Warren Kinsella could end up being the Green Party’s most important political acquisition
When the Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife tweeted last week that longtime Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella would advise Elizabeth May and the federal Green Party in the fall election, it surprised some Canadians. Kinsella’s disappointment with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t a big secret. He’s not been impressed with his leadership, policy positions and public…
A growing number of Canadians are tired of the traditional parties and politics as usual. Wilson-Raybould and Philpott could offer a choice
Every July 4, millions of Americans celebrate Independence Day. If two members of Parliament are successful this fall, millions of Canadian voters could one day celebrate Independents Day. Former Liberal ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott were at the centre of the SNC-Lavalin controversy earlier this year that turned the federal government upside down. Prime…
The annual national price tag for maintaining internal barriers may top $130 billion
Interprovincial free trade, the lowest hanging fruit on the tree of Canadian economic policy, never fails to raise the federal government’s thirst for marvellously empty rhetoric, especially during the toastmaster circuit of every election cycle. So it was earlier this year when New Brunswick’s very own Dominic LeBlanc – minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs…
Gerda Munsinger, allegedly a low-level Soviet spy, was sexually involved with at least one, and possibly two, cabinet ministers
I’d been in Canada for just a few months when the Munsinger affair broke. In March 1966, John Diefenbaker – the former Progressive Conservative prime minister – was berating Liberal cabinet minister Lucien Cardin in the House of Commons on the subject of government laxity regarding security. Exasperated, Cardin struck back by raising the Munsinger…
If we want fewer scandals, we must scale back government to limit the temptation to indulge in scandalous behaviour
The SNC-Lavalin scandal, which continues to dominate headlines across Canada, has many moving parts. It’s hard to disentangle everything so as to assign blame. But the situation provides an important lesson that seemingly many have forgot: big government invites big scandals. Political power can be misused for personal gain. It can be wielded in ways…
Failing to do so creates the horrible image of a government unwilling to get to the bottom of an important controversy
The House of Commons justice committee heard the testimonies of former principal secretary Gerald Butts, Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick and deputy justice minister Nathalie Drouin last week. They provided different accounts to what former Justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould told the committee about allegedly being pressured by the prime minister’s office to…
David Vigneault’s recent speech was a slick deflection and thinly-veiled push for broader surveillance
When David Vigneault addressed the Economic Club, the nation's intelligence chief acknowledged his agency's first rule: “Don't talk.” True to form, he said little in his tightly-scripted remarks on Dec. 4. What the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director left out, though, amounted to glaring omissions. His remarks were misleading at best, dishonest at worst.…
Canada is among the world’s leaders when it comes to restrictive foreign ownership rules, and the digital realm is no exception
Many of the close to 90 per cent of Canadians who subscribe to home Internet plans will begin to see their monthly bills go up next month by, it appears, $2 to $9 a month. It could be more and if you’re on a locked-in plan you might not feel the impact right away. But…
The Liberals forced out Karen Wang and Singh looked certain to win the byelection. Then the Liberals found a formidable replacement
After federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s horrible interview with CTV’s Evan Solomon last week, some political observers believed his chances of winning the Burnaby South byelection in B.C. had seriously diminished. Then he received a stroke of luck that even a Las Vegas bookmaker would have admired. His Liberal opponent, Karen Wang, resigned on Jan.…
The federal leader seems unaware of key issues. That can hardly give party supporters confidence in his abilities
In only a couple of minutes, Jagmeet Singh showed why he’s not going to last in federal politics. The federal NDP leader had an interview on CTV’s Question Period with host Evan Solomon on Sunday. Near the end of their discussion, Solomon asked him about a Jan. 9 Hill Times opinion piece written by Lu…
When the Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife tweeted last week that longtime Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella would advise Elizabeth May and the federal Green Party in the fall election, it surprised some Canadians. Kinsella’s disappointment with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t a big secret. He’s not been impressed with his leadership, policy positions and public…
