The Conservative leader was once assumed to be the next prime minister. How did he lose his own riding? When Pierre Poilievre took the stage at the Conservative party headquarters in the early hours after the federal election, his future was far from clear. The Conservative leader delivered a relatively upbeat concession speech, congratulating newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney...
After the Conservatives lost a fourth straight election, Pierre Poilievre is tasked with convincing supporters that he is still the right person to lead the party to victory in the next election, despite losing his own seat. Poilievre’s path to returning to the House of Commons requires replacing an elected member of Parliament in a yet-to-be-called byelection in rural Alberta...
The NDP will return to the House of Commons without official party status at the end of May. The last time this happened was after the 1993 election -- a time one former New Democrat MP remembers as "the Parliament from hell." Svend Robinson represented Burnaby, B.C., in the House of Commons from 1979 to 2004. He said the party's...
A lot of the chatter was about foreign policy — and Carney pressed Trump on tariffs. After their Oval Office encounter under the glare of the TV lights, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his U.S. counterpart retreated to the Roosevelt Room for a working lunch on Tuesday. Much of the mealtime chatter was about foreign policy issues, according to a...
Mark Carney's promise to lead a Canadian economic transformation includes a renewed focus on artificial intelligence, which the new prime minister listed as a key pillar of his plan. Experts say they are encouraged by Carney's campaign pledge to invest in the technology. But they say that after establishing itself as a leader in the early decades of AI development...
For much of 2023 and 2024, Canadians were deeply entrenched in a scarcity mindset—a psychological state characterized by anxiety about the accessibility and affordability of basic necessities. This mindset had profound political implications, creating widespread discontent. Life felt perpetually uncertain, with essential items and services harder to obtain, increasingly expensive, and prone to sudden loss. Such sentiments inevitably translated into...
A new Liaison Strategies poll for the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) finds the BC Conservatives leading the BC NDP by 2 points.Conducted from May 2-4, 2025, using interactive voice response technology, the Liaison poll surveyed 800 British Columbia voters. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.45%, 19 times out of 20.
Ontario is set to spend nearly $21 billion to build four small modular reactors east of Toronto. Officials say construction on the first modular reactor at the site of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station will begin this year and should be completed by 2030. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved Ontario Power Generation's plan last month to build the first...
What's the diplomatic thing to say when the U.S. president insults your predecessor, your close colleague and many others, to boot?In his Devil’s Dictionary, 19th-century American writer Ambrose Bierce defined diplomacy as the “patriotic art of lying for one’s country.”
As a Canadian going about his business in London and Paris these days, it’s been impossible not to notice a change in the reflexive greeting from foreigners. The usual friendly thaw at the news that you’re from “the unobjectionable nation” has been replaced by immediate expressions of sympathy and indignation at our new status as Donald Trump’s favourite trolling target...
By harvesting responsibly and regenerating diligently, we ensure that future generations will inherit a greener planet.
If you talk to people who know Mark Carney well, one of the personality traits that comes up over and over is that he is not someone who suffers fools. People he thought were unprepared in meetings; reporters who asked questions he considered unfair or lazy; anyone he thought was wasting his time and ought to know better – they...
Conservatives gathered this week for the first time since the April 28 election. Hopefully they had a vibrant, open, and fulsome caucus meeting where nothing was off limits. It need not be, and should not be, about recrimination and settling scores, but more about accountability and the route for the best path forward. Much has been made since the election...
So, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is unhappy with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her hints at a separation referendum next year in Alberta. Well, the feeling is mutual. Ford isn’t very popular or respected in Alberta. I’ve taken to calling Ford the Liberal Premier of Ontario. I know he styles himself as a Conservative, but after his behaviour during the...
In 2013, when he was running to unseat a Conservative government, Justin Trudeau said there were a "few very big things the prime minister of Canada needs to get right," one of which was "building a constructive working relationship with the president of the United States." That of course was long before the president of the United States was Donald...
For the past few years, Pierre Poilievre was tuned into the Canadian mood with extraordinary precision. His pitch was shaped around a country gripped by a scarcity mindset—rising housing costs, strained health care, expensive groceries, and an overwhelming sense that the basics of life were slipping further from reach. It didn’t hurt that former prime minister Justin Trudeau was deeply...
