“Jaspal Atwal wants to appear before the House Public Safety and National Security Committee as part of its study into PM Trudeau’s India trip. Should he be invited?”
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “Justin Trudeau has failed, repeatedly, to be honest with Canadians about why a convicted attempted murderer was invited to his official events in India. The prime minister’s own national security adviser even debunked the theory the Liberals were pushing that rogue elements of an ally’s government were responsible for the public […]
Senators still split on bringing outsiders onto new expense-audit committee, as Rules Committee study gets underway
Three years after Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s explosive investigation into Senate expenses, Senators still haven’t agreed on whether to include outsiders on a new committee to audit Senate spending. The Senate Rules Committee set to work last week studying the proposed new Audit and Oversight Committee to review Senate expenses, and Senators on the committee […]
Rachel Doran exits PMO for top job with Indigenous Services Minister Philpott
Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott has a new chief of staff lined up to run her office, with Rachel Doran coming in from the Prime Minister’s Office on April 16 to begin transitioning into her new job. Until recently, Ms. Doran had been a policy adviser in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office since February 2017, […]
Trudeau and Wynne facing populist threats
OAKVILLE, ONT.—One of today’s stark political realities is that any politician in the world who espouses a “centre-left” brand of socialism is a potential victim of a populist backlash. Indeed, in the last few years upstart populist parties, of both the right and left variety, have chewed massively into the support of “mainstream” socialist parties […]
Liberals could revert to third-party status if MPs ignore constituents’ concerns, warns rookie Grit MP
Liberals jumped from the third-party status to win a majority government in the 2015 general election, but they could easily revert to their pre-election status if Grit MPs don’t reach out regularly to constituents before the next election, says rookie Liberal MP Bryan May. “I remind my colleagues and all the volunteers it only took […]
Sexual harassment workshop belongs to the women, not the men
TORONTO—Forgiveness: when is it owed, politically? By whom, and when? Who should dispense it, and who should receive it? Not abstract questions. Not, certainly, on the weekend that federal Liberals were gathering in Halifax for their convention. Not in the case of Francis Drouin, who was accused of sexual assault in downtown Halifax, just hours […]
Politics can be a four-letter word, last week’s was ugly
OTTAWA—Politics can be a four-letter word. Last week that word was ugly. Political disputes between Alberta and British Columbia and the opening salvos of the Ontario election left most spectators wondering how low politics could go. The Western oil fight is particularly ugly because it involves two provinces whose leaders ostensibly share the same political […]
Pipeline debate resonates with politicians more than it does with voters, so far
It is rare that a single issue costs a federal ruling party its re-election. Based on the latest poll to measure the impact of the ongoing pipeline crisis on the political fortunes of its various protagonists, the fate of the Trans Mountain expansion is unlikely to alone determine that of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in next […]
‘Crystal clear’ feds have jurisdiction on $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline: here’s how they could ‘reinforce’ it
There’s no doubt that the federal government has authority to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline, says a pair of constitutional lawyers, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised legislation to “reinforce” that right could sweep aside any British Columbia laws or regulations obstructing the pipeline. “The B.C. government campaigned on a promise they can’t keep, they […]
Jobs, carbon tax angles could make Trans Mountain a winner for Conservatives: Nanos
The federal Conservatives can make political hay of the stalled Trans Mountain pipeline if they continue to frame the issue in terms of lost jobs and tie it to the carbon tax, say political observers. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) has unsurprisingly used the political squabbling and uncertain status around the pipeline project to […]
