‘Tense’ fall sitting begins, with Liberals under pressure from Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc Québécois, say pollsters, lobbyists

The House is back. Get ready for a lot more parliamentary tactics, a lot more focus on the House, and a lot more of day-to-day instability in the government, says pollster Darrell Bricker. NDP House Leader Peter Julian, meanwhile, says his party will approach the fall sitting on a ‘vote-by-vote basis, much as we did during COVID.’
Elections Canada braces for mammoth byelection ballot count as protesters sign up dozens of candidates

John Dale, one of 77 candidates running in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, Que., as part of a protest for electoral reform, said disruption is expected in social movements, and ‘politely asking, in a lot of cases, does not work.’
Poilievre didn’t bully Singh into breaking Liberal deal

I’d suggest Pierre Poilievre likely knew Jagmeet Singh would inevitably cancel the deal with the Liberals this fall, which is why he ran his attack ads in the summer. He wanted to take credit for what was going to happen anyway.
Blame games on politically-targeted bot campaigns ‘irresponsible’ without verification, says researcher

Newsrooms ‘didn’t do a great job’ when first reporting on the bots promoting a Poilievre rally, and that’s ‘the danger in horse race political coverage,’ says media expert Brian Daly.
The NDP-backed pharmacare plan is a corporate handout as written

The real problem with this signature legislation of the NDP-Liberal agreement is that it will not bring medicines within Canada’s publicly funded health system.
Only pushback from members will drive party leadership to loosen grip on nominations, say campaign veterans

‘Most people will back out because they realize there’s no point running if the leader doesn’t want you there,’ says former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps.
If labour dispute goes ‘sideways’ it could derail Liberal cabinet retreat, says Nanos

If the union decides to ‘kick and scream’ in the face of binding arbitration, it could take steps that would lead to trains not running, says labour law expert Bruce Curran.
It won’t be easy when the election rolls in

Political parties will exploit our hopes and fears by prepping candidates to ensure our choice is driven by reactionary emotions, not critical analysis. Luckily, we can sift through the noise, and to make an informed decision instead.
Conservatives’ TV ad tells us a lot

Conservatives will employ negative ads to get their message across even though the polls indicate they are well ahead in the race. This is a little surprising since the ‘book’ says if your party is way out front, you should probably stick to positive messaging.
‘It could be a great night for the NDP’: potential byelection wins could trigger end of Lib-NDP agreement, say political players

‘If you thought Toronto-St. Paul’s was a world of pain for Justin Trudeau, not doing well in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun would be another devastating blow,’ says pollster Nik Nanos.