What insurrection? The appalling U.S. Capitol riot may have only added to Trump’s momentum
OTTAWA—A year later, it’s clear that the Jan. 6 insurrection by Donald Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol wasn’t so much an aberration as a symptom. The almost universal reaction—that Trump had finally gone too far in inciting an attempt to overthrow the election result in the heart of U.S. democracy—turned out to be fleeting. […]
The end goal? Getting to the finish line with few political hurdles
OTTAWA—It is 2022. For now, optimism is taking a back seat to Omicron. Frustration rules among many of us. If there is light at the end of the tunnel it is still being obscured by a COVID fog bank. Being that moribund is like creating my own emotional prison—time for a jail break. At the […]
Feminism on the rise in Canada, but experts say more policy action needed to match
Feminism is on the rise in Canada, according to a recent poll commissioned by Independent Senator Donna Dasko, and while gender representation within political parties is improving, concrete policy action still leaves a lot to be desired, experts say. The poll, commissioned by Dasko (Ontario) from the Environics Institute for Survey Research (related to the […]
Families Minister Gould hangs on to chief of staff Tsaï-Klassen
Families, Children, and Social Development Minister Karina Gould has locked in Frédérique Tsaï-Klassen to continue as chief of staff in her new portfolio. Tsaï-Klassen returned to Parliament Hill to take charge of Gould’s former office as international development minister last April, following more than two years as director of communications at the Canadian Embassy in […]
China policy will be a major foreign policy test for Trudeau’s government
TORONTO—It is a serious cause for concern that the word “China” never appears in the mandate letter for Mélanie Joly, our latest minister of foreign affairs. With the U.S. drumming up an anti-China Cold War, and pressing us to join, it’s vital that Canada independently determine its own best interests rather than being dragged along […]
Will COVID revive the federal public service?
CHELSEA, QUE.—It took an unprecedented health crisis, but Canada’s public service—and the tens of thousands of people who work for government—has been shaken to the core by COVID and the future, especially today, remains uncertain. Are we witnessing the birth of a more nimble, family-friendly, enticing public sector workplace—with opportunities spread across the country, rather […]
The Trump faithful continue to support the Big Lie, heart and soul
HALIFAX—U.S. President Joe Biden has finally delivered his Hail Mary speech. He is getting a lot of praise is some quarters, namely on CNN and in a few of the big U.S. papers. Understandably. Though he wasn’t exactly Barack Obama, by Biden standards, it was a pretty good speech. That’s because he usually sounds like […]
Whither the Green Party?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Imagine if your job aboard the sinking Titanic was to convince its passengers to remain optimistic. Be a pretty tough task, wouldn’t it? Well, former Green Party leader Elizabeth May recently had to perform a duty almost as difficult. She was put in charge of writing a fundraising letter to Green donors that aimed […]
CERB cuts devastating Canada’s creative sector
OTTAWA—Musical blockbuster Come From Away has already been seen by a million Canadians. But if you missed the Canadian performance in Toronto, you won’t be able to see it in this country again. The story of how the people of Newfoundland opened their hearts to passengers stranded by the downing of the World Trade Centre […]
Dan Arnold exits the PMO, new role of Indigenous outreach adviser added
The end of 2021 also brought the end of Dan Arnold’s six-year run as director of research and advertising in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s office A former associate vice president of Pollara Strategic Insights, Arnold became lead research strategist for the federal Liberal Party in March 2014, overseeing public opinion research and analysis in the lead-up […]
