We need leaders who are smart, recognize people’s needs and do something positive to meet them
News about the COVID-19 virus has gone viral. Media coverage, ever-changing and often contradictory, screams at us from all directions. It inundates us as we work from home, self-isolate or have isolation thrust upon us. At times like this, we would do well to remember that life continues beyond the pandemic, even if the current…
How one endorsement could change the federal Conservative leadership race, pushing MacKay into the background
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney endorsed former Veterans Affairs minister Erin O’Toole in the federal Conservative leadership election on March 5. Quite a few political observers were surprised by his decision. Some wondered why Kenney did it so early, since a new leader won’t be chosen until June 27. Others were puzzled why he backed O’Toole,…
This is one of those moments when a leader needs to show their mettle in bringing a difficult crisis to a natural conclusion. Justin Trudeau failed
Canada has been involved in a political crisis for nearly three weeks. Nationwide protests by radical activists siding with the Wet’suwet’en tribe’s hereditary chiefs against the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern B.C. are ongoing. Some politicians were blocked from entering provincial legislatures or, in the case of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland,…
A more open immigration policy is one of the easiest ways a government can increase economic freedom, improve growth and cut poverty
One of the big policy issues for the federal government this year, as well as in the Conservative leadership race, is immigration. It’s an area worthy of attention. By a margin of 63 to seven per cent, according to a recent Leger poll, Conservative voters want their new leader to decrease rather than increase immigration…
Back in September 2012, I wrote a column suggesting that Jean Charest’s recent political retirement wasn’t the end of the story. A man in his mid-50s who’d spent almost his entire adult life in politics would find it difficult to irrevocably wash his hands of the whole business. Now, on the brink of his apparently…
From Donald Trump to Boris Johnson to Angela Merkel to Justin Trudeau – what to look forward to in the next year
It’s New Year’s Eve and the last day of the 2010s. The champagne is chilling, the food, party hats and noisemakers are ready, and friends and loved ones are nearby. What’s in store for 2020 when it comes to politics? We can certainly speculate. The U.S. presidential election will be held in November. The Democrats…
A Conservative leader must be intelligent, confident, experienced, have miles of backbone, and the ability to build and maintain political bridges
Andrew Scheer announced on Dec. 12 that he would be stepping down as federal Conservative leader. Whoever succeeds him faces a tall task. Most political analysts knew that Scheer would have a real tussle on his hands to survive next April’s planned leadership review. He’d been attacked by the left and right flanks of his…
Prime ministers often come and go without making a material difference. For better or worse, Johnson looks like an exception
Boris Johnson has been called many uncomplimentary things, charlatan and clown being among the milder epithets. Even those sympathetic to his current agenda are liable to use terms like “unprincipled opportunist.” However, another descriptor is becoming increasingly apt. Johnson is shaping up to be a consequential politician, defined as one who makes a difference. A…
Neither the Conservatives nor Scheer displayed the remotest capacity to fight back by hammering home the counter message about a Liberal Party in disarray
In the end, it’s probably just as well for both the Conservative Party and Canadians that leader Andrew Scheer resigned. Drawing, quartering and hanging might have been all the rage in the Elizabethan era. But it is, to paraphrase a certain prime minister, 2019, and no one gains today by having public political execution preceded…
More progressive nonsense from the Liberals and another poor Conservative campaign could open the door for populists like the People’s Party
The failure of the People’s Party of Canada to win a single seat was, to me, the most surprising revelation of the Oct. 21 federal election. The writing appeared to be on the wall for Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Conservatives seem poised to be squeezed by the insurgent populists. For the People’s…