Conventional wisdom holds he may win the leadership but not a general election
Pierre Poilievre is making waves. Virtually all of the buzz in the federal Conservative leadership race revolves around him. He’s pulling in crowds, generating headlines and tossing out ideas that intrigue some and unnerve others. Excitement isn’t a word normally associated with Canadian conservatism. But, for better or worse, Poilievre stirs it up. And some…
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…
The current Liberal iteration hasn’t been in power long enough for serious fatigue to set in and Justin Trudeau isn’t Paul Martin
Should the mooted federal election materialize, it’ll be the third time in 50 years that a minority Liberal government took an early trip to the polls. So will the result resemble Pierre Trudeau of 1972 and 1974 (a minority followed by a big victory) or Paul Martin of 2004 and 2006 (a minority followed by…
Let’s take the high road, skip the blame game, stop the juvenile finger pointing and find some solutions to Canada’s lack of vaccine production
When Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca announced successful drug trials with their respective COVID-19 vaccine candidates, many people were euphoric. It wouldn’t signal the end of the coronavirus pandemic but it would be a positive sign that we’re gradually getting to this stage. Many countries around the world pre-purchased millions of vaccine vials or doses. Some…
The former Conservative prime minister has advice for us on Trump, economics, immigration and more
Stephen Harper is back. After flying under the radar for the last three years, Canada’s former prime minister has returned to the arena, albeit not as an active politician. Instead, he’s a commentator with several messages to impart, all of which are packaged in his new book Right Here Right Now. Not everyone is impressed.…In the wake of Christopher Wylie's revelations of personal information mined for political purposes, there will be damage enough for everyone
It almost seems kind of quaint. Back when the Conservative Party of Canada was running things, the commentariat were apoplectic about something called CIMS: the Constituent Information Management System. “Tory database draws ire of privacy experts,” went one CTV News headline. An “unethical invasion of Canadians' privacy,” thundered Conservative-turned-Liberal MP Garth Turner. It was “chilling,”…
Increasing investment in science is fine, but rarely does the investment seem to lead to an improvement in the lives of Canadians
In the recently released 2018 budget, I was pleased to see that the Liberal government has chosen to invest heavily in discovery-based research. According to Finance Minister Bill Morneau, this is the single largest investment in investigator-led fundamental research in Canadian history. This move is welcomed by universities because science was starved by the previous…
Calling the Harper years a particularly dark time for Canada is partisan fiction, not reality
William Watson’s Financial Post columns are invariably worth reading. As centre-right economists go, his general perspective isn’t unusual, but his penchant for digging into data can be illuminating. One of the things that a dispassionate person might take away from Watson is a more nuanced view of former Canadian Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Harper,…
While Asian nations are interested in our goods and services, not one of them is interested in buying the values that Trudeau keeps proselytizing
Engaging in international trade is perhaps the greatest of Canadian economic traits. We’ve been traders since the first Europeans arrived. The accounts of the competition between les voyageurs and les coureurs du bois, and between the Hudson Bay Co. and the North West Co., are part of national folklore. Canada has always been a nation of…
We need more courageous policy action at all levels of government to address the structural drivers of HIV/AIDS
By Suzanne Hindmarch University of New Brunswick and Michael Orsini University of Ottawa We’re seeing red. This month, as World AIDS Day came around, we found ourselves getting angry. The red ribbon has long been a potent symbol of HIV/AIDS activism, signifying anger at the bureaucratic red tape that, in the 1980s, delayed release of…