Grits in unusual spot of being attacked on both sides for controversial Trans Mountain pipeline, say strategists, pollsters
The federal Liberals are being attacked from all sides on the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and their support of the project could threaten their centre-left coalition, say pollsters and strategists. “It takes a certain amount of political skill to be shot from two different fronts,” said Robin Sears, former national director of the NDP […]
Tackling global warming must be this government’s top priority
It was exciting to have the prime minister visit our Okanagan city of Penticton, B.C., this summer. I am glad that his trip in early August coincided with one of our few smoke-free days. After that, for more days than I care to count, the scene up and down our grape-growing valley was more like […]
Quebec expected to be two-way race in 2019, all eyes on Québec City region, say strategists
Quebec is on course to be a two-way race between the Liberals and Conservatives in the 2019 federal election, say strategists, and the Québec City region is likely to be a hotly contested battleground amongst the federal parties. Despite the reunion of the Bloc Québécois on Sept. 17—with five MPs who had split from the […]
Poilievre shouldn’t be misleading constituents about Phoenix pay fiasco, says reader
Re: “‘Kind of an asinine comment’: opponents react to Poilievre’s claims of ‘zero’ Phoenix pay problems under Conservatives. It is not out of character for Conservative MP Pierre Polievre to say something like this. If you follow his political career, you’ll see that he likes to distort and exaggerate. This is, after all, the man who […]
Lessons from the notwithstanding clause debate
When I was an assistant to the opposition leader in Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 1980s, I would often get into lengthy discussions with my friend and co-worker, the late David Kennedy, who was a poet, journalist, and political animal. One day we were discussing poetry and I asked if he knew the work […]
Trudeau Liberals to target NDP-held riding in northern Saskatchewan in 2019, hoping to win ‘several’ more in province: Goodale
SASKATOON—The federal Liberals have been winning only one seat in Saskatchewan in every federal election since 2004, but now are bullish about their prospects of winning “several” in 2019. In an interview with The Hill Times at the Liberal caucus retreat in Saskatoon, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale (Regina-Wascana, Sask.) said that his party has a […]
Ford’s resort to nuclear option ought to have us all nervous
Ontario Premier Doug Ford may have good reasons for wanting to slash Toronto city council from a proposed 47 to 25 councillors. But he’s gone about it the wrong way by trying to hastily jam through legislation, Bill 5, to enact the cut in the middle of a municipal election campaign. He’s continued down that wrong […]
Rejecting the courts, Ford dismisses any limits to his power—and that’s scary
OTTAWA—Ontarians got a taste on Sept. 10 of what they are in for under Premier Doug Ford’s version of populist government. In a performance fully worthy of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ford indulged himself in a bombastic outpouring of misinformation, personal attacks, fear-mongering, and conceptions of unchecked power. He specifically rejected the role of the […]
Every time Ford busts out the bazooka to get his way, he’s playing with fire
OTTAWA—Premier Doug Ford’s new Ontario government sure knows how to pick a fight. Question is: does it always have to be a racket? Hours after an Ontario court overturned the Ford government’s legislation to shrink the size of Toronto city council, the premier hauled out the bazooka—announcing he would invoke the notwithstanding clause to reset […]
It’s not the economy, stupid: Quebec’s counterintuitive election
The Saint-Tite Western Festival is to the Calgary Stampede what Atlantic City is to Vegas: smaller in scale, shorter on high rollers, and a little rougher around the edges. But like its western counterpart, Quebec’s eastern rodeo is a required stop on the province’s summer political calendar, especially during election years. Which is why incumbent premier Philippe […]
