Sources say a top Conservative adviser reprimanded Houston’s team last year. For the first time this campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made a stop in Nova Scotia on Thursday — the second province he's visited led by a Progressive Conservative premier conspicuously absent from the federal party's events. Poilievre's sole campaign trip to Nova Scotia ended without meeting Premier Tim...
A veteran political organizer in Calgary asked Lindsay Luhnau if she'd consider running for the Liberals last fall.It was an easy "no thanks" for Luhnau, director of a local investment co-operative — Justin Trudeau's party was polling miles behind the Conservatives, and the leader's name was mud nationwide, let alone in blue Alberta's biggest city.
Political wives have long helped craft their husbands’ public image. For Pierre Poilievre, that strategy can only get him so far.In the autumn of 2012, Pierre Poilievre found himself in an elevator with a Senate aide who had previously caught his eye. He asked 25-year-old Anaida Galindo if she had Facebook, hoping they could connect. She said no. It was...
A curious fundraising website reveals an abandoned GOP-Conservative collab. “Donate today,” the website proclaims, next to the grinning face of the Conservative Leader, “to help Pierre Poilievre and our common sense Conservative team axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.” If you stumbled across this donation site — which asks for up to $1,72...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre painted a gloomy picture of Canada in his closing pitch to voters on Thursday, saying life will get worse if voters return a Liberal government in this election. After sounding a more optimistic and hopeful tone earlier this week around the release of his party's platform, Poilievre reverted to form at a news conference in Halifax...
A new poll by Liaison Strategies for the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), the industry association representing Canada’s non-official language newspapers, TV, radio, and online news media, finds the Liberals leading with 43% (+1) to the Conservatives 38% (-1). The rolling survey, conducted from April 21 to April 23, 2025, used interactive voice response technology to...
A new Probe Research survey for the Free Press finds that the cost of living and Canada-U.S. relations are the two most critical issues for Manitobans in this federal election campaign. About one-third of Manitobans rank these as the issues most important to them. But about one in five rank health care and the state of the economy as concerns...
The CTV-Globe and Mail/Nanos nightly federal election tracking conducted by Nanos Research surveys 1,200 Canadians aged 18 years and over three days (400 interviews each day). Respondents are all randomly recruited through a dual-frame (cell- and land-line) RDD sample using live agents. Three quarters of the sample are administered the questionnaire by telephone and one quarter is administered the same...
83% of our watchers expect a Liberal victory, compared to 86% last week. 44% expect a Liberal majority, the highest number we’ve seen to date.
Most think the debates did not affect Liberal support. A decent sized minority (44%) think Poilievre may have gained votes.
Sources say a top Conservative adviser reprimanded Houston’s team last year. For the first time this campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made a stop in Nova Scotia on Thursday — the second province he's visited led by a Progressive Conservative premier conspicuously absent from the federal party's events. Poilievre's sole campaign trip to Nova Scotia ended without meeting Premier Tim...
A veteran political organizer in Calgary asked Lindsay Luhnau if she'd consider running for the Liberals last fall.It was an easy "no thanks" for Luhnau, director of a local investment co-operative — Justin Trudeau's party was polling miles behind the Conservatives, and the leader's name was mud nationwide, let alone in blue Alberta's biggest city.
Facing a possible collapse of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh insists he has no regrets. The NDP leader stood by his decision not to plunge the country into an early election last fall while support for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals plummeted, telling the Star’s editorial board he “couldn’t stomach” the idea of causing Pierre Poilievre’s seizure of power, and that he made...
Carney, meet Critch. CBC says Liberal Leader Mark Carney is among the politicians who will appear on the hour-long "Vote Canadian: A 22 Minutes Election Special," in which he'll sit down for a Tim Hortons coffee with comedian Mark Critch. The special episode of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" hits Gem on Thursday evening, just over a week after the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre painted a gloomy picture of Canada in his closing pitch to voters on Thursday, saying life will get worse if voters return a Liberal government in this election. After sounding a more optimistic and hopeful tone earlier this week around the release of his party's platform, Poilievre reverted to form at a news conference in Halifax...
David Aldersey says he has never been to a political rally before but felt compelled to show up at a Conservative event in the Greater Toronto Area because of what he says is at stake. “I’ve been a small-c conservative, but I’ve just seen 10 years of bad decisions,” he said. “The Liberal party parachuted in Mark Carney and it’s...
