Prime Minister Mark Carney met privately Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington, D.C., with no staff in the room. The meeting, which happened at the Kennedy Center following the FIFA World Cup Draw, lasted about 50 minutes. Trump said earlier in the day the three leaders would talk about trade during their meeting...
A week ago the talk was all about pipelines. Remember those days? Things have changed a lot in a mere seven days. It's been quite the week, especially in Quebec, where there are lessons for politicians across the country. Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson join the virtual discussion table again for some Good Talk.
The Conservative Party must release the findings of its internal investigation, including how the data breach occurred, who was responsible, and what accountability measures have been taken, say some victims of last month’s cyber security incident. Conservative sources say that a data breach initially reported to have impacted 15 MPs could actually extend to hundreds of potential nomination candidates and...
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding. Once Bill 14 came into force, the court action would have been discontinued, preventing Court of King's Bench Justice Colin...
The political fortunes of Canada’s provincial leaders are varied this holiday season, with some – Manitoba’s Wab Kinew, New Brunswick’s Susan Holt, and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe – set for a merry break from the legislature. Others – namely Ontario’s Doug Ford and Quebec’s Francois Legault – may be in for a more Dickensian season of holiday introspection, as they contend...
As Canada grapples with a period of intense political debate — including renewed controversy over the federal agreement with Alberta to fast-track construction of a new pipeline — the latest Leger survey on federal politics, conducted for Postmedia, shows that Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to enjoy relatively stable support across the country.
The political fortunes of Canada’s provincial leaders are varied this holiday season, with some – Manitoba’s Wab Kinew, New Brunswick’s Susan Holt, and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe – set for a merry break from the legislature. Others – namely Ontario’s Doug Ford and Quebec’s Francois Legault – may be in for a more Dickensian season of holiday introspection, as they contend...
Can you mourn something that never existed? Like the idea of a happy marriage when you knew all along you settled for the first person who accepted your advances? Or the daydream of a life of luxury and indulgence, which feels possible while you’re holding a lottery ticket, but vanishes as soon as the numbers are called? What about the...
Canada has spent 28 years trying to buy a new fighter jet: the federal government made a decision, then unmade it, then made it again. We’ve already spent more than a billion dollars on this thing, and 1,500 Canadian jobs have been created to build it. It’s the tent pole of our plans to defend ourselves and co-operate with our...
Almost one-quarter of all politicians in the Alberta legislature now face citizen-led petition drives to remove them from office. Alberta's chief electoral officer told a legislature committee today he needs almost $7 million to process what he listed as 21 petition campaigns in the 87-seat legislature. Gordon McClure calls the situation "unprecedented." His comments came as his office formally announced...
A leaked briefing document prepared for the federal Liberal caucus claims that a bill put forward by NDP MP Jenny Kwan would "decimate" Canada's defence industry and "dismantle" defence sector trade with the U.S. The briefing document, obtained by The Canadian Press, arms Liberal MPs with blunt talking points that call the legislation "misguided" and say it would introduce new...
If we don't build bridges to get demoralized young men involved in the democratic process, extremists may capitalize on their frustration
Let’s face it, with 343 MPs in this Parliament and one Green Party seat, I had not imagined that any vote might be so tight that my single “yay” or “nay” could hold sway. Then, based on a combination of minority math and political machination, the knife-edge vote on Mark Carney’s first budget on November 17th came along and the...
One of the more infamous scenes in the movie sketch comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail involved a sword fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight. Almost immediately, things do not go well for the Black Knight. He quickly loses a limb, then another. Despite his losses he defiantly fights on: “Just a flesh wound … I’m invincible.”...
Progressive-leaning folks are having a hard time watching Mark Carney link arms with the same forces that spent the past decade demonizing the Liberals. Whether it’s making a deal with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith or playing to the “bro” culture with all the sports talk and walking back feminist foreign policy, it seems like the prime minister is determined to...
The leadership of two of our three major parties is in the course of being determined. It’s a big moment in the political trajectory of the country. The NDP leadership race could well decide the fate of that party – whether it revives itself or is reduced to a relic. The latter would see Canada devolving into a hollowed-middle, two-party...
