Sunny haze descends on Liberals’ pot plans
MONTREAL—Justin Trudeau wants Canadians to see his plan to legalize marijuana as a massive government intervention to save the country’s youth from the perils of cannabis. “We want to make it more difficult for kids to access marijuana. That is why we are going to legalize and control marijuana,” the prime minister proclaimed in the […]
Trudeau can’t fake feminism
OTTAWA—At the cost of up to US$350 a head, guests got to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again take to the international spotlight this month to discuss women’s rights at the Women in the World Summit in New York City. There, Trudeau conveyed what he seems to have haphazardly appropriated as “feminism.” We saw a […]
Parliament has a power problem: why few staffers report sexual harassment
Staffers could be the most likely group of people to experience sexual harassment on Parliament Hill, yet very few of them report it, and there’s one big reason why: power. “There’s a definite power imbalance between young staffers and everyone else,” said Beisan Zubi, who worked on the Hill in her mid-20s as a communications assistant […]
Digital campaigns say they’ve convinced thousands to try to swing Conservative leadership contest to the centre
A network of amateur, online political campaigns is preparing to release a mock ballot for the Conservative leadership race to thousands of supporters in the party, in an effort to swing the contest away from candidates Kellie Leitch, Kevin O’Leary, and social conservatives in the race. Organizers behind the digital campaigns, involving websites, social media accounts, and […]
Spicer obliterating unwritten rules of press chief protocol
Of all the inexplicable phenomena associated with the presidency of Donald Trump, the most outrageous in terms of shocks to the political culture is the screwball performance of White House press secretary and Melissa McCarthy-immortalizer Sean Spicer. Spicer’s operatic behavioural departures from all historical precedent related to previous White House press secretaries have been well-documented […]
Raitt campaign reaching out to members in leadership race final stretch
One of only two women in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative MP Lisa Raitt is focused on reaching out and speaking to “as many members as possible” by phone and in person in the lead-up to the May leadership convention, says campaign manager Jessica Oliver. “She’s on […]
Prime Minister Trudeau preferred leader to guide country ‘through a major crisis’: poll
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals would be supported by 38 per cent of the population if an election were held today, compared to 29 per cent for the Conservatives and 19 per cent for the New Democrats, according to a Campaign Research survey of 1,970 people. The Liberals are also most popular with 18-24 year olds (45 per […]
Conservative leadership race enters ‘horse-trading phase’ and candidates are making deals
With the Conservative leadership campaign in the home stretch, candidates and their top strategists are now reaching out to Parliamentarians, rival leadership candidates’ campaign officials and supporters, and building alliances for second-, third-, and subsequent-ballot support as none of the 14 candidates is likely to win on the first ballot in this close contest. “The […]
Proposed PBO changes fall short of promise
Within the 308-page budget bill are proposed changes to the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer that, on the surface, would seem to meet some of the Liberal government’s campaign promises and grant some of the wishes of individuals who have worked within that office. The budget legislation, Bill C-44, among many other things, makes […]
Rejection of electoral reform may prove catastrophic for Trudeau and Liberals, says Ottawa reader
Re: “Disappointed by Trudeau’s broken promise on electoral reform,” (The Hill Times, letter to the editor) and “Liberals concerned about PMO’s handling of electoral reform and cash for access issues,” (The Hill Times, Feb. 13, by Derek Abma and Abbas Rana.) Of Canada’s three major political parties—Liberal, Conservative, the NDP—and two minor parties—the Bloc, the […]
