One Conservative MP said the party needs to 'heal whatever relationships we have to heal.' A reelected Conservative MP says it is important for the federal party to build relationships with provincial conservative parties and suggests there is “work to be done.” It comes as long-simmering fissures between prominent members of the Conservative Party of Canada and Ontario Premier Doug...
Former federal conservative candidate David Brazil admits that perceptions of Pierre Poilievre was one of his biggest challenges on the campaign trail.Brazil, a longtime MHA and former PC party leader, was soundly defeated in the St. John’s East campaign by incumbent Liberal Joanne Thompson.
Canada's newly elected prime minister will soon meet with U.S. President Donald Trump. Reaching a deal with him? That's another matter. Trump said Wednesday that Carney will visit the White House within about a week and that the PM wants to make a deal. But Carney has three major steps to get through in order to arrive at the comprehensive...
Caucus sources say Poilievre's leadership is on solid ground even after falling short in Monday's vote. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been on the phone with caucus members and party supporters in the hours since the election, trying to shore up his position after he delivered uneven results, Conservative sources told CBC News. Poilievre, who has made it clear he...
Party lost 9 seats in the province, while Conservatives gained 16. Winning a fourth mandate and returning to power was certainly a victory for the federal Liberals, but it was marred by a disappointing showing in Ontario which played a significant role in costing them a majority. "Obviously, if you compare to where the Liberals were three months ago, it...
Favourable views of the United States among Canadians have dropped to the lowest level recorded in the past seven years, a new Research Co. poll has found. In the online survey of a representative national sample, only 26% of Canadians have a positive opinion of the United States, down 28 points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in July...
Canadian voters are deeply divided when assessing the possible outcome of the 2025 federal election, a new Research Co. “Exit Poll” poll has found. In the online survey of a representative national sample of Canadians who voted in the 2025 federal election, 49% of respondents say they would be “very upset” if the Conservative Party forms the government, while a...
It doesn’t matter your political persuasion. Tuesday morning, Canada did not get the headline it very much needed.That headline would have trumpeted an expression of firm resolve and electoral clarity. It would have been supported by the usual language of triumph: “decisive victory,” “clear mandate,” “stable majority.”
Canadian electoral politics became like Western Canadian electoral politics this week, by moving from a three-party to a two-party system.Across Western Canada, the NDP competes for power with various centre-right parties. Those centre-right parties evolve and reconstitute themselves to remain electorally competitive across four very different provinces.
Outgoing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s national campaign director is taking responsibility for the results of the 2025 federal election, the worst electoral showing in the party’s history. “It is painful to be where we’re at. It is painful for me to know that this is the campaign that I ran, and I take responsibility for the outcome,” said Singh’s chief...
Two First Nations chiefs are accusing Alberta Premier Danielle Smith of "attempting to manufacture a national unity crisis" and are calling on her to stop stoking the fires of separatism. Smith's government has proposed legislation that would make it easier for citizens to call for a referendum on seceding from Canada. Chief Sheldon Sunshine of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and...
If conservatives want future political success, their federal and provincial leaders will need to grasp the fact that they have more in common with each other than they do with the Liberals
It’s time to build. That was Mark Carney’s message to Canadians during the election campaign, and it ought to be one of his top priorities as he continues his job as prime minister. That means more housing, more healthcare and more (heck, any) high-speed rail. But it also means more energy — and more of the infrastructure that moves and...
In the aftermath of the Mark Carney Liberals’ stunning win on Monday evening, pundits and party strategists haven’t been shy about weighing in on what went so wrong for a party that seemed destined to win a massive victory mere months ago. While the Conservative Party measurably improved both its seat count and popular vote on April 28, the election...
They could grind down opponents with enough time. But the Liberals moved too quickly to dump Trudeau and install Carney for the plan to work
Whenever the House of Commons does get together again, it will be bigger, but will it be any less nasty than the last one?A lot of people are saying it should be, including newly elected Conservative MPs such as Chris d’Entremont and Scott Aitchison, talking optimistically in postelection media interviews about their expectations of a tone shift.
As the United States continues its advance and retreat dance on tariffs, one cannot help but recall the adage about cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Canadians along with people from around the world are scratching their heads in wonder: Why would the U.S. pursue a rapid unwinding of the international order, economic and otherwise, that has served...
What if Mark Carney doesn't end up as terrible a prime minister as many Conservatives expect he will be? Of the many possible scenarios that could have unfolded on Monday evening, not many people seem to have anticipated the one we got: A very impressive Conservative showing, but only good enough for second place, and with party leader Pierre Poilievre...
The 1949 Canadian federal election – the first to be held under “Pax Americana” – gave the Liberal party under Louis St. Laurent 49 per cent of the vote and 191 of the 262 seats at stake in the House of Commons. The outcome, as the final count is still underway, is not as great for the Liberals under Mark...
