It was a self-inflicted bad week for the Liberals
OTTAWA—It was a self-inflicted bad week for the Liberals. First was the cabinet shuffle, which ended up creating more questions than answers. Then followed the racially-based comments of Liberal candidate Karen Wang pitting Chinese against Indo voters in the British Columbia byelection including New Democratic leader Jagmeet Singh. On the cabinet shuffle, Prime Minister Justin […]
Wilson-Raybould could do a lot for Canada’s current and future veterans
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office may not have anticipated much fuss surrounding any of the appointments in last week’s cabinet shuffle. As we have observed, they were mistaken. The thrust of the criticism is that a highly accomplished minister was “demoted” from Justice to Veterans Affairs. Some professional political-watchers denounce this change as an insult […]
Dismantling of power cabinet trio sends a distressing message to Indigenous peoples
It’s possible that pundits read too much into every cabinet shuffle, particularly mere months before a federal election. But with the past week’s mini-shuffle, it’s hard to ignore the implications for Indigenous affairs in Canada. After the Liberals were elected in October 2015, the Trudeau government highlighted Indigenous affairs as one of its top national […]
NDP taking ‘nothing for granted’ in Burnaby South as top Hill staffers, B.C. MPs working to get Singh elected
The NDP is drawing on support from top Hill staffers, B.C. NDP MPs, and party resources “all over the Lower Mainland” to get NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh elected in the February byelection in Burnaby South, NDP MPs and strategists say. The byelection is considered critical to the party’s overall fortunes and Mr. Singh wants to […]
Democracy needs good losers
OAKVILLE, ONT.—When it comes to writing about politics, I have something of a bad habit. Nothing too serious mind you, it’s just that I probably use too many military metaphors. At times, for instance, I’ll refer to a political party broadcasting TV and radio ads as launching an “air war” or I’ll call party volunteers […]
Trudeau’s no longer Mr. Cool on the world stage
TORONTO—Foreign policy does not seem destined to be a major issue in this year’s federal election. Canadians will likely be more concerned with the state of the economy, carbon taxes, climate change, and pipelines. But it will still be there. How Canada—and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—are seen by the rest of the world, and whether […]
‘Not a chance’ Liberals will sweep Atlantic region again in October, say political insiders
The unprecedented success of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in winning all 32 seats in Atlantic Canada in 2015 is unlikely to be repeated in the upcoming election this October, and instead the governing party could lose “six to 11 seats” in the region, say political insiders. “The likelihood that Liberals will sweep Atlantic Canada [again in […]
Let’s hope Bernier gets the memo on how to talk about national security
OTTAWA—Third parties are an interesting bit of Canadian political history. I am not well-versed in the blood sport of politics and thus have no intention of pretending to be a pundit on these matters. What I do find intriguing, however, is how certain parties treat, or are seen to treat, matters relating to national security, […]
‘We’re going to be every bit as active in this federal election’: Dias says unions undeterred by new pre-election ad spending limits
New limits on pre-election political advertising are unlikely to force a change of approach from Canada’s unions and other high-spending advertisers from the last election, say executives and spokespeople for some of those groups. “The short answer is ‘no.’ We’re going to be every bit as active in this federal election as we were in […]
The road to Stornoway is paved with good intentions
HALIFAX—Justin Trudeau—champion of change, or casualty of good intentions? Though he will doubtless take the stage as a change-champion in this year’s federal election, a growing list of largely symbolic policy “gestures” will make that role harder to pull off. He may be full of good intentions, but his record is another matter. The latest […]