He materializes on the screen like the ghost of elections past. With the federal election days away, the Conservatives consistently trailing the Liberals in the polls, and leader Pierre Poilievre in danger of losing his own Ottawa riding, Stephen Harper has been enlisted to rally the troops. The first appearance by the former prime minister was at a large rally...
Even the latest mini-scandal that broke on Thursday works in his favour, given it concerns a subject he is desperate to talk about. Article content Radio-Canada reported that in Carney’s call with Donald Trump on March 28, the president brought up the issue of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States. At the time, Carney said Trump had...
A curious fundraising website reveals an abandoned GOP-Conservative collab. “Donate today,” the website proclaims, next to the grinning face of the Conservative Leader, “to help Pierre Poilievre and our common sense Conservative team axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.” If you stumbled across this donation site — which asks for up to $1,72...
On January 7, one day after Justin Trudeau announced his plan to resign as prime minster, Donald Trump, then two weeks out from his second inauguration, spoke to reporters in Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, and accidentally set the tone for the coming Canadian election campaign.
In our most recent national survey, we asked Canadians a simple but revealing question: “Now, imagine you were describing each of the following people to a child and you wanted to tell that child how these people are like—the kind of person they are. What three words would you use?”
The costed Conservative election platform released this week largely eschews the hyperpolarizing language that had defined Pierre Poilievre until recently. The word “broken” shows up seven times in the 30-page document, but nowhere does the Tory platform apply that descriptor to Canada as a whole, as Mr. Poilievre had been endlessly doing until the federal election campaign began. Rather, the...
As Donald Trump ramps up trade threats, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh delivered a clear message from Manitoba: Canada’s water, public health care, environmental protections, and Indigenous Treaty rights are not bargaining chips—and New Democrats will be there to make sure no government dares to put them on the table. Standing with workers in Winnipeg, Singh warned that Trump’s “America First”...
This election comes at a time of crisis. President Trump is disrupting global markets and fundamentally reshaping the international trading system. With Canada, he has been even more direct and aggressive: he wants to break us so America can own us. Mark Carney won’t let that happen. He has a plan that will fight, protect, and build in the face...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced his plan to immediately scrap the ‘Car(ney) Tax’ that will add a $20,000 tax on gas-powered cars starting next year. This is after Poilievre already announced his plan to axe the GST on Canadian-made cars, making them more affordable for hardworking families. Conservatives will be champions of Canada’s auto sector by maintaining all existing supports...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released his Conservative Plan for Change today to lower food and housing costs, stop crime and bring home jobs to put Canada First. The choice could not be clearer – a fourth Liberal term with Mark Carney that will add even more debt than Justin Trudeau’s budget, or a new Conservative government that over the next...
He materializes on the screen like the ghost of elections past. With the federal election days away, the Conservatives consistently trailing the Liberals in the polls, and leader Pierre Poilievre in danger of losing his own Ottawa riding, Stephen Harper has been enlisted to rally the troops. The first appearance by the former prime minister was at a large rally...
Even the latest mini-scandal that broke on Thursday works in his favour, given it concerns a subject he is desperate to talk about. Article content Radio-Canada reported that in Carney’s call with Donald Trump on March 28, the president brought up the issue of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States. At the time, Carney said Trump had...
On January 7, one day after Justin Trudeau announced his plan to resign as prime minster, Donald Trump, then two weeks out from his second inauguration, spoke to reporters in Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, and accidentally set the tone for the coming Canadian election campaign.
In our most recent national survey, we asked Canadians a simple but revealing question: “Now, imagine you were describing each of the following people to a child and you wanted to tell that child how these people are like—the kind of person they are. What three words would you use?”
The costed Conservative election platform released this week largely eschews the hyperpolarizing language that had defined Pierre Poilievre until recently. The word “broken” shows up seven times in the 30-page document, but nowhere does the Tory platform apply that descriptor to Canada as a whole, as Mr. Poilievre had been endlessly doing until the federal election campaign began. Rather, the...
The term “the Trump effect” has been used over the past eight years to describe a range of political phenomena, from certain trends in tactical disruption to the dominance of propaganda in the news cycle. As we approach the 100-day mark (on April 30th) of the unlikely American president’s second term, the Trump effect has taken on a whole new...
