Liberals’ repeal of Tory laws about ‘repaying political favours,’ says Scheer
The Liberal government’s legislative agenda, so far, has been “purely just for repaying political favours,” according to Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer. Mr. Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) told The Hill Times that Conservatives are finding it frustrating to see the bills the Liberals have been introducing be focused mainly on repealing Conservative legislation passed in the last […]
Surprisingly, Trudeau’s more committed to anti-ISIS fight than Harper
TORONTO—Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I voted Liberal in the last election. The Liberal candidate in our riding, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, made it easy: serious, impressive young guy, great CV. We had a big red sign on our front lawn touting him, the minute the writ was dropped. Easy choice. Standing in the voting booth […]
How is it possible Conservative brain trust underestimated ‘change’ force in 2015 election?
MONTREAL—On a week that marks the passing of Justin Trudeau’s 100th day in power, key Conservative and NDP insiders have been delivering some preliminary conclusions as to the causes of their October defeats. Their findings are strikingly interchangeable—with the popular momentum for change somewhat conveniently fingered as a root cause of electoral failure. In an […]
Trudeau should beware of NEP-style politics, it will only assist Conservative Party
TORONTO—Growing up in Calgary, as I did, there were certain things you just didn’t do. If you didn’t you were just asking for trouble. You didn’t, for instance, ever offer or accept two dollar bills (because those were bad luck, and sometimes even called “whore notes”). You didn’t ever try and raise a rat as […]
Canadian economy needs more innovation
TORONTO—We do not need any more reminders that the Canadian economy needs more innovation. The Bloomberg Innovation Index has just ranked us 19th in the world while The Global Innovation Index, published by two business schools—INSEAD and Cornell University—and the World Intellectual Property Organization ranked Canada 16th. Our own poor figures on business investment in […]
Ministers Hehr and Carr bulk up offices, hire policy directors
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr has hired a policy director for his ministerial office, straight from the department of Natural Resources, while Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr has hired Paul McCarthy to serve as his policy director. Along with Mr. McCarthy, Ben Charland is Mr. Hehr’s ministerial executive assistant. Mr. Charland was deputy campaign manager and communications […]
Party structure stuck in the Dark Ages
OAKVILLE, ONT.—In my view, modern-day Canadian political parties have something in common with Germanic war tribes of the Dark Ages. Ordinarily, I’d follow such a provocative opening paragraph with some sort of witty satiric barb along the lines of, “Just as Germanic tribes marauded around Europe plundering and looting Roman cites, today’s political parties maraud […]
Politics This Morning: Holland, Kingsley to talk electoral reform at Senate Liberal Open Caucus
Following public meetings in the last Parliament on a variety of issues, the Senate Liberals, who were kicked out of the national Liberal caucus in 2014, will continue its Open Caucus initiative. The Senate Liberals will hold an Open Caucus meeting today to discuss electoral reform. “In the spring of 2014, the Senate Liberals opened […]
New Democrat donor support plunges by more than $6-million in fourth quarter
Donations to the NDP plunged like a rock during the last three weeks of the federal election campaign and on through the final two months of 2015, Elections Canada reports show. From a record quarterly high of $9-million in donations in the months leading up to the long campaign and its first two months, the […]
Sajjan hires former Vancouver police partner
National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has hired his former partner at the Vancouver Police Department, recruiting officer Kevin Torvik, to work as a policy adviser in his new ministerial office. Mr. Torvik is on a leave of absence from the Vancouver Police Department. In 2007, Mr. Sajjan and Mr. Torvik, as undercover Vancouver police officers […]
