Charles says he's heartened to see revival of 'national pride, unity and hope' in Canada. King Charles delivered a historic speech from the throne Tuesday and he used that platform to praise Canada as a force for good that will remain "strong and free" as its relationships with longtime partners are "changing." Charles, who delivered the speech seated next to...
Canada will join the ReArm Europe plan, a major defence procurement project to ramp up military arms production in Europe. The move, announced by King Charles as he read the throne speech today, could reduce Canada's reliance on the U.S. for purchases of military equipment.
King Charles III says Canada faces a "critical moment" as the system of global trade that made it prosper undergoes a shift. Delivering the speech from the throne in Ottawa this morning, the King says Canada faces "unprecedented challenges" as the world changes and as relationships with key allies come under pressure. King Charles says the world is now "a...
King Charles III says Canada is seeing a “renewed sense of national pride, unity and hope” at a critical time while delivering the throne speech on Tuesday. “It is with a deep sense of pride and pleasure, that my wife and I join you here today as we witness Canadians coming together in in a renewed sense of national pride...
When representatives of NATO nations meet in The Hague late next month, they're expected to dramatically hike the alliance's defence spending target for members -- the one Canada is failing to hit already. At the last NATO summit in Washington last year, allies lined up to call out Canada for failing to meet the alliance defence spending target of two...
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) telephone random survey of 1,081 respondents in Canada. This report is based on the four waves of tracking ending May 23rd, 2025. The margin of error for a random survey of 1,081 Canadians is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The research was commissioned by the Bloomberg and was conducted by Nanos Research.
Our latest poll tracking opinions about Canadian politics was conducted from May 15 to 21, 2025 and interviewed 2,273 Canadian adults. The survey was conducted entirely after the swearing in of the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Just before King Charles is set to deliver the new government’s Speech from the Throne, a new Abacus Data poll...
Tuesday will have more pomp and circumstance than a typical throne speech. King Charles will deliver the Liberal government's throne speech this morning as the new parliamentary session officially kicks off. The King's visit, which is happening at Prime Minister Mark Carney's request, is a chance to assert Canada's sovereignty by nodding to the country's longstanding ties to the Crown...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called three byelections to take place on June 23. The three vacant ridings are Edmonton-Strathcona, Edmonton-Ellerslie and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is to run in Edmonton-Strathcona, which became vacant when former premier Rachel Notley resigned her seat late last year.
The new session of Parliament must take real action to address the public safety concerns of Canadians. Across the Greater Toronto Area, residents are increasingly alarmed by the rise in violent crime, and they are demanding action from every level of government. The federal election results in the GTA made that crystal clear.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump began threatening Canada with tariffs, I’ve heard from many people and businesses about the intense anxiety they’re feeling. Ontarians are already struggling in the face of an ongoing affordability crisis and are now facing potential layoffs and staring down the face of an impending recession. But instead of uniting people to push back against Trump...
The question. A simple question. Easy to answer if you’re not playing games. Easy to answer if your words have any meaning. Prime Minister Mark Carney will roll out his plans for the country Tuesday. King Charles III will read the script. Ottawa insiders expect it to be mostly high-minded words. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will be listening...
Could there be a more Canadian headline than the one on the front page of Monday’s Star? “Liberals reject power to oust leader,” it proclaimed. Given the opportunity to assert some control over their leader if things go sideways, with the memory of the impasse over Justin Trudeau’s leadership fresh in their minds, the party’s members of Parliament meekly said...
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to begin work on his ambitious Golden Dome missile defence program. The “Big Beautiful Bill” Act, a whopping, multi-trillion deficit-busting spending law, appropriates US$25 billion initially for the White House’s signature military program. Perhaps even more surprising than the program itself is Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney signalling support for it and...
As the newly elected parliamentarians start this session of government, they will be swamped with learning about the processes and procedures—how to do things correctly, how not to do things incorrectly. Isn’t it interesting that the moment an election is won on platform and goals, then the system inundates MPs on process, rules, and procedures. Relationships are the key, not...
Former United States president John F. Kennedy once famously said that if we don’t get rid of war, war will get rid of us. His dire prediction is coming true. As the world turns and burns, war is everywhere. After three agonizing years of conflict in Ukraine, there is no end in sight, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s idle boast...
Matt Gurney: Over the last few weeks, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s postelection government has been shaping up. A cabinet has been announced. Parliamentarians are being sworn in — including the PM, for the first time. Some key staff positions remain unfilled. With the House returning next week and the King coming to town, what’s your sense of where things stand...