Liberal and Conservative campaigns are not what they claim to be
This week, as the federal election campaign entered its final week, Liberal Leader Mark Carney introduced a long-term economic framework that the Liberals say is aimed at revitalizing growth and tackling affordability. The campaign announcement comes at a fraught moment: amid rising global uncertainty, escalating trade tensions, and renewed tariff threats, a shadow has been cast over the country’s economic...
Canada’s major political parties should be commended for preparing thoughtful economic plans that have important differences. No plan is perfect and each are open to some criticism on economic grounds, but after studying the platforms of the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP and Bloc Québécois — when measured against the priorities occupying Canadians in this time of conflict with the U.S...
With less than a week to go before the federal election, Canadian voters are left with a familiar question right up to the moment they cast their vote: What can they really believe? As in every election campaign, voters this time have been inundated with promises: tax cuts, massive housing construction, the revival of regional rail transport, new childcare spaces…...
When asked about the current environment - no one foresaw the Liberal turnaround. Back prior to end of the 2024, the Liberals were on the ropes. Just before Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau stepped down his party trailed the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives by 27 points in the Nanos tracking (CPC 47, LPC 20).
Pierre Poilievre is counting on the budget balancing itself. Almost. There are some mostly vague plans for spending cuts in the Conservative election platform Mr. Poilievre released Tuesday, but it’s not enough to pay for all the party’s promises. So instead, the Conservative platform relies on the hope that their policies would cause a big economic boom, mostly in the...
Unlike previous Conservative leaders, Pierre Poilievre has yet to hold a single event in Saskatchewan, where support for his party is highest.
The major political parties’ platforms were all released extremely late in this election cycle, having apparently decided to wait until after the debates were over, possibly for fear of being grilled on the details of their plans on camera, which is what happened in the last election cycle. To make it worse, advance voting had already begun (with record turnout...
Any hopes they had of profiting from the prodigal nature of the Liberal platform disappeared when they released their own costing document
Canada doesn’t have a gun-control problem. And Mark Carney should stop pretending it does. We do have a problem with gun crime, particularly in some of our larger cities. And we also have a problem with intimate-partner violence. These problems need attention and, critically, more resources. What they don’t need is more gun-control laws: everything that should be illegal already...
With only a few days left in this federal election, I’m surprised that there are still folks who are unsure of who to vote for. At this point, I don’t know if there is anything left to say. The parties and their leaders have shared what they think is the best direction for Canada. Right now, two major challenges dominate...
Jeffrey Simpson was my favourite columnist for years. The Globe and Mail premier journalist’s dominance of the op-ed page was so evident, he was every public servant’s go-to source of information. Of course, this was in the golden age of newspapers. While he was normally bang-on with his analysis of the politics of the day, he sometimes erred. And with...
For every American worker, American businesses invest $24 (U.S.) into the domestic economy. For every Canadian worker, Canadian businesses invest just $11 (U.S.) back into Canada. That gap, mentioned frequently by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, is a bright red warning light that something has gone wrong in the Canadian economy. Up until 2014, America and Canada’s per-worker investment rates were...
Open Letter: The next Canadian leader should set a powerful precedent against Russian aggression
During his campaign for the Conservative leadership in 2022, Pierre Poilievre said he would never pivot."I am who I am," he said.To a great degree, that has held true — despite periodic suggestions from the commentariat that he should change course.
I want to begin by emphasizing that my headline is satirical. There is no particular reason to expect a second US civil war, even though this Canadian government report from Prime Minister Carney’s own department says, “U.S. ideological divisions, democratic erosion, and domestic unrest escalate, plunging the country into civil war.” The report received coverage in international media, including this...
In a leaders' debate that was supposed to be all about Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney, Jagmeet Singh ended up stealing the spotlight. While logic would have dictated that Singh set his sights on Carney and win back some of the voters who had fled to the Liberals, he instead took his biggest swipes at Pierre Poilievre — often at...
Over the years, reams of analysis have skewered the Canadian Supreme Court’s decision in R v. Bissonnette, which declared it unconstitutional to sentence offenders to consecutive periods of parole ineligibility on the grounds that it constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment.” But the decision is so myopic, so deleterious to the public’s perception of the fairness of our justice system, that...
