Is the NDP-Liberal coalition attempting to whitewash the inquiries?
The Emergencies Act was invoked for the first time in Canadian history on February 14, 2022. While the public order emergency was repealed nine days later, it remains unclear whether the Trudeau government had a rational basis for concluding that it had the power to proclaim such an emergency, or whether the special parliamentary committee…
Does the party really believe women can't win in a fair fight against men?
Political parties propose and support many policies and ideas. Some ideas are top-flight and beneficial to their political fortunes. Others seem good in theory, but may require additional tinkering or minor adjustment(s). Still other ideas may turn out to be untenable, or require a significant overhaul or have to be abandoned. Then there are ideas…
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…
Our surfer boy PM has been a national and international embarrassment since 2015
When Justin Trudeau was first elected prime minister in 2015, there were political issues he said he wanted to tackle immediately. One of his earliest priorities was a desire to repair Canada's fractious relationship with the Indigenous community. "It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples," he told some Quebec-based First…
Recognizing the political power of Canadian cities has become a core element of national politics
The parsing of the federal election results is underway, as Canadians seek insights into leadership, party fortunes, regional concerns, and the priorities of special interest groups. This process often exposes major currents in Canada’s political culture and provides the country with a glimpse into what lies ahead. In my view, a major focus should be…
What Vuong did was morally, ethically and politically wrong. But to be expelled for a procedural matter would be quite stunning
You may be familiar with the phrase’ game it out.’ It’s a way to examine ideas, scenarios, concepts and strategies to figure out what could happen – and what the end result could be. In politics and the media, we game out everything from written pieces to communications strategies. For fun, let’s game out a…
We accept that the world intervenes in any plans for the future but we must still decide who gets our vote
The 2021 federal election is upon us. In Canada, we’re blessed to have fair elections, the results of which are peacefully implemented – so don’t forget to vote. There are many nations where people can’t vote. There are many more where their vote doesn’t matter because tyrants have predetermined the results or will use violence…
NDP, Liberals and Conservatives all helped themselves to the wage subsidy meant for struggling businesses
Politicians are good at preaching, but they’re not so good at practicing what they preach. Case in point: the federal wage subsidy. Federal politicians have been moralizing about the evils of business executives taking bonuses while collecting the pandemic wage subsidy, but their silence on their own party taking the subsidy is deafening. At the…
For the past half-century, media has obscured the relationship between China's government and the Liberal Party of Canada
WeChat, China's government-controlled social media giant, has made up its mind which party they want to win the Canadian federal election on September 20th: “Please vote for the Liberals and use your power in the Chinese community so that we can have a chance to influence the future of Canada." A more complete picture reveals…
He pivoted back to the ineffective Liberal plan against gun violence and moved forward
Most political parties face a few potential pitfalls during an election campaign. It seems rather obvious on the surface, right? Yet it’s astonishing how many parties and leaders are completely unprepared for what the march of history has repeatedly warned them to watch, learn and avoid. This year’s federal election has already witnessed a few…