—There are some things in politics that should never ever happen. The mayor of New York City should never declare himself to be a Boston Red Sox fan, the premier of Quebec should never join the Monarchist League, and the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada should never support new taxes. Okay , […]
‘Much more gets accomplished when hyper-partisanship is taken out of politics’: MPs, experts, politicos weigh in on leadership during global pandemic’s second wave
With the ‘second wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic confronting the highest levels of leadership in both politics and in the health community, as confirmed cases continue to increase in jurisdictions across Canada, both MPs and experts say that “this is the time when we need to work for the health and safety of every Canadian,” […]
New Green leader must unify party after crowded race, members say, as Paul marks historic win
After a nine-month leadership race and a crowded field of eight candidates that members took eight ballots to narrow to one, victor Annamie Paul agreed with her closest competitor that the Green Party has work to do unifying its ranks. “Even with a party like ours that worked really hard to do politics differently, when […]
