A lesson from Kenya
If there were any doubt remaining after the 2016 U.S. presidential election about the status of election outcomes as high-value corruption targets, the death of Chris Msando is worth considering. Msando, whose mutilated body was found in the woods outside Nairobi more than a week before the Aug. 8 presidential election in Kenya, was neither […]
Good for Tories, Grits for mature co-operation on NAFTA
They’re allowed to disagree with the government. Heck, that’s a huge part of their job. But when it comes to NAFTA, the official opposition Conservatives have taken a tactful approach so far in not bashing the governing Liberals, and it’s worth continuing under new foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole, international trade critic Dean Allison, and […]
Environment Minister McKenna adds senior staff, including ex-Chrétien aide
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna’s office has undergone a number of senior staff changes in recent weeks, including Lucy Hargreaves taking on the role of director of operations and planning to the minister. Ms. Hargreaves was previously in charge of Ms. McKenna’s office as the Liberal MP for Ottawa Centre, Ont., a role […]
‘The NDP can’t win without Quebec,’ and with four per cent membership there, that’s a problem, say some insiders
Quebec is understood among NDP insiders as a key piece in the party’s path to government, but with only four per cent of members who call the province home, Quebecers will have very little say about who becomes the next NDP leader. Quebec accounts for 4,907 of the 124,000 NDP members eligible to vote in this fall’s […]
Will the real Joe Clark please stand up?
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONT.—It was clear from the moment they handed out the “Budget in Brief” in the media lock-up for the Progressive Conservatives’ 1979 budget that Joe Clark’s minority government was done for. “Part of the reason for our disappointing economic performance during the past decade has been the failure of governments, particularly the federal government, […]
Scheer’s already done, try again Tories
TORONTO—So, Andrew Scheer shuffled his “shadow cabinet” last week. It was newsworthy only in that it reminded us that the newly minted Conservative Party leader is, you know, not dead. But he isn’t all that alive either. Scheer exists in some sort of political limbo, neither here nor there. Among other things, he is remarkably […]
Twitterverse has something to say about Trudeau’s favourite beer
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is knee-deep in scandal after an interview he recently did with a U.S. website, and not just because he’s again granted access to foreign journalists while Canadian scribes settle for emailed talking points from his staffers. He’s featured in a video interview by Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, founders of an […]
Veterans advocates hope for change from O’Regan at Veterans Affairs
Veterans-rights advocates hope the appointment last week of Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, N.L.) as Veterans Affairs minister will breathe new life into a department accused of insensitivity toward its clients, and fulfill a Liberal campaign promise of bringing back lifelong disability pensions for veterans hurt in action. “The senior staff at […]
NDP leadership race comes down to choice of ‘power vs. principle,’ say strategists
With voting in the NDP leadership race starting later this month, political strategists say the decision comes down to party members deciding whether they want to make a pragmatic choice—i.e., pick someone who can beat Justin Trudeau—or they prefer someone who stays true to the party’s social democratic principles, or perhaps even strike balance between […]
OLO deputy chief of staff’s father seeking Conservative nomination in Lebel’s old riding
Former Roberval, Que., city councillor and father of opposition leader’s office deputy chief of staff Marc-André Leclerc, is seeking the Conservative Party nomination in the Quebec riding of Lac-Saint-Jean, recently vacated by outgoing MP and former cabinet minister Denis Lebel. Rémy Leclerc, a political organizer and volunteer for Mr. Lebel’s federal political campaigns, was not […]