It's hard to see how effective Carney's cabinet will be in achieving his goals, given its large contingent of Trudeau-era ministers
'So far I'm not seeing anything to suggest there's been a true change of heart,' says Premier Danielle Smith, of Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal government
What can we glean from the mandate letter the PM sent his ministers? Emerging from his cabinet's first "planning forum" — what previous prime ministers would have called a cabinet "retreat" — on Tuesday evening, Mark Carney told reporters that his ministers had all been given a single mandate letter. "It reflects a unified mission," the prime minister said of...
On Tuesday in the Senate Chamber, King Charles III will deliver the Speech from the Thone. The last time a monarch did so was in 1977, when his mother Elizabeth II read it during her Silver Jubilee tour. Two decades earlier, she had pronounced her first Speech from the Throne in Ottawa, an occasion that marked the young Queen’s first...
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators say they're 'encouraged' by conversations about trade, tariffs and security with Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Power & Politics panel of party insiders discuss Canadians' expectations for a 'new' relationship with the United States ahead of Parliament's return next week.
The backlash to the news that Canada is in talks with Washington to participate in a space-based missile defence system designed to protect North America is an early warning to the Carney government on how difficult it will be to make substantive changes in a large number of areas promised in the recent election campaign. Prime Minister Mark Carney and...
Is being a cabinet minister the only mark of success for a government MP or MPP? An observer of recent events in Ottawa and Queen’s Park might reach that conclusion. In Ottawa, Mark Carney’s slimmed down cabinet meant several ministers needed to be dropped and considerable talent was left on the backbenches. The result was a flurry of articles and...
The Mark Carney government is at its finest when it’s Mark Carney, standing alone, in front of a microphone. There are good things about that. There are also downsides. On Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister was in the comfort zone, standing alone in front of a microphone. He said he’d given cabinet a collective mandate letter, listing the government’s priorities...
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney staged a photo-op more evocative of an American president than a Westminster statesman. Flanked by ministers and flashing pens, he theatrically signed an order directing his government to prepare a motion for a middle-class tax cut—cameras clicking, messaging crisp. “Canadians sent a clear message: they need to see improvements in their affordability,” Carney declared...
One of the great enduring myths of Government Relations is that the person with the fanciest title makes the decision. Ministers are the final deciders. Deputy ministers execute. Policy Advisors analyze. The machine hums along in a perfect linear fashion. Sure. And the Leafs win the Cup every year. Anyone who has spent more than ten minutes in Ottawa knows...
Information manipulation poses the single biggest threat to Canadian democracy, concluded commissioner Marie Josée Hogue, in her final report on foreign interference in federal elections, earlier this year.
With the minority Liberals now settling into governing and Conservatives trying to make sense of their improbable loss, we can look back at how political pundits called the election so early and so wrong for Pierre Poilievre, and learn what we can from their mistaken call. There’s no question 2024 was a banner year for Conservatives. The party had such...
In a less partisan, more conciliatory political environment, there would be cross-partisan consensus about the need for a by-election in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne. It’s not simply that the margin of victory was razor-thin, with the Liberals’ Tatiana Auguste winning the riding by a single vote. Nor is it about the flip-flopping of the result: Terrebonne was first won...
You have to be kidding – Canada considering involvement in Donald Trump‘s Golden Dome space defence initiative? Is this for real? Is Canada seriously contemplating joining Mr. Trump’s latest cockamamie idea? After winning an election on a clear promise to assert a more independent foreign and defence policy – including a move away from reliance on U.S. weaponry, military strategy...
Speeches from the Throne are often tedious affairs. They track the government’s agenda but in a boring, laundry-list kind of way. There’s not the raucous atmosphere seen at State of the Union addresses, with the president’s partisans cheering like banshees at their every word. But our upcoming Throne Speech will be highly significant. After 10 years of Liberal rule, the...
SPEAKING TO REPORTERS in Rome on Sunday, where he was attending the inaugural mass for Pope Leo XIV, Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about housing prices. The question from reporter Mackenzie Gray was simple: “Do you want house prices to go down in Canada?” The answer was less simple.
What a Trudeauesque beginning to the Liberals’ fourth consecutive term — theatre, false starts, evasion and unaccountability, but absent the sunny ways! The technocrat’s prologue risks rivalling the drama teacher’s denouement.
In the rush to grow Canada’s economy by exploiting more of our natural resources, moves are afoot to pare back environmental impact assessments that slow or sometimes even block resource and industrial development. During the election campaign, the now-ruling Liberals promised to cut the decision time on projects from five years to a maximum of two. Similarly, BC is about...
