‘Slightly odd group of people’: political passion drives party executives behind the scenes
A speculative election season may bring a ramp-up of responsibility and change in workflows, but for the executives who volunteer their time to run federal political parties, this is what they live for. Those in these party executive and national council positions are elected and serve on a voluntary basis. Their responsibilities include typical party […]
With McKenna out, NDP sees opportunity to recapture Ottawa Centre
Following the news that Liberal MP Catherine McKenna won’t be seeking re-election in Ottawa Centre, Ont., the NDP is hoping to use the two-term MP’s exit as an opportunity to flip the riding back to its orange ways. The riding, which has been represented provincially by Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden since 2018 and was represented […]
Former CSIS intelligence officer seeking NDP nomination in Ottawa South, McGuinty stronghold
Huda Mukbil, a national security expert and former senior intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), is seeking the NDP nomination in Ottawa South in the next federal election. The NDP’s candidate for Ottawa South in the 2019 election, Morgan Gay, had intended to run again, but recently withdrew from the nomination contest […]
The NDP’s disadvantage
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Anyone wanting to handicap the NDP’s chances in the next federal election, should bear in mind what I’d call the party’s polling disadvantage. That’s to say, both the Liberals and Conservatives can probably outdo the NDP when it comes to consistently and effectively gauging public opinion. Of course, I might be wrong about this, […]
Conservative Party slowly learning real cost of promoting culturally divisive policies
Recently, concerns over the growing problem of Islamophobia in Canada led to a push for political leaders to apologize for a controversial niqab ban that was introduced a decade ago by prime minister Stephen Harper’s government. Issues of hate-motivated violence and Islamophobia were thrust into the national discourse after a hit-and-run attack against a Muslim […]
Green Party of Canada: is its current crisis growing pains, or shrinking pains?
HALIFAX—“Appalling anti-semitism and discrimination from a range of political actors, beginning with Jagmeet Singh and Dimitri Lascaris, and many Liberal, NDP, and sadly, Green MPs. We will work to defeat you.” Noah Zatzman, former adviser and spokesperson for Green Party Leader Annamie Paul. The Green Party of Canada: is its current crisis growing pains, or […]
MP Dzerowicz’s foray into Reddit hits a few snags
Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz (Davenport, Ont.) took to popular social media site Reddit on June 9 to host an AMA, short for Ask Me Anything, wherein random users are allowed to ask questions and get hopefully cogent answers. However, the internet mob did not go easy on Ms. Dzerowicz. One point of particular note was […]
Despite budget moves, EI changes not permanent, big enough: MPs, experts
Experts and advocates hoping that temporary employment insurance change would snowball into longer lasting, more permanent restructuring and reform say they’ve been left wanting and still waiting by the federal government. Changes to the employment insurance system were signalled in Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough’s (Delta, B.C.) supplemental mandate letter. In the Jan. 15, 2021 letter, […]
Avi Lewis: flame-thrower or flame-out?
CHELSEA, QUE.—It is possibly the most electrifying thing to happen to the NDP since Jagmeet Singh became the first person of colour to lead a federal political party. That was 2017, and to say the charge has faded would be an understatement. Under the combined weight of the pandemic, the Trudeau government’s progressive response and […]
Budget investments not enough to replace need for new round of COVID student benefits, says Green leader Paul
Though the budget was generally well received by post-secondary student advocates, the lack of a returning Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) is a gap that needs to be filled to avoid students ending up in the same rough spot as last year, says Green Party Leader Annamie Paul. The benefit was introduced last spring, providing […]