It’s called “the weave” — Donald Trump’s rambling, random rants when he has anyone’s attention — and Prime Minister Mark Carney can now say he experienced one at the president’s right hand. For more than 30 minutes in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump was weaving all over the place, but not dodging. Yes, he wants Canada to become part...
The prime minister exited the Oval Office, and the most intense experience of his brief political career, with his dignity intact
In the realm of American political rituals, the Oval Office “pool spray” doesn’t quite top the list of presidential traditions that have been upended by Donald Trump — the peaceful transition of power, the inaugural address, and a glancing acquaintanceship with the US Constitution all rate higher on the litany of obliterated norms than the classic, seated, fireplace-flanking bilateral handshake...
Pierre Poilievre has retreated to a safe Alberta seat after losing his Ottawa one to the Liberals. Of course, he will win by a comfortable majority. But in the meantime he’ll have to figure out what to do about the ticking time bomb he’s been handed by the Alberta premier. The day after the election and before Conservative party leader...
What a genius move by Mark Carney to get King Charles to deliver his government’s Speech from the Throne later this month. Given all Carney’s up to in his first week after the election, arranging for Charles to preside over the re-opening of Parliament might not seem like a big deal. There is, after all, that little matter of the...
While preaching calm, Smith gives full legitimacy to a debate that could tear this province apart
The Liberals will have drop climate obsessions to stave off a referendum in 2026.
There are many reasons why Mark Carney became the prime minister of Canada — and one of the biggest is Mark Carney himself.While perhaps initially more a consequence of luck than talent, Donald Trump’s threats towards Canada changed the terms of the election.
Mark Carney is new to politics, but in a matter of months, he is learning that each fight gets tougher. He handily won the Liberal leadership in March. His election victory a week ago was tighter. This week, he’s up against Donald Trump, and the newly elected prime minister has to be aware that the stakes in this contest are...
Following Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013, many governments worldwide woke to the reality that the infrastructure fueling the rise of the digital economy also posed serious security vulnerabilities. The concentration of digital activities in a handful of American companies effectively granted the United States the power to surveil the world.
Nothing says “strong sovereign nation” like a foreign figurehead presiding over a government’s launch party.But there it is. Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited King Charles III to deliver the new Parliament’s throne speech. Apparently, the honour of the monarch’s attendance sends a message about Canadian sovereignty.
Liberals like their leaders coming out of caucus, not left field. Carney bucked that preference. He not only captured the top job, he raised the Liberals Lazarus-like from the dead. But he has made the task tougher because he has created such great expectations in Canadians. And there won’t be much time to prepare for the biggest item on his...
In his first post-election news conference, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he’s in politics “to do big things, not to be something.” He also stated that, “Now is the time for ambition, to be bold, to meet this crisis with the overwhelming, positive force of a united Canada.” Based on some of the pledges he mentioned in his speech...
There’s a term that policy types throw around when they’re talking about defence spending: “dual-use infrastructure.” The idea is that you want to build something to defend your country, but at the same time you’re building something civilians can use as well, like roads or ports. After the most polarized election vote in nearly a century in terms of party...
This is a request to pause to consider a priority that escaped discussion during the campaign—reconciliation and the wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples of this country. Congratulations to Prime Minister Mark Carney on your unique entry into politics and successful campaign. The lack of drama and empty slogans was refreshing and calming. The strength shown to take control of the Liberal...
A near-death experience often leaves survivors permanently changed. They emerge more grateful, more focused, and, crucially, more humble. The brush with mortality strips away illusions of control. Survivors stop taking life for granted. They shift their priorities. They understand that survival is not a reward. It’s a reprieve. Politics isn’t so different. Just a few months ago, the Liberal Party...
As separatist discontent bubbles up anew in Alberta, experts say a vote to sever ties with Canada would pitch the country into unexplored territory on everything from money to First Nations and national parks. "You're in terra incognita. You're off the map when we get to that stage of the proceedings," said law professor Eric Adams. "A lot of things...
In a surprise move Wednesday, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai announced he's stepping down.Pillai told reporters he plans to stay on until a new leader is selected.He said he plans to focus on improvements to health care and the threat posed by U.S. tariffs for the rest of his term.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will “respect the outcome” of a referendum vote to separate the western province from the rest of Canada, but insisted she does not support the initiative. Pressed repeatedly on whether she would pursue separation if a vote in Alberta endorsed it, Smith conceded she would. “What I have said is that I will respect...