Thousands of royal watchers gathered on a sunny Monday afternoon in Ottawa to give King Charles and Queen Camilla a taste of Canadian hospitality during their short but highly symbolic trip. The King landed a day before he is set to deliver the speech from the throne to open Parliament -- a rare event that comes as Canada copes with...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will take part in his first question period on Wednesday -- but will not carry on a tradition started by his predecessor. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau made it his practice to answer all questions in the House of Commons on Wednesdays, a gesture meant to improve accountability within the chamber.
The Ontario man who pleaded guilty to stealing an iconic portrait of former British prime minister Winston Churchill from Ottawa's Chateau Laurier hotel was sentenced Monday to two years less a day in jail. Jeffrey Wood admitted earlier this year that he stole the portrait and committed forgery. Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh snapped the celebrated portrait in 1941 in the...
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says the NDP will not be granted official party status because the law says a party needs at least 12 seats to be recognized. The NDP was reduced to just seven seats in last month's election. Interim NDP Leader Don Davies has told The Canadian Press he spoke with the Prime Minister's Office about obtaining...
Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, who represents the Montreal-area riding of Lac–Saint–Louis, has been elected Speaker of the House of Commons. Monday marks the return to the House for newly elected and returning MPs, after a five-month hiatus to choose a new Liberal leader and hold a general election. According to House of Commons procedure, electing a Speaker of the House...
The worlds of economics and politics will collide again this week. Parliament is set to resume in a flourish of tradition and grandeur. There will be trumpets and red carpets and a King's speech to start the week. The economic news to wrap the week will be decidedly less celebratory. GDP numbers are going to refocus the conversation on economic...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to reclaim Canadian sovereignty by reducing our reliance on U.S. trade. But to succeed, he’ll need artificial intelligence—lots of it. Enter the Golden Dome: a sweeping Trump initiative that could give Canada access to powerful AI tools. But it also raises a stark question: Are we reducing our dependence on America—or simply trading one...
Gerald Butts and David Lametti hold no official roles in the Liberal government, but Prime Minister Mark Carney informally seeks their advice on key political matters, say Liberal sources. The federal Liberals owe their surprising comeback to Mark Carney who officially entered in the political arena just five months ago. A former central banker who led both the Bank of...
Canada's monarch will read speech from the throne in visit crafted to affirm Canada's sovereignty. King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Ottawa Monday for a two-day visit designed to show U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada is not a prospective American territory but a distinct constitutional monarchy with its own identity, culture and history. The King's visit, which is...
Liberal MPs voted against adopting a formal process to eject their leader should the need arise, newly elected Liberal Caucus Chair James Maloney confirmed on Sunday. A majority of the caucus voted down a motion to adopt the rules set out under the decade-old Reform Act. That law was originated by Conservative MP Michael Chong to embolden individual MPs to...
British High Commissioner to Canada Rob Tinline says his government is waiting for the Canadian government to fully return before deciding whether to restart talks on a potential bilateral trade deal after negotiations fell apart at the beginning of last year. When the Canadian government is "fully in place," the U.K. government will need to "work out whether there is...
Prime Minister Mark Carney told his caucus to brace for a "very, very" busy few weeks and months as Parliament reopens, promising to implement his vision for the country with "urgency and determination." In an address to caucus — which media cameras were invited in to shoot — Carney teased that his Liberal minority government will introduce several pieces of...
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech intended to rally his Liberal caucus Sunday afternoon that laid out his governing agenda for the re-opening of Parliament.
The Pope prays about it. Companies around the world are betting on it. And the occupant of a newly created federal ministry with few precedents in the world has been tasked with harnessing it.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he's willing to work with the Liberals in Parliament on efforts to resolve the trade war with the United States. Poilievre is meeting with the Conservative caucus on Sunday as they prepare to return to the House of Commons without him in the chamber.
The Conservative Leader in the House of Commons says he “can absolutely advocate for a united Canada,” but won’t specifically condemn a possible referendum on Alberta separation. “I’ll leave it to provincial premiers to handle what’s going on in their province,” Andrew Scheer told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, when pressed on why he wouldn’t explicitly say a referendum...
A decade ago, a portrait of the British monarch caused a row in Canadian politics. Now, the King is being invited to deliver the Speech from the Throne. What's changed? In 2011, shortly after forming a majority Conservative government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper caused a national uproar when he sought to emphasise Canada's ties to the British monarchy. In one...
Liberal MPs will vote on whether they want the power to oust the new leader if he loses their trust. Liberal caucus members are meeting today ahead of the return of Parliament, this time under the direction of a leader known for his high expectations and ambitious agenda. Sunday's gathering will likely touch on the big-ticket items Prime Minister Mark...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is on a mission to “build, baby, build.” And he wants to do it fast. It’s a goal that was central to the Liberal leader’s pitch in an election campaign dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic aggression towards Canada.
