Bernier says he ‘won’t spend a cent’ on internal People’s Party polling
The People’s Party of Canada has less than two per cent support, nationally, according to the latest polls, but leader Maxime Bernier says polling isn’t something that’s part of his new party’s process. Where other parties conduct internal polling to help gauge their next move or base support, Mr. Bernier (Beauce, Que.) almost visibly recoils […]
Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party is an inconvenient truth
OTTAWA—By writing this very column I am playing into his hands. Whose hands, you ask? Those of Maxime Bernier, once a Conservative Party leadership candidate of some renown, now leader of the People’s Party of Canada. You see, Bernier is still finding a way to generate attention, be part of the political conversation, and appear […]
Byelection delay is petty, not positive, politics
The new year is off to a pretty petty start. It’s more than a week into 2019 and there’s still no byelection call for the increasing number of vacant seats in the House of Commons. In November, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Hill Times that at least three of these calls would come this […]
Clement has a tough road to redemption, say strategists
Former Conservative MP and Harper-era cabinet minister Tony Clement’s political career is on life support, and strategists of all stripes say it’ll be tough for him to redeem himself in the eyes of voters due to his errors in judgment and the fact he didn’t tell the entire story about his behaviour from the beginning. […]
More than half of Liberal MPs nominated for 2019; Wayne Easter unsure he’ll run
More than 100 Liberal MPs have been nominated for the 2019 election after meeting thresholds the party set for incumbents to go forward uncontested, edging the party closer to the Conservative lead for official candidates. Of the 182 Grit MPs, “well over a hundred” have received a letter from the party confirming their nomination, said […]
Former Brampton Conservative MP Seeback not ruling out nomination run in Dufferin-Caledon, blasting two other official candidates for being ‘disrespectful’ for challenging Conservative MP Tilson
The Conservative nomination in the coveted riding of Dufferin-Caledon, Ont., hasn’t officially opened up yet, but a heated war of words is happening among Tories with one potential candidate blasting the two party-approved candidates for being “disrespectful” to challenge incumbent five-term MP David Tilson, who only recently announced that he won’t seek re-election in 2019. […]
Balancing the budget is not Canada’s top economic priority
TORONTO—The Conservatives say they would like to make the economy the issue in the next federal election, about a year from now. But if they simply want a return to the discredited austerity policies of the Harper government, which slowed Canada’s recovery from the Great Recession and kept too many Canadians unemployed for too long, […]
Free advice to Liberals: forget about Harper
OAKVILLE, ONT.—I have a confession to make; sometimes, when doing “punditry,” I feel a little bit uncomfortable when I openly criticize political party strategists. Why? Well, even though my criticisms might be based on a reasonable analysis, the fact remains I’m still on the outside looking in, meaning party strategists possess important stuff I lack, […]
Drawing from a new well: Tories look to party outsiders to quench voters’ thirst for change
Looking to replicate their success in the recent Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, Que., byelection on a national scale, the Conservatives’ 2019 campaign chief is encouraging party faithful to think outside the box and recruit outside traditional party circles. “Especially in seats we haven’t won for a long time, going back to the same well again and again […]
Conservatives reach out to Bernier supporters, ‘time will tell’ how many will follow him out of the party
HALIFAX—Members of the Conservative caucus presented a united front Thursday after Maxime Bernier’s dramatic exit from the party, and suggested the party’s rank and file wouldn’t be too quick to follow behind him. Mr. Bernier (Beauce, Que.) lost the contest to lead the party last May by a razor-thin margin to Andrew Scheer (Regina–Qu’Appelle, Sask.). […]
