The horror of free child care and other political crimes
CHELSEA, QUE.—She’s done it again. Free child care for pre-schoolers in Ontario! This cynical ploy follows a series of recent outrages: free drugs for seniors, a staged increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanded mental-health services, the largest increase in hospital spending in a decade, $300-million more for special needs education. Where […]
Data mining key to winning elections
OTTAWA—Data mining is the key to election wins. The more tools at your disposal, the easier it is to target volunteer efforts in the most efficient manner. The 21st century reality for political parties is that the pool of volunteers, primarily non-working women, is shrinking and the way we reach voters is changing. Any political […]
Charles Tupper: Tenacious champion of Confederation
Of all the original Fathers of Confederation, Charles Tupper of Nova Scotia was its most tenacious champion in one of its most inhospitable environments. It is therefore fitting that he was also the last surviving original Father of Confederation, dying in 1915 at age 94. Tupper remained active in politics until his eighties, leading the […]
‘It’s like a dam broke,’ Liberals’ priorities aren’t jiving with public’s priorities, support bleeds: pollsters
The Trudeau government’s priorities aren’t jiving with the public’s priorities, causing the Liberals to lose support in Ontario, home to more than one-third of all 338 seats, as well as the Prairie provinces, say pollsters. “It’s a misalignment of government’s priorities and the public’s priorities,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, in […]
Is it a Canadian value to put high-income Canadians ahead of low-income Canadians?
TORONTO—The Trudeau government loves to talk up what it calls Canadian values. But is it a Canadian value to put high-income Canadians ahead of low-income Canadians? While the middle class—especially individuals with taxable incomes in the $90,000-$100,000 range—have benefitted from Liberal tax cuts, those Canadians with taxable incomes of $45,283 or less have been left […]
Cannabis bill a concern for Indigenous communities and ‘ripe for amendment’: Sen. Sinclair
The effect legal marijuana will have on historically “over-policed and under-resourced” Indigenous communities is cause for concern, according to Independent Senator Murray Sinclair, who is calling on the government to address gaps in services he said will be further strained by legalization. “Right now, Indigenous communities have a significant amount of drug problems without them […]
Defence Minister Sajjan hires news comms aide
National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has hired Brit Mockler to be a special assistant for communications in his ministerial office. Until recently, Ms. Mockler had spent the past year working as a public engagement officer for the New Brunswick Women’s Council, an arm’s-length body established by the provincial government in 2014 “to promote the equality […]
Down to the wire to decide on Centre Block summer move-out, Tory whip says delay ‘worrying’
With less than three months until the House rises for the summer, there is still no firm decision on whether MPs will return to Centre Block in September or move into their new digs in West Block as part of ongoing renovations, members of the House Board of Internal Economy were told last week. While […]
Dictators and elections
LONDON, U.K.—Why do they bother? A week ago, Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator, got himself ‘re-elected’ to his fourth six-year term by a 76 per cent majority on a 76 per cent turn-out. This week (26-28 March) the Egytian dictator, former general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will be ‘re-elected’ with close to 100 per cent support, […]
Trudeau’s starting to act like Harper, and that’s not a good thing
OTTAWA—In some strange ways Justin Trudeau’s government is starting to behave a bit like the old regime of Stephen Harper. Specifically, the Liberals are going on needless, unhelpful political journeys that in the long run serve to irritate current and potential supporters. Earlier this year they, of course, decided to re-engineer the Canada Summer Jobs […]
