Elections Canada should oversee riding nomination elections
Nomination meetings to select candidates for ridings across the country are one of the key building blocks of democracy in any political system. Prior to every election, all party leaders vow to hold free, fair, and transparent nomination elections. But as soon as the nomination contests start, all major parties make national headlines facing allegations […]
Here’s a truth about democracy
TORONTO—Here is a truth about democracy. When faith in our judicial system is lost—and when the reputation of those who preside over it is similarly gone—we start to become much less of a democracy. We start sliding downward, inexorably, towards something else. Something diminished. Something dangerous. Recent events in New Brunswick have reminded us of […]
The comeback kids: former MPs seek return to federal political stage in October
For former NDP MP Andrew Cash, giving up after his narrow loss in 2015 to Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz was never an option. “I never didn’t think I was going to run after the election,” Mr. Cash told The Hill Times. “We ran an amazing campaign in 2015. [I got] as many votes in 2015 […]
Take nation-to-nation approach, First Nation tells feds, as it seeks equal say on 100 Wellington’s future
Ottawa could have a better idea of how the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation wants to use the building on the parliamentary precinct that’s dedicated to Indigenous peoples in the next two months, as the First Nation looks to meet with national Indigenous organizations to stake its claim over the space. Jane Deeks, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous […]
Liberal MP Tan’s wife eyes party nomination in wake of his decision not to seek re-election to ‘spend time with family’
Rookie Liberal MP Geng Tan unexpectedly announced last month that he won’t seek re-election in the fall to “spend more time with his family,” but, in a surprising development this week, his wife launched her bid for the party nomination to succeed him in their GTA riding. In a statement, Mr. Tan’s wife, Dr. Xinglai […]
Public servants handcuffed by unreasonable expectations of political neutrality
OTTAWA—On June 25, Blacklock’s Reporter broke a story that a prominent quasi-partisan Twitter personality, Neil Waytowich (a.k.a. “Neil Before Zod” on Twitter), was actually a former public service worker by day and anonymous Twitter political commentator and podcaster by night. Hot on the trail were MPs who quoted the public service code of conduct on […]
Will Scheer win big? Will Greens get party status? Our politics are too wily to see clearly
While enjoying Canada Day 2019 this week I was left to ponder what Canada’s federal political and policy landscape will look like a year from now. Will more things change or will they remain the same? Recent provincial elections have taught us that there is a bit of a disruptive mood in the land that […]
Conservative climate plan no match for Liberal effort, says reader
Sadly, the Conservatives’ ‘Real Plan to Protect Our Environment’ is based on two colossal misrepresentations of reality, both featured in Andrew Scheer’s opening message. The first is that the previous Conservative government achieved emission reductions through targeted programs, thereby implying they will have a better chance to meet Paris obligations than the carbon tax. The […]
Arms exports to Saudi Arabia reach $1.2-billion in 2018, despite calls for Canada to suspend permits
Arms exports to Saudi Arabia doubled to $1.2-billion in 2018, which advocates say makes Canada “complicit” in human rights violations and “puts a lie” to Canada’s ongoing eight-month review of the munitions it’s sending to the desert kingdom. That amount suggests a ramping up of production on Canada’s controversial multi-year $15-billion deal to send light-armoured […]
Liberals’ public opinion research spending bump an electoral boost, says strategist
Public opinion research spending climbed to $15.3-million during the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to a report by Public Services and Procurement Canada. This brings an end to the Liberals’ two-year decline in spending since 2016, with spending this year topping 2017-18 costs by $3.4-million. According to Conservative strategist Dennis Matthews, a vice-president of marketing and […]