Sweeping legislation would fast-track approvals of major projects, exempt some from provincial laws. The most significant legislation from Ontario's Progressive Conservatives since winning their third straight majority is a sweeping bill that Premier Doug Ford says will protect the economy from tariffs, but which critics say will gut environmental protection.
First order of business will be to elect a Speaker before King Charles presents the throne speech. Parliament will return on Monday after more than six months and will feel a little different than usual thanks to some unusual circumstances. Each parliamentary session typically opens with some routine proceedings, which include the election of a Speaker of the House of...
OTTAWA -- Crews were at work in downtown Ottawa on Friday morning, touching up the protective coating on bronze statues around the National War Memorial before a whirlwind royal visit gets underway on Monday.
Although he will be on the ground for less than 24 hours, when the King lands in Ottawa on Monday for his 20th visit to Canada — though his first as monarch — he will be acutely aware of the highly delicate diplomatic situation. One Commonwealth source familiar with discussions between London and Ottawa over the visit said: “British ministers...
Prime Minister Mark Carney set a goal of removing federal barriers to internal trade by July 1, along with implementing a middle-class tax cut that he said would save two-income families up to $825 a year.
OTTAWA -- After an election which saw the Conservatives campaign heavily on crime while the Liberals promised stricter measures for offences like violent car thefts, the new minority Liberal government has a stack of new crime policies to implement.
President Donald Trump's media company said Tuesday that institutional investors will buy $2.5 billion in the company's stock with the proceeds going to build up a bitcoin reserve.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas would require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a Republican proposal that cleared a major vote Saturday and would make the state the nation's largest to impose such a mandate.
The group run by Elon Musk and his aides to cut federal spending in the second Trump administration is targeting some surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau it claims are "wasteful," worrying users of federal data already concerned about the health of the nation's statistical infrastructure.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans early Thursday took a major step forward on President Donald Trump's agenda, approving a legislative package that combines tax breaks, spending cuts, border security funding and other priorities.
Two staff members of Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C., were shot dead outside the district's Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night, officials said.
The British government says it is suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and has levelled new sanctions targeting West Bank settlements as it criticizes Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Tuesday’s actions came a day after the U.K., France and Canada condemned Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the occupied West Bank. Foreign Secretary David Lammy...
Moscow is ready to work toward ending the fighting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday following a two-hour phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon said Monday that she is resigning, the latest fallout at the network as its parent company considers settling a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over "60 Minutes."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that it sold advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during the war in Gaza and aided in efforts to locate and rescue Israeli hostages. But the company also said it has found no evidence to date that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm...
The completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline in May 2024 has coincided with the beginning of a new era in global trade. Fueled by escalating US trade tensions and tariff policies that underscore Canada’s heavy dependence on a single market for its oil exports, TMX’s significance as a strategic gateway to the Asia-Pacific region is increasing, and China...
Universities are facing a sharp decline in their public reputation. In the US, the Trump administration is openly attacking many top universities – including taking steps to strip Harvard of its tax exempt status. The situation in Canada is less antagonistic, but there’s growing public frustration over the blatant left-wing bias and politicization of our post-secondary institutions. The public’s indifference...
For too long, Canada has been content to muddle in the slow lane when what is needed — now more than ever — is a breathtaking build out. Here’s how to do it.
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Former Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of betraying Canadians in a strongly worded opinion article published by The Globe and Mail. Axworthy was responding to the announcements this week, first by Donald Trump and then by Carney a day later, that Canada wants to join and help pay for Trump’s “Golden Dome” scheme that...
There are plenty of problems confronting progressives in the United States right now. So lots of our American cousins may not even be aware of the angst and hardship that Trump is inflicting upon Canada.
Parliament will look very different when newly-elected MPs return to Ottawa this month. There will be far less diversity of voices in the House of Commons with the demise of the NDP, and this is not good for our democracy.
After the pomp and pageantry of the King's visit, Parliament gets down to work and for a lot of MP's it will be a new experience. How to hit the ground running is the focus of this latest episode of the Moore Butts conversations -- this is #21. Former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore and former principal secretary to a...
David Herle, Scott Reid, Jordan Leichnitz, and Kory Teneycke provide insights on the latest in Canadian politics.
Canada is facing tariffs, a possible recession and an ongoing housing crisis. The country needs millions of new, affordable homes, and Prime Minister Mark Carney wants the federal government to help build them. But how effective was it the last time the federal government built housing?
Donald Trump’s 'Golden Dome’ is a proposed defense program that will feature the use of space lasers, satellites and interceptors designed to provide 24/7 space based defence. It’s advertised as a bulwark against missiles and nuclear attacks from the likes of China, North Korea and Russia.