The Montreal riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie is ground zero for Quebec’s media elites and the beating heart of the province’s cultural industries. Not surprisingly, it skews progressive and has reliably sent left-leaning MPs to Ottawa for more than three decades. Last week’s resignation of local MP Steven Guilbeault from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet generated a minor earthquake in Laurier—Sainte-Marie whose...
Whether he intended to or not, Prime Minister Mark Carney cast aside a tenet of the Liberals’ brand last Thursday when he signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta that jeopardizes the Grits’ work addressing climate change. For more than two decades, the Liberal Party of Canada told voters that it was the party that not only cared about...
Everyone could find something to hate about the energy agreement – technically, the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding – Mark Carney and Danielle Smith struck last week. For the right, the conditions on federal support for a heavy oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast – notably, a tightened provincial carbon pricing regime – are too onerous, if not altogether...
With hearings underway in Washington regarding the future of the CUSMA, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade representative has signaled that the administration might withdraw completely unless it secures a “good deal.” To rattle our cages further, Trump recently reiterated his tired accusation that Canada and Mexico have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country, threatening...
On the day last May when Mark Carney and his newly elected cabinet were sworn in, the Prime Minister promised, “Our government will deliver its mandate for change with urgency and determination. We’ve been elected to do a job. We intend to do it quickly and forcefully.” At the time, that sounded like a solid recipe for governing, but it’s...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has displayed a remarkable willingness to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor across the public policy board. In the coming months, he may be tempted to take another look at one of the more indefensible decisions made by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government: the expansion of its medical assistance in dying legislation.
Back in October, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wiped her hands clean of any scandal involving Alberta Health Services (AHS). Seven months earlier, the Premier had tapped retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant to probe alleged political interference involving the procurement of children’s medicine from abroad, and contracts for private surgical facilities in the province, both of which had ties to a...
When the Carney government’s honeymoon is over, and its missteps on a variety of fronts become more evident, the search will begin in earnest for “alternatives.” Looking ahead, what might such alternatives be? On the fiscal front, the recent federal budget gets off on the wrong foot by attributing Canada’s economic woes to major global events and Donald Trump’s tariffs...
Mark Carney didn’t run as a conventional politician. He ran as the outsider who wasn’t. It’s an appealing contradiction: a first-time candidate who also happened to be one of the most connected people in the country and abroad. Carney spent years at the centre of power in both Ottawa and London. He advised governments, soothed markets, briefed prime ministers, and...
Is Canada going continental? This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney quietly signed Canada up for the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, part of the European Union’s plan to rebuild its military industrial base by 2030. Membership gives countries access to 150-billion euros (C$243 billion) in loans to back defence manufacturing. Canada is the first non-EU country to join. In...
For weeks now, rumours have circulated that Mark Carney could be doing a major shuffle of his cabinet before the end of this year. The shuffle that happened on Monday wasn’t the one people were talking about — or expecting.
Let’s set the record straight: Mark Carney is not Justin Trudeau; and that is a good thing. The continued fixation of former Trudeau-era loyalists in insisting that Carney is pandering to the ‘bros’ because of his “rejection” of the word ‘feminist’ in Canada’s foreign policy reeks of nostalgia for a government that often mistook optics for substance. It’s time for...
They were among the few long faces at last Saturday evening’s annual Press Gallery Dinner. Stephen Guilbeault looked as though he had just lost his best friend. Green Party Elizabeth May looked as though she would break into tears. Guilbeault had resigned two days earlier from his job as heritage minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Carney over...
If you listen to the noise coming out of British Columbia, rather than pay attention to what’s actually going on, you might conclude the province’s NDP government simply hates pipelines. A new line to the B.C. coast, they keep saying, is a terrible idea. It’s just a pipe dream, a “fantasy” in the words of Premier David Eby. Worse, the...
More than eight months have passed and it’s now safe to bring friends of Justin Trudeau back into the cabinet. Marc Miller was one of the Trudeau-era ministers tossed over the side of the ship of state when Mark Carney became prime minister, when the political imperative was making Canadians see his government as something new and different.
