This election is about Donald Trump — and a lot more
In ways no one could have understood at the time, June 16, 2015, turned out to be a momentous day...
Aaron Wherry
While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Aaron Wherry.
Prime Minister Mark Carney tries to turn the page
There were far fewer hugs than in 2015. The 23rd prime minister was a hugger — possibly the huggiest in...
Mark Carney steps into an unprecedented moment
Donald Trump has scrambled the playing board and rewritten the ballot question. Into this unprecedented moment, enter Mark Carney. In...
Trump wants to go back to 1913. Canadians and Americans will suffer the consequences
Canadians have taken Donald Trump's threats of trade action — now realized — very personally. Understandably and justifiably so. But...
Carney and Poilievre both want to stop wasteful spending. But what would they cut?
It is an exciting debate for accountants. Mark Carney, the presumptive favourite in the Liberal leadership race, says a government...
Mark Carney has answered some questions — but many more remain
Near the end of Tuesday night's Liberal leadership debate — the second and last time all four candidates will be...
With Trump looming, Pierre Poilievre tries to wrap himself in the flag
Donald Trump now seems to loom over everything — almost as overwhelmingly as the giant Canadian flag that loomed behind...
Foreign interference report is just the start of a conversation about Canadian democracy
The sensational foreign-interference saga that gripped Parliament Hill off and on for two years came to an unofficial end last...
Trump is forcing Canadian leaders to grapple with what they can't control — and what they can
The last few weeks may have at least buried any remaining notion that Canadian leaders can exert much control over...
The trade war is off — but for how long?
Canadian sports fans might be persuaded to stop jeering the American national anthem. At least for the next 30 days...
Donald Trump has ruptured the Canada-U.S. relationship. To what end? And what comes next?
Addressing both Canadians and Americans on Saturday night, at one of the most fraught moments in the history of relations...
Trudeau pulled the Liberals left. Where do they go from here?
When Chrystia Freeland proposed raising taxes on capital gains last April, she pitched the change — and related promises to...
Trudeau government tries to show it's not surprised by Trump's surprises
When three of Justin Trudeau's ministers came to the microphone set up in the lobby of the rustically palatial Château...
The carbon tax is (nearly) dead. Now what?
It might seem like a distant memory now, but it's worth remembering that every major federal party ran in 202...
Could Donald Trump be a boon for Canadian patriotism?
In January 2017, Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned immigration to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries...
What will Canada's second Trudeau era leave behind?
In an interview in December 2022, Justin Trudeau allowed himself to talk about legacy. He has typically avoided entertaining such...
Trudeau removes himself from the equation, but the math doesn't get much easier
On the day he finally conceded to the obvious, Justin Trudeau looked appropriately humbled. For maybe the first time, he...
Trudeau shuffles the deck while the nation waits for him to make up his mind
The 29th ministry since Confederation now has some new members — individuals who could one day become vital or important...
Where does Justin Trudeau go without Chrystia Freeland?
Back in 2018 — after her star turn as the minister who took on Donald Trump — Chrystia Freeland was...
Will Parliament be a 'gong show' again in 2025?
One afternoon earlier this month, Charlie Angus stood in the House of Commons to lament. "Mr. Speaker, I always say...
Trump's tariff threat is testing both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre
The coming of winter in Ottawa could persuade even the most patriotic Canadian to think about following the geese south...
Everyone agrees Canada should spend more on defence. How do we pay for it?
If there's one thing Canada's premiers have always agreed on, it's that the federal government needs to respect provincial jurisdiction...
Rattled by Trump's tariff threat, Canada's leaders point fingers at each other
Singh wants a 'war room,' Poilievre wants to kill the carbon tax and Trudeau wants to fight fire with facts...
Who is muzzling Conservative MPs — the Speaker or Pierre Poilievre?
The Conservative leader's office keeps a tight grip on what caucus members say and do. Who poses the greater threat...
Justin Trudeau tries to find a cure for 'inflationitis'
All around the world, persistent inflation is taking down governments. If the political and public policy challenges posed by inflation...
After a brief retreat, politicians are again clamouring for the notwithstanding clause
When a public backlash compelled Ontario Premier Doug Ford to abandon his use of the notwithstanding clause to end a...
With Trump's return, another wave of uncertainty washes over Canadian politics
For Canadians, American democracy is a spectator sport, a source of eternal concern and a measuring stick — a spectacle...
Trudeau hopes a 'silent majority' is still willing to listen
He surely would reject any such comparison but, in a recent interview, Justin Trudeau briefly sounded just a little bit...
Trudeau's Liberals are trying to save the Canadian consensus on immigration — and their legacy
Polling shows Canadians' enthusiasm for immigration may be cooling off. Reports about the death of Canada's immigration consensus have arguably...
Trudeau and the Liberals are burning time on themselves that they can't afford to waste
The PM blamed the 2011 election result on the party's inward turn — he wasn't wrong. When Justin Trudeau became...