Pierre Poilievre lost the vote for a constituency he has held for 21 years to a Liberal political neophyte. His populist approach may have been to blame.
The federal Liberal win spares B.C. a policy war with Pierre Poilievre and opens the door to deeper Ottawa-Victoria collaboration. B.C.’s NDP government is breathing a long, heavy sigh of relief after watching Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives come up short in the federal election. The result staves off what was shaping up to be a major showdown between Premier David Eby’s...
The Liberal platform that will guide the PM is a surprisingly status quo document that leans towards expansive, albeit more businesslike, government.
By now, it is pretty clear that the 25-point lead Pierre Poilievre enjoyed in the polls a mere four months ago had very little to do with him. He looked like a shoo-in to be the Prime Minister of Canada because he faced an extremely unpopular opponent and was catering to a very disgruntled electorate who were focused on their...
There were all the parts of Pierre Poilievre in Monday’s election result.There were the revved-up and frustrated young and middle-aged men responding to his call for change. There were also people who changed their political habits to stop him from becoming prime minister.All those positives. All those negatives. Sometim
Jagmeet Singh is a champagne socialist who doesn’t drink; a hipster, with bespoke three-piece suits; a religious Sikh who never truly connected with Quebecers nor his party’s blue-collar base. He’s not a policy wonk. He never looked like or spoke like a politician. Singh just seemed like a guy who waltzed onto the federal political scene, wanting to make a...
At the top of the to-do list for Canada’s prime minister will be arranging to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss the devastating trade war the United States president has launched against this country. While the Liberals’ Mark Carney and the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre have vowed to fight the extensive tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, both have also...
Poilievre failed to adapt as the campaign unfolded, which cost him the election
This was the most gruesome election night for the NDP since the Diefenbaker sweep in 1958. Many great MPs went down to defeat, one may hope many will return. The Liberals gained 11 points and the NDP lost the same. Its collapse allowed Liberal leader Mark Carney to be elected prime minister. But the party with the greatest right to...
That was the craziest election yet, and it wasn’t even over on Day 1 after the voting. The numbers were still changing Tuesday afternoon.The Liberals picked up a Bloc Quebecois-leaning seat, raising their total to 169, three short of a majority.
Mark Carney didn’t quite get the majority mandate he was looking for and there’s a lot of punditry out there about the problems he and the Liberals will have in managing that. It’s being called an “uncertain mandate,” a “less than strong mandate,” and the outcome has been labelled (on page one of the Star no less) an “uneasy victory.”...
Mark Carney told Canadians that his career as a central banker dealing with international financial crises had made him into a skilled negotiator. It was the argument he used to convince as many Canadians as possible that he was and is the man to deal with an unpredictable, unreliable, aggressive, and often uncontrollable President Donald Trump. Trump has slapped tariffs...
Here is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s reaction to the federal election boiled down to one ominous sentence: “I will not permit the status quo to continue.”It is a threat disguised as an olive branch.
For the first time in nearly a century, two parties won more than 40 per cent of the vote. Shortly after 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Mark Carney walked onto a stage at the old Ottawa civic centre — the same hockey arena where John Turner was elected Liberal leader in 1984, the last time the Liberals tried to replace a...
Canadians have elected a prime minister who promised to pursue energy corridors across Canada, to slash project approval timelines and boosted an oilsands carbon capture project during the English leaders' debate. But this wasn't the Conservative prime minister that most Albertans were hoping for. They didn't reject the Liberals with the same ferocity and lopsided results they'd delivered to Justin...
After a short yet intense campaign focused on how to strengthen our economy and protect our sovereignty in a more uncertain and threatening continental and global context, Canadians have voted and the results are in. The Liberals have done what many thought impossible barely a few months ago: they won the most seats and found a way to remain in...
All three potential allies of a minority Liberal government lean hard left, crushing the possibility of nation-building projects like pipelines
With 24 Sussex Drive sitting desolate and in need of millions of dollars in renovations, the government says Prime Minister Mark Carney will soon take up official residence at Rideau Cottage. The crumbling Ottawa home on Sussex Drive had long been the official residence for Canada's prime ministers, but has sat empty since 2015 as workers dealt with mould, asbestos...
Green party Leader Elizabeth May, the lone member of her party to be re-elected, says she’s open to throwing her hat in the ring for Speaker of the House when the next Parliament begins. “I’m open to lots of things,” May said in an interview with CTV News on Wednesday. “It doesn’t mean they’re at all likely, and they’re pretty...
The federal government says a reconsideration of its $19-billion purchase of U.S.-made warplanes is under way, a review that defence analysts warn could antagonize U.S. President Donald Trump as Ottawa and Washington prepare for talks on a new economic and security relationship. Shortly after Mark Carney took office as Prime Minister in March, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced that the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his goal in meeting with President Donald Trump is to achieve a new comprehensive economic and security deal with the United States.Insiders say the first order of business is less ambitious: get the tariffs lifted.