Danielle Smith was flying high last Thursday as she and Mark Carney signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Calgary. Interesting that it was called an MOU and not an agreement, although most of the news media, and Smith herself, talked about it in those terms. So now Carney and Smith have an “understanding” that an oil pipeline may be...
You couldn’t have faulted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for thinking she might receive something of a hero’s welcome at this weekend’s United Conservative Party convention. After all, she would be waving a freshly signed memorandum of understanding with Ottawa to build a new pipeline to the northwest coast of B.C. Sure, there were literally mountains to cross before it came...
Premier Danielle Smith faces an uphill battle with her own party, which appears to be increasingly untethered from Alberta’s current reality. The United Conservative Party annual general meeting was a fractious affair, marked by divisions over separatism and policy resolutions mired in the 1950s. Albertans would be wise to pay attention to those resolutions – they have a habit of...
Across Canada, at all times, we are an appropriately judgmental people when it comes to holding our political leaders accountable. This is particularly true when we think our leaders have failed us, disappointed us or misled us. Whether it is a municipal politician caught in a scandal, a provincial cabinet minister who makes a terrible decision, an opposition backbencher who...
QUEBEC -- The Quebec Liberals have lost another member of their caucus, as a crisis within the party shows no signs of abating.
A data breach at Conservative Party headquarters involved more people than initially believed. The party first became aware of the breach on Nov. 17, after the personal financial records of 15 members of Parliament were e-mailed to party insiders and others. All except one of the MPs were elected for the first time in April. The subsequent internal investigation revealed...
OTTAWA -- A new report by the International Monetary Fund says the Canadian economy has held up better than expected under the trade shock from U.S. tariffs.
The labour market surprised economists again in November with a third straight month of job gains. Statistics Canada said Friday that the economy added 54,000 new positions last month compared with economists’ expectations for a small loss. The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 per cent in November, down from 6.9 per cent in October, marking a second consecutive monthly decline...
Minister spars with Conservative critic on criminals, newcomers — and salad. Immigration Minister Lena Diab sparred with her Conservative critic at a tense House of Commons committee meeting Thursday as the two disagreed on everything from immigration levels and deporting non-citizen criminals to what kind of salad they prefer. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner put Diab in the hot seat...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s move to placate Alberta with an oil pipeline deal is emboldening a resurgent separatist movement in Quebec, warned former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, who resigned over the agreement last week. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Akshat Rathi for the Zero podcast airing Friday, Guilbeault said he understands the prime minister is trying to address discontent over...
With the government’s new energy deal with Alberta, including plans for an oil pipeline to the West Coast, Prime Minister Mark Carney is determined to forge a new export route to gain leverage in trade talks with Washington. But two questions remain: will the plan have any impact on U.S. President Donald Trump and, perhaps more importantly, will the pipeline...
The federal Liberals are holding 43 per cent of support amongst decided Canadian voters, maintaining a lead over the Conservatives, who dropped two points last month to 36 per cent, according to a new Postmedia-Leger poll. Support for the Liberals has not changed since a Nov. 3 poll. The Bloc Québécois, meanwhile, gained two points amongst decided voters to sit...
A Canadian pipeline boss led a new report advising the Trump administration on how to more quickly build new oil and gas infrastructure in the United States amid a push north of the border to do the same. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright requested the study on permitting from the National Petroleum Council, which includes 200 members he appointed from...
Critics are questioning the solidity of Saab's pitch to deliver 10,000 jobs in Canada if it decides to set up shop here to assemble Gripen fighter jets. The Swedish company has said little about how it came to that number, making it hard to evaluate the offer. Saab spokesperson Jenny Gerdes said the estimate reflects the "scale of work" the...
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says the federal government is launching a review of Canada's firearms classification regime that will include consultations with Indigenous communities on the SKS rifle. The government has been heavily criticized by gun control advocates for not including the semi-automatic SKS in its list of banned firearms. The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to...
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour. Jason Kenney gave the remarks in an interview Thursday as the party he helped create - the United Conservatives - has 14 of its caucus...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington Friday as the future of the continental trade agreement hangs in the balance. The 2026 World Cup draw will mark the first time all three leaders have gathered in person. It comes ahead of next year's mandatory review of the...
