Who is the real Conservative leader? It depends on who you ask
Andrew Scheer is on record as being the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. But who is the de facto leader? Is it Doug Ford, Jason Kenney or Stephen Harper? Who is really running the show or calling the shots? Ontario Premier Doug Ford has shut down the Ontario legislature until after the federal […]
Lessons from the Doug Ford School of Public Administration
OTTAWA—School is out at Queen’s Park, but here are the lessons for the next semester based on the first year of Premier Doug Ford’s government in Ontario: Talk about helping “the people” while you slash programs that many need: Roll back promised funding increases for rape crisis centres, cut legal aid by 30 per cent, […]
Conservative Leader Scheer makes changes to his OLO communications team
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer recently made some changes to the communications team lineup in his Official Opposition Leader’s Office, with two former advisers to Ontario Premier Doug Ford marking their first day on the job last week. News that two of Mr. Ford’s communications aides—Veronica Green and Simon Jefferies—would be making their way to Ottawa […]
Kenney’s and Ford’s shameless abuse of power, says reader
Re: “Kenney, Ford to spend $60-million on PR war against Trudeau’s carbon tax, and that ain’t right,” (The Hill Times, by Michael Harris, May 27, p. 4). I just want to say thank you for Michael Harris’ opinion piece about Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s shameless abuse of power. Conservatives are […]
For the love of Canada, vote responsibly, urges reader
It has become clear to me that today’s Ontario Progressive Conservative government is an oxymoron. You cannot be progressive and be conservative. Under the leadership of Doug Ford, the only thing progressive about the PC government is that it has become more and more progressively conservative. Not only is today’s PC government not progressive—it’s not […]
If this week’s dumb shrieking battles are any sign, this election won’t be pretty
OTTAWA—The past week provided a sadly predictable look ahead at this fall’s federal election. Dynamism was eschewed for dumb shrieking battles that we have seen a million times before and ultimately advance nothing but the same old partisan pepper spray. Sprinkle in the silly and you get a feel for what is coming our way. […]
Trying to derail serious climate change action will someday be viewed as the crime it is
OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer kept joking at the press gallery dinner the other night about the persistent questions about his party’s lack of a climate-change plan six months before a federal election. Yes, yes, it’s coming, he chuckled. This while newly elected Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, now considered the leader of the right-wing “opposition” to […]
Are Canadians really prepared to embrace Trumpian politics and give the Liberals an October surprise?
HALIFAX—Before anyone concludes that the “Little Potato” is about to be peeled, they should consider this question about Justin Trudeau’s possible demise: are Canadians really prepared to embrace Trumpian politics and give the Liberals an October surprise? Make no mistake about it, the federal Conservatives are banking on it, with a little help from their […]
‘For the people’? Ford’s health cuts show disconnect between rhetoric, reality
OTTAWA—It’s been nearly 20 years since seven people died and 2,300 became ill as a result of water contamination in the town of Walkerton, Ont.—the worst case of its kind in the country’s history. As Justice Dennis O’Connor concluded in a 2002 judicial inquiry report, the incident could in part be traced back directly to […]
If his strategy is to declare war on everyone, Scheer will pay a price in next election
OTTAWA—Conventional wisdom dictates that Jason Kenney’s Alberta victory will boost the fortunes of Andrew Scheer in the upcoming federal election. I beg to differ. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now has two aggressive, anti-environmental foils to run against in an election. The more Kenney fights with the rest of the country, the more people will worry […]