Former Conservative leader and Conservative-Saskatchewan Elect Andrew Scheer says Pierre Poilievre will “absolutely” stay on as the party’s leader, despite losing his own seat and leading the party to its fourth failed attempt to defeat the Liberals. “Pierre is a fighter, and he’s doing it for the people who have been left behind for this government. That’s really what inspires...
Even though Elizabeth May is the only Green member of Parliament left standing after the federal election, the party leader says she wants to play a key role in the new minority Parliament. With the Liberals just a few seats shy of a majority, May said she's open to negotiating and possibly even striking a deal with Prime Minister Mark...
As Mark Carney closed out his victory speech on election night, he reminded Canadians — as he did through much of the campaign — of the challenges posed by the ongoing tensions with the U.S. administration. "We will build an independent future for our great country," he said to the crowd. "Vive le Canada." But after touting himself as the...
Fresh off his election victory, Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to immediately take on U.S. President Donald Trump on trade. But the White House likely won’t turn its attention to North American trade talks until later this summer — a timeline that might actually work out better for Canada.
With the fewest seats ever won, the NDP is destined for a leadership race—something some political players say presents an opportunity for the party to reposition itself in light of a devastating election defeat.
Alberta's premier said she wouldn't stand in the way of a citizen-led referendum on independence.
STORY Just days before Prime Minister Mark Carney called the election, the federal government announced a flurry of new projects worth about $8 billion, according to an IJF analysis. The timing stood out. The announcements were posted on Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, the final hours in which Carney and his ministers could act before the election call...
Amid questions about the future of the Conservative Party and its leader Pierre Poilievre, one Progressive Conservative premier says it’s time for some “soul searching,” and one defeated member of Parliament says she thinks the party needs to not be “so extreme” going forward.
Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative premier says the results of the federal election should prompt some "soul searching" by the national Conservative party.The Conservatives won just one of 11 seats in Nova Scotia and took only seven of Atlantic Canada's 32 seats in Monday's vote, which returned the Liberals to power for a fourth consecutive mandate.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House "within the next week." "I spoke to him yesterday," Trump said of Carney. "He couldn't have been nicer and I congratulated him." Carney and Trump spoke on the phone Tuesday after the Liberals' stunning win in Monday's election -- a come-from-behind...
First off, a (likely unnecessary) disclosure: Process Nerd is — and remains — a Charter member of what Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne calls ‘Team Minority.’ This ensures, via the raw power of simple mathematics, that no one party can override the will of their cross-aisle colleagues to control the House of Commons. It also means that MPs can...
Premier Doug Ford is firing back at federal Conservative charges that the provincial Tories “sabotaged” Pierre Poilievre’s campaign in Ontario.“I shouldn’t interfere in the federal election,” Ford told reporters in Mississauga on Wednesday when asked why he didn’t help Poilievre.
Conservative leader lost longtime Ottawa-area seat to Liberal newcomer Bruce Fanjoy. The startling upset for Conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost the Ottawa-area riding he'd held for nearly 21 years to a Liberal newcomer, had local voters buzzing the morning after. By the time Carleton's giant ballots were counted, Carleton's MP-elect Bruce Fanjoy had garnered about 51 per...
Well, that was a night. Canadians voted, and Mark Carney was the winner, overcoming what at one time was a 25-point Pierre Poilievre lead in the polls. But it was not a majority win, at least not yet. With counts and recounts still to come, the outcome remains a minority Liberal government. Fred DeLorey and Bruce Anderson are here to...
Jonathan Pedneault, co-leader of the Greens, is stepping down from his role at the helm of the party. “Twice now, I have failed to convince my fellow citizens to send me to Ottawa,” he wrote in a statement published online. “I therefore hereby submit my resignation … effective immediately.” Pedneault, who joined Elizabeth May as co-leader in February, came fifth...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is blasting judges in the province who he perceives as being soft on crime, and is floating ideas such as judges running for election and offering them payouts to retire early. Ford was at Peel Regional Police headquarters to announce measures on bail in an upcoming justice bill, though he says the most meaningful bail reform...
There are plenty of questions the party will need to address including how he can lead the party from outside Parliament. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is not the prime minister. As of Tuesday morning, he was not even an MP. At the nexus of those two outcomes, which just months ago would have been nearly unthinkable, is a maelstrom of...
Poilievre, Singh are most notable losses, but other familiar faces won't be back.
Allies of Pierre Poilievre spoke out in support of his continued leadership after the Conservative Leader lost his own seat in Monday’s election and failed to form government. Among them was former party leader Andrew Scheer, who was forced to step down after his failure to defeat the Trudeau Liberals in the 2019 election despite winning the popular vote and...