The armoured vehicles U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is purchasing from Canadian defence firm Roshel fall under Buy American provisions, the law enforcement agency said Thursday. The department's media relations team said in an emailed statement that the "production of the Roshel Senator emergency response vehicle originates in the United States." Despite numerous requests, the ICE agency did not provide...
Canada is expected to buy close to $4-billion in air strike munitions from the United States government in a sale disclosed Thursday on the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s next meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. These are the type of bombs that can be carried by fighter jets such as Canada’s aging CF-18s or the new U.S.-made...
After a messy and confusing endgame, John Rustad's leadership of the Conservative Party of B.C. is finally over — but the battle over the ideological direction of the party that he took to the brink of power may be entering a new phase. Rustad announced his resignation Thursday in the provincial legislature, citing the need for party unity. It came...
Two departing members of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body say the Carney government is shredding any hope the country will meet its climate goals. Mark Carney’s government has sidelined its independent climate advisory body and is putting Canada’s climate targets at risk, charged two members of the group who resigned this week in frustration. Simon Donner, a UBC professor who was...
The federal government is escalating its fight with automotive giant Stellantis over the company's decision to move some production to the U.S., despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in Canadian taxpayer incentives in recent years. Industry Minister Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday that the government will serve Stellantis with a notice of default under the funding contracts related to...
More than 27,000 federal public servants were paid at least $150,000 in the last fiscal year, a document tabled in Parliament shows. It says more than 20,000 employees received compensation -- salaries, bonuses, benefits and overtime pay -- of between $150,000 and $199,999 in 2024-25. The document, prepared by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, shows that nearly 5,000 employees...
Issues around leaders' scrums, participation caused controversy. The head of Canada's Leaders' Debates Commission says the independent body should stop organizing post-debate news conferences and will make changes to how it decides what leaders to invite after this spring's leadership debate was surrounded by controversy. Michel Cormier, the commission's executive director, appeared before a committee of MPs on Thursday to...
Several key federal cabinet ministers addressed the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa Thursday, including Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. But Energy Minister Tim Hodgson -- who is helping to advance Prime Minister Mark Carney's major projects agenda -- has been taken off the agenda, despite being previously scheduled to appear Thursday.
In the midst of the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, the MP criticized his own government for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2021 election. In 2017, Quebec politicians of all stripes marched in unison in Lévis to demonstrate their support to Davie shipyard workers and blast Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government for failing to provide enough contracts to avoid hundreds...
The potential election of the Parti Québécois is causing concern among some federal politicians. The Parti Québécois's dominance in the polls for nearly two years and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's promise to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty during his first term have reverberated all the way to the federal capital. Officials in Prime Minister Mark Carney's government held...
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t planning to discuss trade with US President Donald Trump when they meet for the FIFA 2026 World Cup event on Friday, even though talks have been stalled for more than a month.
The Canadian military is undertaking a structural reorganization designed to make the force more nimble and adaptable to new technology, the Department of National Defence said Thursday. Following the lead of allies such as Australia, it has created a new joint forces command that will house major support elements such as military health services, logistics and operational support branches and...
QUEBEC -- The Quebec government will table a bill on Friday to ban vote-buying in political party leadership races.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is planning to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at a FIFA World Cup event Friday in Washington as trade negotiations between Canada and the United States remain on pause. The Prime Minister's Office said Carney will meet with Trump at the Kennedy Center, where the event is being held, and the meeting is expected to...
President DONALD TRUMP is flirting with Canada’s worst-case scenario — setting the wheels in motion for the U.S. to pull out of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The cost of an initial order of U.S.-supplied equipment for Canada’s new fleet of warships has almost tripled as more American systems are being purchased, according to new information released by the U.S. government. The order for U.S. systems has increased from $1.25 billion ($900 million U.S.) to $3.6 billion ($2.6 billion U.S.), according to a public notice published by...
It’s a tough conclusion that Bob Rae draws from a lifetime in politics, one he began as as a New Democrat in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park and recently ended as Canada’s newest former ambassador to the United Nations. Can the country’s relationship with the United States be repaired by a change of heart, a change of tariff policy or...
