Summertime no vacation for party leaders, MPs
OTTAWA—Summer is upon us and so is a new political season. It is one that matters a lot for different reasons to our biggest political parties. For the opposition Conservatives, the Andrew Scheer roadshow begins. The new leader will be trotted out in communities across the country to, first and foremost, build faith among supporters […]
An old reason for electoral reform
Did the Pepin-Robarts Task Force on Canadian Unity not recommend, in 1979, to have electoral reform for federal elections with proportional representation? Could we have a better country with a simple electoral reform, with Prince Edward Island consenting to a reduction of two seats in the House of Commons and with, for example, 315 members […]
Principle or power? The NDP’s eternal struggle
When it comes to opining about New Democrats or the Liberal Party, The Globe and Mail can usually be relied on to be snarky to one or the other. Their lead editorial on May 31, 2017, managed to offend both. “Kathleen Wynne is a great NDP premier” was their sneering response to the Liberal government’s […]
From Macdonald to Mulroney: transformative Conservative leadership
Like most political movements, Canadian Conservatives in the past 150 years have celebrated the heights of achievement, suffered the ignominy of defeat, seized opportunities and lost them, been divided, reunited and redefined several times, recovered to regain victory and persevered. As other parties, they have celebrated heroic leaders and spurned bad ones who left behind […]
Manchester terrorist attack and why intelligence agencies collect information
OTTAWA—Intelligence agencies are generally poorly understood in our societies. The agencies themselves are partly to blame since they shroud themselves in secrecy, albeit for good reasons. In addition, public perception is at fault, partly due to the assumption by many that spies are nefarious creatures at heart and partly due to the often highly inaccurate […]
Religion still influential in Canadian politics, presents challenge to Conservative politicians: book authors
Much of Canadian society today is secularized, with only a slim portion of the population viewing religion as very important to their lives. But it nonetheless remains influential in the politics of this country, as seen federally of late with the Conservative Party, according to a new book, Religion & Canadian Party Politics. The book, […]
The Liberal Party at 150: the centre still holds
Even as Canada was being born, diversity was recognized as our pre-eminent distinguishing characteristic. Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, a member of Parti Rouge, and subsequently the first Liberal to become premier of Quebec, recognized, too, in his celebrated metaphor that rainbows were fragile—“an image without substance”—and that Confederation would be far from solid without constant […]
A few storm clouds invade Justin Trudeau’s sunny skies
TORONTO—After 20 months as prime minister, Justin Trudeau isn’t quite as sunny as he used to be. He remains unfailingly polite. At an Ottawa press conference on June 27 to mark the end of Parliament’s spring sitting, he thanked reporters—as he often does—for what he called their contribution to democracy. At the end, he kissed […]
Joly missed boat on Canada 150 celebrations
TORONTO—Canada’s 150th birthday has come and gone. Notice anything missing? Like, say, a federal presence. If you live outside of Ottawa, you sure didn’t see much of that. In Ottawa, despite the many terrific Canadian acts available, the big moment at the big show was a single song performed by a couple of members of U2—a band, you […]
It’s time for summertime political predictions
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Now that summer is officially upon us, and the political world is a little more relaxed, it’s a good time to have some fun. And what’s more fun than playing a game of speculation, where we make wild guesses about future political tactics and strategy? Okay, admittedly lots of things are more fun, but […]