Over 800 special ballots cast during the recent federal election were mistakenly kept at the office of a returning officer in B.C., Elections Canada says.The agency says all registered political parties have been informed that 822 special ballots cast by electors in 74 electoral districts across the country were left with the returning officer in the riding of Coquitlam--Port Coquitlam.
Newly minted interim Opposition leader Andrew Scheer says talks are "ongoing" about the current Stornoway conundrum — but he doesn't sound eager to move into the official residence. The Saskatchewan MP was chosen to temporarily take over Pierre Poilievre's parliamentary duties as the Conservative leader seeks to reclaim a seat in the House of Commons. Poilievre lost his long-held Ontario...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's team has reached out to Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office to arrange a call between the two, an apparent bid to ease tensions after Poilievre's party lost the federal election. The move follows weeks of conflict within Canada's conservative movement, including public criticism from Ford. "I think he's asked everyone across the country for a meeting...
Canada's energy CEOs are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to scrap the emissions cap on oil and gas producers and repeal industrial carbon pricing to help bolster the industry. Thirty-eight CEOs of Canadian energy companies signed a letter congratulating Carney on his election win and pitching policy measures they say would help the prime minister make good on his...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canada's premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet in person in Saskatchewan on June 1 and 2. Ford, who took part in a conference call with Carney and the other premiers Wednesday, said the premiers congratulated the prime minister on both his election victory and the "restraint" he showed during Tuesday's meeting with U.S...
U.S. President Donald Trump said former prime minister Justin Trudeau led the effort to have Russia removed from the G8, even though the decision took place more than a year before Trudeau came to power. Speaking alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino at a World Cup event in Washington on Tuesday, Trump said Trudeau and former U.S. president Barack Obama "didn't...
In the latest round of deepfakes targeting Prime Minister Mark Carney since the Canadian election, the PM is allegedly announcing new auto regulations in Canada, leading some social media users to draw comparisons between Carney and late Cuban leader Fidel Castro. We explain in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Podcaster claims Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre rejected interview invitation before election loss. Podcaster Joe Rogan on Tuesday marveled at how Canada reelected yet another liberal government after years of controversies.
In the week since the election, all sides in the next House seem to be finding ways to be nice to each other. What's going on and how long will it last? Bruce Anderson and Fred DeLorey give their thoughts on that, plus Mark Carney's approach with the media, and what's happening inside the Conservative Party.
There’s growing chatter in senior bureaucratic circles that the new Carney government is exploring a different way to govern – one that could execute plans for the biggest remake of Canada’s economy since the Second World War. Thrust into office by Trump’s trade war, Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to turn an economic crisis into a defining moment for...
Prime Minister Mark Carney held a phone call with premiers Wednesday afternoon to brief them following his apparently successful first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.The virtual briefing with provincial and territorial leaders also came after Alberta's premier publicly raised the spectre of the province separating from Canada amid concerns about western alienation.
Senior federal officials have been looking quietly for ways to bring together Canadians who don't see eye to eye on the economy, immigration and social issues.With a general election looming, officials prepared to meet last November to brainstorm solutions to the problem of social fragmentation, according to an internal presentation drafted by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Gone, it seems, are the days when the phrase "going nuclear" was meant figuratively. Since the beginning of the year and the inauguration of the second Trump administration, an increasing number of Washington's closest allies have begun to throw quiet — and sometimes not so quiet — fits about whether they can still count on the decades-old nuclear deterrent capability...
DND blames the loss of the memo on 'poor information management practices' during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the federal government’s most troubled access-to-information performers says it lost a memo nearly four-and-a-half years after it was first requested. The Department of National Defence (DND) has often been put in the spotlight for its poor adherence to the Access to Information...
A First Nations chief in Alberta says he will push for a referendum to have Premier Danielle Smith kicked out of office if she doesn’t agree to meet with him and other Indigenous leaders across the West amid the separatist talk they say violates treaty rights. In a letter dated May 2, Chief Clifford Poucette of Goodstoney First Nation requested...
