Carney must stand up for decency against Smith
It doesn’t take much to see how badly Premier Danielle Smith’s broadside against immigrants in Alberta could go.
Adrienne Tanner
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Hands off the judiciary, Premier Smith
Another week, another great big beautiful ask from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. This time, she is demanding a say in federal judicial appointments and is threatening to withhold some provincial funding to help pay for them if Prime Minister Mark Carney says no
The reason Carney's response to the Maduro abduction is so unnerving
Like many on the Canadian left, I am disappointed in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response to the US kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro. “The removal of illegitimate, corrupt, repressive, government leader — uh, Mr. Maduro — is welcome news,” he said this week.
Tips for Carney on how to do business with a narcissistic ally
Narcissists: we’ve all come across them. They are the person at the table that makes every story — even the one you are telling — about them. When your narcissist is just a bad friend or an annoying acquaintance, it’s easy enough to dump them once you realize they have zero empathy and no interest in you, except for what...
NDP's Avi Lewis wants to put climate back on the table
NDP leadership hopeful Avi Lewis earlier this month released his shoot-for-the stars climate policy, titled A Green New Deal for Canada. It’s a retooled shopping list of laudable ideas, starting with a complete ban on new fossil fuel extraction projects, which we know are the single biggest contributor to global warming. Lewis proposes investing billions in “clean energy, building retrofits...
Another truck convoy protest is in the works — this one sparked by farmers and feathers
As the dark days of winter descend, the thoughts of anti-government libertarians have once again turned to convoys. This year’s truck protest, planned for Saturday, is being organized to defend the rights of farmers against Big Government in the wake of a recent controversial cull of ostriches on a farm in southeastern BC.
Pierre Poilievre's goose is cooked
So, this is how it ends for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Not with a bang but with a trickle of MPs slinking away from his side of the House — one defecting to the opposing Liberals, the other bailing out of politics altogether. First one to bolt was Chris d’Entremont, a Nova Scotia MP whom the Liberals have been courting...
Danielle Smith has half a million reasons to support a united Canada
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was thoroughly outfoxed last week. Her adversary Thomas Lukaszuk, a former conservative deputy premier, handed his “Forever Canadian” petition to Elections Alberta, signed by more than 456,000 Albertans expressing their desire to stick with Canada.
Canadian power must serve people before tech bros and crooks
Tech bros and crooks are no doubt livid, but the BC government’s proposal to bump them down on the priority list for future electricity allocation is a template all Canadian provinces should follow. BC’s Energy Minister Adrian Dix last week announced plans to ditch the first-come, first-serve model which currently exists for all industrial power users except new power-sucking cryptocurrency...
Cheap crime slogans will not improve justice
Another week, another gambit by Pierre Poilievre to whip up outrage with one of the oldest, cheapest political tricks in the book. It goes like this:. Find one or two egregious crimes that resulted in seemingly outrageous prosecutorial or sentencing decisions and use them as proof that Canada’s justice system is fatally flawed. Present your examples as a growing trend...
The Greens will need more than Elizabeth May to survive
Three cheers for Elizabeth May, Canada’s longstanding federal Green Party leader and number one champion for our climate and the environment. Since becoming the first Green elected to Parliament in 2011, May has also unfailingly pushed for justice for Indigenous people, human rights and peace. She is an MP respected by members of all parties for her intellect and contributions...
Poilievre still wants to run against Trudeau
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre once again has a seat in the House of Commons after losing his long-held Ottawa riding in April’s federal election. Little surprise there. But the four-month hiatus should have been plenty of time for him to chart a new offensive against Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal minority government. That would require imagination Poilievre has never exhibited...
Manufactured crime crisis lets Trump flex raw power over Democratic cities. Will Canada be next?
So now we see how the takeover by US President Donald Trump will unfold. It will happen one city police force at a time, perhaps slowly, or not, depending on the extent of the blowback elicited by this latest power grab. The US president started Monday by ordering the National Guard to displace the local police force in the nation's...
Ontario and Alberta collude to put profits ahead of Indigenous clean water rights
How do Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith really feel about Indigenous rights? Look no further than last week’s snub — a deplorable letter asking the federal government to bury the clean water act along with other environmental protections.
If oil giants are reluctant to invest in carbon capture, why should taxpayers?
When Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the feds would be interested in pipeline projects for “decarbonized oil,” the folks at the Pathways Alliance must have felt their hearts skip a beat. The oilsands consortium took it as a sign that the federal government might embrace a pitch by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to approve a new pipeline to the...
Carney, Eby and Ford should cool their deregulatory rush
Canada is weakening environmental safeguards and threatening relationships with the country’s First Nations in a mad rush to generate new resource-extraction developments. If steps aren’t taken quickly to bring First Nations onside with major projects, Canada should prepare for strained relations and a barrage of court injunctions and blockades with enormous power to slow industry.
Pipeline politics put Eby and Smith on a collision course
If there is one thing BC and Alberta can’t see eye to eye on, it’s oil pipelines. The incessant demands by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for another oil pipeline to the West Coast spells nothing but trouble for her BC counterpart, David Eby. Compared to folks on the Prairies, British Columbians aren’t keen on pipelines carrying heavy crude cutting across...
Skimping on environmental protections endangers us all
In the rush to grow Canada’s economy by exploiting more of our natural resources, moves are afoot to pare back environmental impact assessments that slow or sometimes even block resource and industrial development. During the election campaign, the now-ruling Liberals promised to cut the decision time on projects from five years to a maximum of two. Similarly, BC is about...
Charlie Angus brings the punk energy the NDP needs in a leader
With Jagmeet Singh out and the federal NDP’s seat count now so low that the party is begging for official party status, the choice for the party’s next leader could make the difference between death and survival. Canada’s social democratic party needs someone who can recapture the loyalty of blue-collar voters snatched by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in the most recent...
Poilievre’s 1950s fantasy draws cheers in Surrey
To hear Pierre Poilievre talk, as I did along with about 5,000 others in a steamy Surrey warehouse last night, the Conservative leader is running against two opponents in his bid to become prime minister: Mark Carney, Canada’s current PM and Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s former environment and climate change minister. Although Poilievre referenced the ongoing trade war and sovereignty threats...
Canada is under existential stress that will make or break us
Betrayed. Angry. And above all, anxious. That’s the general feeling among Canadians this week as the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods kicked in. A good friend of mine, a usually unflappable high-placed business person, woke up to a panic attack Monday morning. Another friend’s blood pressure spiked and has been put on medication until it calms down. Yet another friend...