MacNeil steps in as chief of staff to Agriculture Minister MacAulay
Veteran Liberal staffer Vince MacNeil has landed in Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s office post shuffle, having taken over as chief of staff in early August, Hill Climbers has learned. He officially started on the job on Aug. 7. Mr. MacNeil was previously chief of staff to Dominic LeBlanc as fisheries and oceans minister. He’d started […]
The cursed state of Canadian politics
OAKVILLE—When people say, “may you live in interesting times,” it’s supposed to be a curse, since “interesting” equates to turbulent, i.e. “World War II sure was interesting.” If that’s the case then I guess Canada is mightily cursed right now, since interesting politics is busting out all over the place. To see what I mean, […]
Canadians will cut the Liberals slack on NAFTA for negotiating with ‘crazy man’ Trump, say pollsters
The Liberals won’t be punished by voters if they head into next year’s federal election campaign without a finished NAFTA renegotiation, some pollsters say, and Canadians will cut them slack for trying to strike a deal with the unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump. But Nanos Research chair Nik Nanos said the Grits would be taking […]
‘Streamlining’ of cabinet committees an effort to shore up priorities before 2019, say strategists
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to slim down the cabinet committee roster, and decrease the number of assignments per minister, is likely an effort to streamline work, free up ministers, and ensure the government’s agenda progresses in the last year before the 2019 election, say strategists. “The reduction of cabinet committees is a sign that […]
Let’s hope Australia’s political sickness isn’t contagious
LONDON, U.K.—I happened to be in Canberra a couple of weeks ago, speaking to a room full of journalists at the National Press Club, when the news came in, halfway through lunch, that Australia had a new prime minister. The moderator pointed out that the year is already two-thirds gone and it is “only three […]
Grassroots Liberals want five-term Quebec Liberal MP Paradis to ‘show good judgment’ and not seek re-election in 2019
A group of about 200 grassroots Liberals in the Quebec riding of Brome-Missisquoi wants Denis Paradis, 69, to either not seek re-election in 2019, or to face a nomination contest, and in a show of their displeasure with the five-term MP they defeated eight of the 11 candidates on the Liberal MP’s slate of candidates […]
Trans Mountain court decision a ‘political no-win’ that could hurt Liberals in Quebec, B.C., Alberta, says pollster
The Liberals stand to take a hit on multiple political fronts from the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to but the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on ice, and the governing Grits have now alienated “basically everyone” with an opinion on the pipeline, says pollster Nik Nanos. “It’s a political no-win,” said Mr. Nanos, chairperson at […]
Whither—or is it wither?—the NDP
CHELSEA, QUE.—Federal leader Jagmeet Singh isn’t the only New Democrat facing a daunting uphill climb this fall: trying to win a seat, losing veteran MPs to retirement, stumbling into unnecessary controversies. The entire party, federal and provincial, is a mess of contradictory policies, clashing priorities, tired or tentative standard-bearers, and few obvious signs of enthusiasm […]
Americans are fed up with President Trump
PORTLAND, MAINE – The elderly woman approached us at the corner of Wythburn Road and Mardale Avenue, in South Portland. She squinted at us. She wasn’t on the list the Democrats had given to us. We’d seen her earlier, when we were knocking on the door of one of her neighbours. The woman had a […]
Pipeline politics won’t help Scheer in Quebec
OTTAWA—It is not a Maxime Bernier-led breakaway party that stands to most damage Conservative prospects in Quebec in next year’s federal election, but rather some of leader Andrew Scheer’s own promises. In a keynote speech to his party’s national convention on Friday, Scheer laid out part of his 2019 battle plan. As expected, it borrows heavily […]
