Think the Conservative leadership race is a yawn fest? The NDP has it worse
OTTAWA—The federal New Democratic Party is having a leadership race? Who knew? Even though it officially kicked off two weeks ago, it is so far a bigger snooze fest than the Conservative race. That doesn’t seem possible, but it is true. It is hard to believe that a year ago the NDP was leading federal […]
Annual Financial Reports of Federal Political Parties
Liberal Party: Category 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total Contributions $10,119,908.62 $8,166,657.76 $11,292,845.85 $15,063,142.28 $21,276,897.57 Total Contributors 49,650 44,466 71,655 77,064 93,426 Total Transfers $235,572.91 $760,406.58 $282,457.59 $2,187,478.58 $1,312,625.13 Total Loans $15-million 0 0 0 $40-million Overall Total Contributions, Loans and Transfers $25,355,481.53 $8,947,064.34 $11,575,303.44 $17,250,620.86 $62,589,522.70 Total General Election Expenses $19,507,745.82 – – – […]
Majority of Liberal voters disagree with assisted dying for minors, people with mental illnesses
Six in 10 Canadians do not support allowing mature minors or people who suffer from mental illnesses to access physician-assisted dying, according to a new Forum Research Inc. poll provided exclusively to The Hill Times. The random sampling of 1,429 Canadian voters indicated that 62 per cent were against allowing mature minors aged 12 to 18 […]
Political leader wanted, no experience desired
GATINEAU, QUE.—What an odd state of affairs—so many enticing political jobs on offer and so few attractive (sane, even) candidates. Leaders, or would-be leaders, of Britain’s major parties are clamouring for the exits: first the bumptious Boris Johnson, a major voice in the successful Brexit campaign; then Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing UKIP party, […]
Bélanger returns to NDP leader’s office, along with other staff changes
PARLIAMENT HILL—Longtime NDP staffer Karl Bélanger is back in the NDP Leader’s Office, resuming his previous role as principal secretary, meanwhile, George Smith is now deputy director of communications for the NDP on the Hill, while his identical twin brother, James Smith, recently became a new caucus press secretary. Mr. Bélanger, who is currently taking […]
NDP leadership race officially underway, but candidacy announcements unlikely until fall
The NDP leadership race which will last more than a year officially got underway last weekend, though no announcements about candidacies are expected soon. The party is heading into a race that will see its next leader decided in, potentially, a series of votes over the course of the month in October 2017 with several mini-conventions […]
Trumpery on both sides of the border
TORONTO—In January, long before the first primary was held and when 17 candidates were still vying for the Republican nomination, a Virginian in South Carolina who spotted my Toronto T-shirt told me he worked as a consultant to Manitoba’s public auto insurance Crown corporation. It had been created by the NDP over the loud objections […]
Top 10 good things about Harper, personal and political
TORONTO—And so it ends, not with a bang, but a whimper. Late last week, in a secluded part of Centre Block, staff were seen packing up Stephen Harper’s parliamentary office. Anyone wandering by could see the moving boxes and the packing tape, in plain view. Harper, the 22nd prime minister of Canada, had cast his last […]
‘You didn’t have pizza at 10:30 with John McCallum,’ LeBlanc tells Global’s Tom Clark he lies to wife about unhealthy eating
Government House Leader and Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc took a plane ride on a recent episode of The West Block With Tom Clark and admitted during the interview that he lies to his wife—about eating. “Under what circumstances do you lie?” Tom Clark, a licensed pilot, asked as he flew his plane with Mr. LeBlanc in the […]
My leadership advice to Kenney, MacKay: No matter how much sunshine got blown up your arse at the convention, decide for you and no one else
OTTAWA—Choosing to head up either of Canada’s two largest federal opposition parties is proving to be an unattractive or uncertain option for quite a few talented current or former politicians. And, frankly, who could blame them for not wanting to lead the Conservatives or NDP right now. It isn’t that Justin Trudeau is invincible come […]
