The incredible shrinking country
OTTAWA—Think back through the years and see if you can remember a more petty, vengeful act by a political leader than Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to raise the number of seats needed for a party to reach official status at Queen’s Park. The Progressive Conservatives are hiking the required seat total in the Ontario legislature required […]
To save a buck, Ford triggers waves of indignation
Make no mistake. By putting Ontario’s francophone minority on his fiscal hit list this week, Premier Doug Ford has placed his federal ally Andrew Scheer in harm’s way. In Thursday’s fiscal update, Ontario’s Tory government put plans for a long-promised French-language university on the chopping block, in the process reversing Ford’s campaign commitment to the […]
Demand for action on climate change shatters Scheer’s hopes in Quebec
MONTREAL—Tens of thousands of Quebecers took to the streets on Nov. 10 to call for more decisive action on climate change. In Montreal alone, 50,000 took part in the demonstration. In the short space of a week, more than 150,000 signed a pledge that commits them to reduce their carbon footprints but also demands more […]
Trudeau rebate bumps support for carbon pricing above 50 per cent, poll suggests
The Liberal promise to return directly to Canadians revenue from the upcoming carbon tax has shifted public opinion to give the Grits a slim edge in support and has “mollified” some opponents, according to a poll following last week’s announcement. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed the Liberals’ plan for provinces that opted not to […]
Grits should ‘stick to their guns’ on climate plan or risk losing message to Tories: politicos, experts
The Liberals should “stick to their guns” on their carbon plan and offer an “extremely clear” message with the tax-turned-rebate frame to ward off “cash grab” attacks from the Conservative opposition intent on making it a wedge issue in 2019, say politicos and environmental groups. The Liberals need to have “a backbone” on a bold […]
The right-wing roots of carbon pricing
Today’s fight over carbon pricing isn’t the ideological battle of the century. That would be a historic misunderstanding of our future by politicians fighting the last war. Despite Premier Doug Ford’s fulminations, this week’s embrace of pollution pricing by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t proof of a left-wing plot to pick the pockets of Canadians. […]
Pondering Canada’s political future
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Lots of people are busily pontificating and speculating about the upcoming federal election of 2019. And that’s fine, but I’d like to try something a little more challenging; I’d like to try pontificating and speculating about the federal election beyond 2019, the one that might occur four years later in 2023. Sounds like fun, […]
Trudeau’s new carbon tax is a can’t-lose gambit
TORONTO—Justin Trudeau effectively kicked off the 2019 federal election campaign Tuesday with a you-can’t-lose carbon tax pledge to voters in Ontario. Whether the prime minister’s so-called federal government backstop plan will sufficiently reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions is another question. But at least we now know how the governing Liberals hope to frame next October’s […]
The next election will tell us a lot about Canada
OTTAWA—With a year to go before the next federal election, all the customary calculations indicate the Liberals appear in fairly good shape to repeat their 2015 election victory. Except the usual indicators may no longer apply. Voters are clearly in a volatile what-about-me frame of mind, driven by a desire for change and impatience with […]
Are provincial politicians leading the way?
OAKVILLE, ONT.—In case you haven’t noticed it, things are getting a lot wackier politically these days at the provincial level in this country. Just think about it. In usually staid old Ontario, you now have Premier Doug Ford running the show, a populist-style, iconoclastic, firebrand, who’s slashing city councils, invoking the notwithstanding clause and just […]