Facing a possible collapse of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh insists he has no regrets. The NDP leader stood by his decision not to plunge the country into an early election last fall while support for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals plummeted, telling the Star’s editorial board he “couldn’t stomach” the idea of causing Pierre Poilievre’s seizure of power, and that he made...
Carney, meet Critch. CBC says Liberal Leader Mark Carney is among the politicians who will appear on the hour-long "Vote Canadian: A 22 Minutes Election Special," in which he'll sit down for a Tim Hortons coffee with comedian Mark Critch. The special episode of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" hits Gem on Thursday evening, just over a week after the...
David Aldersey says he has never been to a political rally before but felt compelled to show up at a Conservative event in the Greater Toronto Area because of what he says is at stake. “I’ve been a small-c conservative, but I’ve just seen 10 years of bad decisions,” he said. “The Liberal party parachuted in Mark Carney and it’s...
A Pierre Poilievre-led government would maintain all existing government agreements for the auto sector, the Conservative leader said Thursday. “We will honour all agreements for the auto sector that the government has made, but we will not force Canadians to pay a $20,000 tax on automobiles,” Poilievre said at a news conference in Halifax, referencing the Trudeau government’s target that...
Aracely saw Niagara Falls for the first time on a cold Monday in March as she crossed the Rainbow Bridge toward Canada with her common-law husband and two daughters aged four and 14, fleeing the immigration raids and sudden deportations sweeping across the U.S.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is at risk of losing his Ottawa-Carleton riding as the party scrambles to send in volunteers to save the seat he has held since 2004, two federal and two provincial Conservative sources say. With several polls showing the Liberals poised to win the election, the loss of Mr. Poilievre’s riding would put the leader in a...
The federal Conservatives are funnelling resources into Pierre Poilievre’s local campaign, shoring up volunteer support in the leader’s Ottawa-area riding over concerns that winning his seat is not guaranteed, the Star has learned. One Conservative source involved in Poilievre’s campaign told the Star that the leader appears to be in trouble in Carleton, the sprawling riding Poilievre has held since...
The Liberals have kept up their lead when it comes to which party Canadians trust to manage the economy, according to a new The Logic poll by Abacus Data, the last in a series of surveys on economic priorities before election day. The Conservatives, meanwhile, remain competitive on the issue of affordability and are still viewed as the best placed...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump did bring up the prospect of Canada becoming the 51st state during their March 28 call, while insisting Trump did show respect for the country as a sovereign nation. "The president says lots of things, but the essence of the discussion and where we moved the conversation to, was exactly...
Going into the election campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre owned the riding-rich region surrounding London, Ont. Like many Canadian cities with an industrial base, London used to be a place where a high school education and decent work ethic meant a ticket to the middle class. I grew up there, and watched classmates graduate from Grade 12 and land at...
After nine years under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, weak investment and slow economic growth had spurred Canadian executives to line up behind Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has promised to unleash capital with tax cuts and deregulation.
Days before the federal election and after more than a week without commenting on Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump resurfaced his 51st state rhetoric Wednesday afternoon and suggested he could further raise auto tariffs.
Melania Trump wore an Easter outfit that may raise eyebrows. During the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House on Monday, the U.S. first lady appeared in a cream coat made by Montreal-based luxury outerwear brand Mackage. Although her Easter look this year was described as “muted” by Vogue, it stood out to some because she chose a Canadian...
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Canada would “cease to exist” if it weren’t for the United States — comments that came just days before Canadians are set to vote in an election dominated by Trump’s comments on the country’s economy and sovereignty. Trump re-inserted himself into Canada’s election during a signing ceremony inside the oval office. saying Canada “would...
Pierre Poilievre is defending the Conservative campaign platform's heavy reliance on economic growth in a period of deep uncertainty, while the NDP and Liberals spar over cost-cutting.The Conservative leader was campaigning in Hamilton, Ont., on Wednesday, with just days to go before the federal vote on Monday and a day after he released the party's costed campaign platform.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will not be taking time away from the federal election campaign to attend the funeral for Pope Francis.He says Gov. Gen. Mary Simon will represent Canada alongside a senior delegation at the Vatican ceremony on Saturday.A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's Office says the rest of the delegation hasn't been finalized.