U.S. President Donald Trump, the elephant in the room of the 2025 Canadian election, agreed to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in the days ahead after calling to congratulate the Canadian leader who squeaked through with a minority win, not the “strong mandate” Carney sought for their looming trade negotiation. The congratulatory call from Trump came around midday, as Carney...
The environment, climate change, public transit, Indigenous reconciliation, and Big Tech took a back seat during the campaign, but governing will mandate their attention, says NDP strategist Will Shelling.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is expected to depart from the Trump administration in the coming days, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN, the first major staff shakeup since the president took office in January. Waltz’s job has been in limbo after it was made clear to him earlier this week that his time leading the National...
Canada's newly elected prime minister will soon meet with U.S. President Donald Trump. Reaching a deal with him? That's another matter. Trump said Wednesday that Carney will visit the White House within about a week and that the PM wants to make a deal. But Carney has three major steps to get through in order to arrive at the comprehensive...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Elon Musk, preparing to step back from his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency, had a request of the reporters gathered at the White House to interview him: Before he would answer any questions, he wanted someone to tell him a joke.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources, finalizing a deal months in the making that could enable continued military aid to Kyiv amid concerns that President Donald Trump might scale back support in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers can expect higher prices and delivery delays when the Trump administration ends a duty-free exemption on low-value imports from China Friday.
Royalty, presidents, prime ministers and a legion of faithful are paying their last respects to Pope Francis at a funeral mass in St. Peter's Square in Rome to honour his sometimes turbulent papacy. Applause rang out as the pontiff's simple wooden coffin, inlaid with a large cross, was brought out of St. Peter's Basilica and into the sun-filled square by...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Elon Musk has been called a Moonshot Master, the Edison of Our Age and the Architect of the Future, but he's got a big problem at his car company and it's not clear he can fix it: damage to its brand.
Pope Francis, whose nearly 12-year papacy ushered in a more open, welcoming Catholic Church that prioritized empathy for the poor and disenfranchised — including Indigenous victims of Canada's church-run residential schools — has died at 88, the Vatican said in a video statement Monday. "Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our...
Meta Platforms Inc. faces a historic antitrust trial beginning Monday that could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups it bought more than a decade ago that have since grown into social media powerhouses.
The global economy is facing major instability, especially due to the Trump administration’s trade policies, which have permanently disrupted free trade with the U.S. and the global trading system. Canada must act quickly with bold policy changes to stay competitive and find new export markets.
With Canada’s federal election now behind us and the Liberal Party launching into a rare fourth consecutive mandate, Ottawa stands at a pivotal juncture for its Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS).
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is an increasingly disruptive global power and a growing challenge to Canada. One substantial risk is that the PRC intends to annex Taiwan, which it has never controlled, and it does not rule out the option of military force. China’s increasing rate of military exercises around Taiwan indicate that it is preparing for aggression...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Some dismissed it as the “erectile dysfunction” ad. Others laughed it off as a desperate Hail Mary to salvage a faltering campaign in Southern Ontario—specifically in the all-important 905 region.Well, they can stop laughing.Call it the blue belt now. The Conservatives not only held their ground in the 905—they flipped several Liberal ridings.
The world is chaotic. Sovereignty, diplomacy, trade, free speech, science are all under assault. Daily life seems suddenly dangerous. Even the weather report is scary. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,” as William Butler Yeats put it in The Second Coming (1919). We’ve entered an era of might makes right. Familiar rules are changing. Among the changes is the...
This will be a very short post on the access-to-information election promises of the five main political parties. That’s because there’s nothing to write about.With the release of the last platform today (Conservative), no party is committing to reforming the dysfunctional Access to Information Act, other than reciting cheap bromides. Some aren’t even offering bromides.
Conservative MP-elect Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound - Muskoka) talks about what's next for his party and its leader Pierre Poilievre after Monday's election loss. NDP MP Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) talks about the future of her party after it failed to win official party status on Monday night and is left with just seven MPs. Former Jean Chretien chief of...
The Conservative Party of Canada is once again the Official Opposition. Now, the Tories are grappling with the disappointing results of Monday’s election. They lost to the Liberals after leading in the polls mere months ago and their party leader, Pierre Poilievre, failed to win in his own riding. But it wasn’t a total loss. The Conservatives won 41 per...
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is an important industrial centre best known for its steel industry. But that industry is currently being threatened by the tariffs on steel and aluminium announced by the Trump administration. Our guest today is Matthew Shoemaker, Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie. Mayor Shoemaker is lobbying hard across the border to change a situation he can't make...
I didn’t spend a lot of time talking to people inside the various campaigns in the recent election, because my fellow observers are more relaxed during a campaign than practitioners. After the vote, though, practitioners get to relax and assess their efforts. I caught three of them in that mood the day after the federal election.