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The Justice Department failed Thursday to secure a new indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James after a judge dismissed the previous mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday that there was no "kill them all" order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.
The Pentagon's watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen, two people familiar with the findings said Wednesday.
Republicans held onto a reliably conservative U.S. House district in Tennessee's special election, but only after a late burst of national spending and high-profile campaigning helped them secure a margin less than half of last year's race.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington Friday as the future of the continental trade agreement hangs in the balance. The 2026 World Cup draw will mark the first time all three leaders have gathered in person. It comes ahead of next year's mandatory review of the...
The European Union says Canada will need to pay 10 million euros to join a defence procurement agreement with the continent -- a price tag that is raising questions about how much investment the pact will generate. Canada this week officially joined the 150-billion euro program called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, which is part of the ReArm Europe...
Former federal minister Chrystia Freeland says Ukraine can become an economic juggernaut and boost European economies by taking up the opportunities it missed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Freeland, appointed in September by Prime Minister Mark Carney as his special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine, gave her first major speech in Canada about the role on Tuesday.
The government is pledging another $235 million in funding for Ukraine, with National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announcing Canada's latest commitments. McGuinty says Canada will work with NATO allies to purchase a package of critical military capabilities sourced from the United States valued at around USD $500 million. Canada's contribution to the Prioritised Ukraine...
A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump's urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration's efforts...
Canadian universities routinely use demographic criteria to restrict who is eligible for a faculty position. How do these policies shape public attitudes towards the university sector?
In September of 2023, Michael Miltenberger, former deputy premier of the Northwest Territories, spoke at a Massey College-Forum for Leadership on Water conference called The Future of Freshwater. Miltenberger described how just weeks earlier, wildfire had forced the evacuation of his own community of Fort Smith (yes, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s hometown). As he prepared to escape the Wood Buffalo...
Canadians rarely stop to think that everything they own, from their homes and savings to their farms, vehicles, and small businesses, exist only so long as government allows it. A single regulation, order, or policy change can erase a lifetime of work, uproot families, and disrupt lives. Indeed, across Canada, property owners have watched livelihoods disappear overnight through land-use restrictions...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
I went back to Ottawa this week. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the nation’s capital to talk about peace issues, so when the Senate of Canada contacted me, I had to go. Prime Minister Carney’s Budget 2025 is making its way through Parliament, and the Senate’s Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs asked me and...
Pierre Poilievre’s recent video attacking Mark Carney could have been a strong argument. If not for the air quotes. When he says Carney promised he could “handle Trump” and “negotiate a win,” his fingers twitch into the familiar inverted-comma gesture. It’s a tiny move, but it says everything. Air quotes don’t persuade; they perform. They turn conviction into commentary and...
As Prime Minister Mark Carney said, “Donald Trump wants to break us so America can own us.” But what if Trump decides to use military power along with economic tariffs? An Arctic expert writing in The Globe and Mail says we shouldn’t think of tanks or helicopters streaming over the border. Instead, an American show-of-force could begin with a single...
At Issue this week: U.S. President Donald Trump dials up trade uncertainty, suggesting he could pull out of CUSMA/USMCA early. Mark Miller returns to cabinet and quickly rubs Quebec’s premier the wrong way with his french language comments. Plus, B.C. Conservatives boot leader John Rustad.
In 2015, as governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney’s ‘Tragedy of the Horizons’ speech made waves in the global climate community. It was seen as a landmark call for the financial sector to recognize the costs of climate breakdown. But fast forward 10 years and a fierce debate is swirling around whether Carney is living up to that...
The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, PSAC, and the Port of Vancouver. Alright, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites. The Honourable Susan Holt, Premier of New Brunswick, the one and only remaining Liberal Premier in Canada, has graciously made time for us today. I don’t...
Mark Carney battles pipeline fallout and adds a new face to his Cabinet, while Parliament gears up for a sprint to the end of the year. Then, Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson joins Nick and Mickey to discuss grand strategy in the Arctic and how selling jeans prepared him for politics.