After a week of jaw-dropping accusations, the quaint world of 2015 seems far away
Nine years ago this fall, the leaders of the three major federal parties at the time gathered on a stage...
Caught in an aggressive hunt for documents, Parliament is getting nowhere fast
Some amount of parliamentary gamesmanship is to be expected whenever and wherever MPs gather. But some days it's hard to...
For Pierre Poilievre, the conflict appears to be the point
Some amount of conflict is inherent to democracy — particularly so in a political system that prominently features His Majesty's...
The scandal that shocked Parliament in the spring is slowly fading from memory
For a few weeks in June, concerns ran high on Parliament Hill about unnamed MPs or senators possibly being compromised...
The issue isn't the carbon tax — it's climate change
When the going gets tough, political leaders sometimes feel the need to get going. And the scramble for safer ground...
The Liberals can't win a general election if they keep losing safe seats
In the summer of 1978, against his top political strategist's advice, Pierre Trudeau called a full slate of byelections to...
While voters may have tired of him, Trudeau looks forward to a 'choice' election
Standing by the docks in downtown Nanaimo, B.C., on Monday morning, Liberal MP Alexandre Mendes told Radio-Canada she came to...
Liberal MPs gather in B.C. to confront a new political landscape
In early July, as the Liberal caucus was still reeling from the party's unexpected byelection loss in Toronto-St. Paul's, Liberal...
The NDP-Liberal deal is no more — here's what could happen next
So the answer to the question of how much longer the Liberal-NDP deal would last turned out to be "not...
How much longer can the Liberal-NDP deal last?
On Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made a great show — he even wrote a letter — of calling on...
Should the Senate draw a line at the notwithstanding clause?
John A. Macdonald once assured the pre-Confederation Legislative Assembly of Canada that an appointed Senate, then under consideration, would "never...
The threat of climate change demands something more than thoughts, prayers and excuses
As another Canadian summer brings another round of natural disasters — wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland, flooding...
No matter who leads them into the next election, Liberals still need to think about governing
On Monday, Justin Trudeau was still standing. As he stood on the floor of the Goodyear factory in Napanee, Ont....
When every part of Parliament is weaponized, blow-ups are inevitable
There is cross-partisan agreement on at least one thing in Ottawa: last week's meeting of the House of Commons committee...
The opioid crisis is hard to solve. Partisan politics isn't making it easier
The epidemic of opioid addiction is a real problem. And there is a real difference of opinion between Liberals and...
Joe Biden was compelled to stand down — could Trudeau go next?
On Sunday afternoon, Justin Trudeau praised Joe Biden as an American patriot. "He's a great man," the prime minister wrote...
We had good reasons to worry about our political culture even before the Trump shooting
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has led, inevitably and justifiably, to calls for reflection on the state of Canada's...
Former Trudeau minister Catherine McKenna says Liberals need a new leader
McKenna is the first person who served in Trudeau's cabinet to call on him to quit. Catherine McKenna, who served...
After St. Paul's, is there anything Trudeau can say or do to save his leadership?
At some point before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet decided to finally abandon his promise of electoral reform...
The capital gains debate has turned dramatic and mysterious
Announcing the Liberal government's proposed changes to capital gains taxes last week, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland repeated a thought experiment...
A few thoughts on political journalism
In January 2023, as part of a larger editorial and corporate exercise, the BBC released an independent “thematic review” of...
A 'cloud of suspicion' hangs over Parliament — and no one knows what to do about it
There is a "cloud of suspicion" hanging over the House of Commons, Conservative MP Gerard Deltell said on Monday. On...
A foreign interference report lobbed bombshells at Parliament. Now what?
If nothing else, this week's report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians offers an firm response to...
The carbon pricing debate is somehow getting worse
The parliamentary budget officer's analysis of federal carbon pricing is reportedly the subject of a "fight" with the Liberal government...
After attacking the Speaker, would Poilievre consider parliamentary reform?
While his party has made a cause célèbre out of its battle with the Speaker, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has...
A new report on poverty challenges both Liberals and Conservatives
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre understandably seized on a new report card released last week by Food Banks Canada that highlighted...
The Speaker is under attack again — maybe it's time for a more independent approach
The Conservative Party sent a note to supporters on Tuesday afternoon with the subject line, "Help fire the Speaker." "Greg...
Plastic pollution is the new front in the culture war
Last week, Lianne Rood decided to take a stand. Appearing in a video recorded outside a Tim Horton's restaurant in...
Just how far is Pierre Poilievre willing to take the notwithstanding clause?
In January, the Federal Court found that the Trudeau government's use of the Emergencies Act to respond to the protests...
In videos and podcasts, Poilievre and Trudeau are eager to explain themselves — at length
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the Liberal MP who made a name for himself as a backbencher with his own voice, posted a...