Wolves in Canadian military personnel’s clothing
OTTAWA—Last week, there was a bizarre little story in the Ottawa Citizen that, at first glance, appeared to be so ridiculous that it had to be satire. Reporter David Pugliese revealed that a letter from the Nova Scotia government sent out to residents in Annapolis Valley to warn about a pack of wolves on the […]
Incumbency, ‘cooperation, and a multi-partisan approach’ electoral advantages for conservative-leaning provincial governments during pandemic, say pollsters
With a number of popular, conservative-leaning provincial leaders either heading to the polls in the near future, fresh off a recent election win, or facing pressure to call an early election while riding particularly high approval numbers, pollsters, and political insiders say incumbent provincial governments are at an advantage politically at this point in the […]
Let’s not turn COVID-19 fight into Canadian versus Canadian
OTTAWA—Last week in this space, I wrote about the need to consider gradually opening the Atlantic Bubble. Let me just say, the reaction from my home region was not overwhelmingly positive. Note the sarcasm—if they could have burned me in effigy, they would have. I had not been called some of the names I was […]
Co-managed approach, self-governing fisheries the answer to long-simmering lobster dispute, says Senator
The federal government should pursue a co-managed fishing system that accepts First Nation treaty rights and an Indigenous governance model as a path forward to the long-simmering lobster fishery dispute, says Canada’s first Mi’kmaq Senator. “The status quo isn’t sustainable, it’s actually very dangerous at the moment, so we have to look at other options,” […]
The Atlantic bubble needs to burst
OTTAWA—This year has been brutal for so many people and we still have nearly 4 months to go before 2021 is upon us. While I have never been a big fan of wishing time away, I am close to adopting it as a short-term strategy. Atlantic Canada has had a particularly brutal year. At the […]
Pandering to Quebec is unseemly, and it rarely works
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—This week’s word is “pander,” defined as “to please other people by doing or saying what you think they want you to do or say.” Canadian politicians have a rich history of pandering, notably in Quebec. In the summer of 1967 then-Conservative leader Robert Stanfield embraced an idea from his Quebec lieutenant, Marcel […]
Why the government of Canada will not appoint a temporary minister of education
Adhering to the dictum “never let a good crisis go to waste,” Irvin Studin has proposed in The Globe and Mail that Canada needs a temporary minister of education to address what he calls “Canada’s post quarantine education crisis.” I do not dispute that COVID-19 has produced an unprecedented crisis in education. In fact, I recently published a […]
‘Basic human rights’ at stake in Nunavut housing crisis, says NDP MP Qaqqaq
NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq spent her summer touring communities across Nunavut to highlight the dire housing conditions her constituents face, another chapter in what she describes as a seemingly endless fight to push the federal government to guarantee basic human rights for the people of Nunavut. Now, with Parliament soon to return for a new session, […]
‘Diplomat’ Deltell’s promotion could lead to closer co-operation in Parliament as new Tory House team spotlights Quebec, party unity, say insiders
With new Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole having assembled his House leadership team and front bench, a former Conservative House leader says Gérard Deltell’s talents are finally being fully utilized as the new one, as the new team seeks to unite the party and look towards making gains in Quebec. A former House leader for the […]
Legendary Hill scribe Richard Gwyn dies at 86
For years, Richard Gwyn was regarded as one of the best political journalists in Canada. He died last week from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86. Mr. Gwyn made a name for himself as a national affairs columnist at The Toronto Star, where he covered the governments of Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, John Turner, […]