Canada will never become a U.S. state, Prime Minister Carney declared Tuesday in public and private meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House -- meetings both leaders described as productive and cordial. While most of Carney's attention remained focused on pressing Canada's case against Trump's tariffs and launching serious trade discussions between the two countries, Trump's obsession...
From the first handshake outside the White House, one body language expert says U.S. President Donald Trump clearly showed “a certain level of respect” for Prime Minister Mark Carney during their meeting today. “Obviously, the risk always with a handshake with Trump, is he’s going to pull you off balance. We see that happening time and time again,” Mark Bowden...
The Conservative caucus has chosen Andrew Scheer to lead the party in Parliament during the spring sitting. The Saskatchewan MP-elect and former party leader will assume the duties of Opposition leader in the House of Commons when the sitting begins May 26. The temporary role is needed because Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre does not have a seat in the House...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is urging her Ontario counterpart Doug Ford to mind his own business when it comes to talk of separating from Canada.Smith announced this week that she doesn't want Alberta to leave Canada but, if enough residents sign a petition asking for a referendum on it, she'll make sure it's put to a vote in 2026.
'You have to acknowledge that it was the generally right message... because the Liberals stole multiple elements,' said Poilievre.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s bid to regain a seat in Parliament through a byelection could cost taxpayers more than $1 million, according to data from recent races. When Poilievre led the Conservatives to defeat in the April 28 federal election, he also lost his Ottawa-area riding by more than 4,500 votes. Long considered a Conservative stronghold, the Carleton seat was...
President Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two U.S. officials.
Two separate federal judges 2,000 miles apart ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump improperly used an 18th century wartime law to try to speed the deportations of people his administration labels members of a Venezuelan gang, adding to mounting judicial skepticism over the president's attempt to avoid deportation hearings by invoking a measure last used in World War II.
The U.S. Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking it to give up the underlying technology powering the company's digital ad network. The proposed remedy joins a separate federal effort to separate the Chrome browser from its dominant search engine.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was pardoned by Donald Trump for his conviction related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, said he met with the president over the weekend in Florida.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) -- Some of the architects of Donald Trump's presidential campaigns have reunited in Albania as they try to help a Trumpian candidate prevail in this weekend's elections.
The Indian armed forces launched “Operation Sindoor,” hitting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government said in a statement.No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted in the action that happened early Wednesday local time, the statement added.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The Trump administration says the sweeping tariffs it unveiled April 2, then postponed for 90 days, have a simple goal: Force other countries to drop their trade barriers to U.S. goods.
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...
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has forever changed global commodities markets. The economic sanctions subsequently imposed on Russia exposed multiple risks related to (over)reliance on a single or dominant suppliers of critical materials (Sukhankin 2024a).
Despite knowing very little about him, Canadians chose Mark Carney as their new prime minister. Fearful of the bellicose threats coming from the United States about Canada becoming the 51st state, voters turned to the former central banker as a steady hand to deal with President Donald Trump. With no previous political experience to point to, much was made during...
In an era when AI will enhance everything from crop yields to cancer detection, the central priority should be to accelerate AI adoption to boost Canada's economic prosperity and quality of life for its citizens, not impose roadblocks to innovation with overly precautionary regulation.
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.
History is easy in the rearview. When you look back things are a lot neater and tidier - you can say this is authoritarianism, this is fascism, this is the obvious threshold or signpost for crossing into it. History though may not be as obvious when you are living it. Has the United States crossed the threshold into authoritarianism? Or...
Paul Wells is the de facto dean of political journalism in Canada — a longtime observer and interpreter of what happens in Ottawa. He talks to host Amanda Lang about some surprising shifts in the wake of the federal election, including an easing of the 'ever-deepening animosity' that’s become a trademark of politics, evidence of a common understanding of what's...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made his first trip to the White House to meet President Donald Trump, with Trump heaping praise on Carney. But the meeting wasn't all sunshine, as the two leaders clashed over trade positions and Trump's ongoing musings of making Canada the 51st state. Host Cormac Mac Sweeney breaks down the first face-to-face in the oval...
Mike Le Couteur, CTV News; David Patterson, Ontario Representative in Washington; Joy Malbon, CTV News; The Front Bench with: Dan Moulton, Shakir Chambers, Kathleen Monk & Laura Stone.
