He forgot that Canadians aren’t stupid
Here’s a free tip for all Conservative Party leadership candidates: don’t break your promise to fight carbon taxes. Former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole lied to taxpayers about the carbon tax. And he paid the price. The next leader of the Official Opposition needs to hold Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accountable for rising tax bills.…
Why are we paying for something the private sector was more than happy to pay for in the past?
Say your backyard needs a new fence and your neighbour offers to pay for it. Chances are you would take that deal. That’s what we’ve done historically with federal leaders’ debates. Large media organizations would cover the costs and haggle with the parties about how the debates should be organized. Since 2018 though, the federal government…
Now the party has a chance to do it over again
The iffy position of the Conservatives was one of my takeaways from last year’s federal election. Not only had they lost ground electorally, but there was also “an ominous speck on the horizon.” Specifically, the first signs of base alienation were evident. With a five per cent vote share – twice that of the Greens…
Conservatives must ensure that core values remain permanent components of their ideology
Erin O’Toole was elected Conservative Party leader on Aug. 24, 2020. Less than 18 months later, it’s over. After a disappointing showing in last September’s federal election, the relationship between O’Toole and his Conservative caucus had become strained. Some wanted him to resign immediately. Others, like Sen. Denise Batters, preferred to hold a referendum on…
The failed experiment of going to the mushy middle of the Canadian political spectrum is over
As the Conservative member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, I was one of Erin O’Toole’s biggest fans and truly believed he had what it would take to be prime minister. I was also one of only a handful of Conservative MPs who supported him both times he sought the leadership of the Conservative Party of…
It changed my view of Canadians and perhaps of human nature itself
So, we enter another year under a cloud. Omicron is on a rampage. Airlines are cancelling flights. Putin is playing brinksmanship with Biden. Colorado is experiencing wildfires in the winter. House prices are on speed. And Canada’s national debt is at historic levels. There’s a lot to be stressed out about. It’s a bad year…
He's right to criticize Trudeau for borrowing too much money. But he has a credibility problem
Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole wants to blast Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over inflation. And the prime minister is certainly vulnerable as rising prices at the gas pump and grocery store illustrate the risks of runaway government spending. But using O’Toole’s policies to fight inflation would be like using gas to put out a fire.…
Canada ranks dead last in timely care, with the longest waitlists
The coronavirus hit Canada in March 2020. By the time that first wave had subsided in the summer, hundreds of thousands of scheduled surgeries had been postponed. But before that huge backlog could be reduced, a second and then a third wave of the virus struck, increasing the backlog by thousands more. Adding to the…
Our ratio of net debt to GDP is almost as high as it was in 1995 when Canada was really in a fiscal crisis
The Liberals made some big spending promises during last month’s election campaign, amounting to $78 billion in new spending over the next five years. These promises come on top of the existing baseline, which was already no model of austerity. The federal budget was bloated before the pandemic, and even after excluding some necessary public…
Is it too much to ask for honesty from the Prime Minister?
George Orwell would likely have caught his breath at news of a prime minister caught in a flagrant fib on a day dedicated to capital T Truth. Orwell, of course, spent his journalistic career ferreting out and castigating the incessant political lying of the mid-20th century. His magisterial essay Politics and the English Language includes…