Ranbir Parmar, who hoped to represent the Tories in Calgary McKnight, has joined the Liberals after not being allowed to contest the nomination. Minesh Patel, who faced a similar experience in Calgary Skyview, is running as an Independent.
China's ambassador says Beijing is offering to form a partnership with Canada to push back against American "bullying," suggesting the two countries could rally other nations to stop Washington from undermining global rules. "We want to avoid the situation where humanity is brought back to a world of the law of the jungle again," Chinese Ambassador Wang Di told The...
Economists at one of Canada’s biggest lenders are raising doubts about the fiscal plans offered by the leading parties in the country’s election.
Platform published Tuesday didn't include commitment made earlier in the campaign. The Conservative Party has republished the English-language version of its platform after what it says was a "publishing oversight" resulted in the omission of a previous commitment to crack down on "woke ideology" in the public service and federal funding for university research. Earlier in the campaign, the Conservatives...
Other speakers who took the stage at the Laval rally did not go nearly as far as Joly did
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to clean up Canada's streets and parks by giving police the power to dismantle encampments and arrest their occupants for setting up tents and shelters to live in. "Public spaces must be safe for everyone. We will take back our streets and restore order in our communities," Poilievre said during a campaign stop in...
To former opposition leader Preston Manning, the solution to keeping Canada unified is simple: Replace Mark Carney’s Liberal government this election, under a different party banner. “I’m very strongly on Canadians uniting, but the question is: ‘Uniting behind whom, and for what’?” he told CTV Your Morning in an interview Wednesday. “I suggest that they need to unite between a...
The Liberals have a five-point advantage over the Conservatives on Day 32 of the 36-day federal election campaign.A three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research conducted on April 20-22 has the Liberals at 44 per cent over the Conservatives, who are up a few points at 39 per cent nationally.
Tucked away amid a host pledges in the Conservative platform is a promise to axe one of Parliament’s primary purposes.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Tuesday that under his government a referendum, not politicians, would decide if Canada needed to raise taxes. Poilievre would “ban” any new taxes or tax increases unless the Canadian public votes for them.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- President Donald Trump has pardoned a Nevada Republican politician who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges that she used money meant for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal costs, including plastic surgery.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Wednesday creating an office inspired by the Department of Government Efficiency and aimed at reducing state regulations, joining other Republican governors who have pledged their own versions of billionaire Elon Musk's cost-cutting group.
NORTHWOOD, Iowa (AP) -- Iowans attending a forum Wednesday hosted by Sen. Chuck Grassley started to turn on each other as the lawmaker faced heated questions about President Donald Trump 's first months in office.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending his more than four-decade career representing Illinois and piling more pressure on the party as it already faced a difficult path to reclaiming a majority in the Senate.
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.
China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent -- the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown. While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised...
A helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront, killing a family of Spanish tourists, including three children in the latest high-profile aviation disaster in the U.S., officials said. Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and that the dead had...
The act of setting fire to houses of worship carries profound implications for our culture, our politics, and for the state of religious liberty in Canada; it also has the potential to seriously undermine Indigenous reconciliation.
On March 11, China concluded its annual 'Two Sessions' — a pair of legislative and advisory meetings focused on Beijing's economic priorities for the year ahead. The slew of macroeconomic measures announced at those meetings are now taking on heightened significance amid the escalating U.S.–China trade war.
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
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.
Is it time I admit defeat, pull up my tent and go home? For 30 years I have advocated for reductions to Canada’s military spending, and it keeps rising and rising. Now it’s reached the point where Canada is the 6th highest in actual dollars within NATO (after USA, Germany, UK, France, Poland). Responding to expensive plans to increase military...
Elections Canada saw a record-breaking 2 million people cast their ballot on the first day of advanced voting for the federal election, resulting in a grand total of more than 7.3 million over the four day period. And as Canada enters the final stretch of campaigning in one of the most critical elections of our time, what can these preliminary...
The last few days of the campaign are heating up, especially on the West Coast!
On this episode of WONK, Amanda Lang talks to historian and author Timothy Snyder about efforts to weaken the American state and what can be done to save it
The final days of a campaign can be hectic. The Conservatives had to pull together a couple of advertisements on short notice. Every party is sending their leader on a cross-country tour and volunteers on the ground are pulling out all the stops to ID their supporters in order to get them out to the polls on election day.
