Plenty of action and even some laughs in four hours of federal leaders' TV debates
Surprisingly absent from the debate was major focus on U.S. President Donald Trump. His offences were just one of many themes
Don Braid
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Smith's cosy ties in U.S. wrecked Poilievre campaign opening
If Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have one goal today, it should be to get Danielle Smith to stay home and shut up.The premier seriously damaged the Conservative campaign right out of the gate, with comments linking leader Pierre Poilievre to Trump’s America.
Danielle Smith stands as squarely for Canada as Doug Ford or any federal politician
That’s inevitable when her main political agenda is sovereignty within Canada or (in the suspicious eyes of some) outside Canada. Article content With the tariff fiasco looming and Smith spending so much time in the U.S. — even hobnobbing with President Donald Trump — critics wondered what she was up to. It wasn’t hard to find cries of treason on...
Trump is right, says Smith - our border, cartel funding are genuine problems for U.S.
Smith says the Americans think our border and even our financial system are damaging for them in other ways — and she feels they have a point. Politicians across the land keep saying our border isn’t so bad, at least compared to the U.S. frontier with Mexico. Premier Danielle Smith believes that’s a mistake in the ongoing tariff dispute with...
A shuffle of elite ministers flaunting their outfits, while Trudeau huddles in the castle
That’s no cabinet. It’s a Palace Guard for a leader on his way to the getaway limo. The ministers appointed Friday are the hard knot of the remaining Justin Trudeau loyalists, but even they looked like they were gagging on expressions of eternal loyalty to the prime minister. The change many Albertans were hoping for — the exit of Environment...
Trudeau GST break brings zero political gain for Liberals, but plenty of pain for retailers
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could probably slide down every chimney in Canada, tossing gifts to all, without improving his political standing by a single point.In October, when they were starting to half-bake this tax holiday, the party had 22 per cent.
Trudeau saves Christmas from the tax Grinch, but can he save himself?
Thank you, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada needed a belly laugh and you came through.Axing the GST on Christmas trees is so shameless, so hilariously cheesy, so predictably Trudeau, that one can only hoot at this latest effort to climb out of the political pit he dug for the Liberals.
Liberal party that refuses to dump Trudeau is heading for scrap heap
The Liberal Party of Canada can’t even raise a decent revolt against its wildly unpopular prime minister — another sign of drop-dead decay. Polls show that the only way the Liberals can win another election, or even hope to be the official opposition, is to get rid of Justin Trudeau. But where is the grand old Liberal machine, that ruthless...
Danielle Smith governs more for hardliners on UCP board than the public
Premier Danielle Smith continues to play to the noisiest bleachers on the hard-line side of the United Conservative Party.The latest is her talk about three new amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights. They would guarantee gun ownership with “safe use,” clarify property ownership protections and enshrine the right to refuse any and all medical treatment, including vaccines.
Byelection losses show Trudeau and the Liberals are courting extinction in general election
Canada edged closer to an early election Monday night – two ridings closer. The Liberals showed once again that they can’t win an urban seat. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, this party is on the verge of electoral obliteration. The Liberals prove they can lose not just anywhere, but everywhere. Impossible as this might seem for Canada’s so called national...
As Trudeau Liberals near-death experience deepens, they race around in vain hunt for allies
Chickens with their heads cut off run around in circles. In politics, the federal Liberals are starting to exhibit this post-mortem behaviour. Their electoral chances are as good as dead, and their head, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seems only tenuously attached to his party. Article content Still, they dash around crazily, patching this and launching that, all while sticking to...
Naheed Nenshi expected to announce Alberta NDP leadership run soon, but faces a maze of rules
Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is quiet and elusive about a potential run for the provincial NDP leadership. That’s because it’s not easy being orange, especially when you’ve always been purple. Article content We should hear from Nenshi on March 11. He can be expected to run — if the party accepts him, that is. For an NDP outsider, it...
Premier Smith blasts David Parker of TBA for attacks on Poilievre and wife
This is the first time Smith has uttered a word of criticism about Parker Well, finally. Premier Danielle Smith tore into Take Back Alberta Leader David Parker Tuesday, urging him to “get some help.” Article content She condemned his “bullying” comments about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his wife Anaida. “I just don’t want to be associated with that kind...
Now TBA's Parker insults Poilievre. Will Premier Smith ever disown him?
Barely a day after begging forgiveness from his followers, Parker posted the tweet about Poilievre and his wife. It’s long past time for Premier Danielle Smith to disown David Parker, the unrestrained, frequently unhinged leader of Take Back Alberta. But will she? It’s not so easy when Parker praises her to the skies, even as he offensively slags federal Conservative...
The ugly Nenshi-Parker dust-up and the politics of personal insult
A battle of insults on social media shows how far we’ve descended into personal invective as a political weapon.All too often the attacks are based on surface qualities — race, gender, sexuality, weight, age, attractiveness.
Trudeau has blown his term with focus on obsessions, even losing moderates
One of many effects is to drive moderate progressives into the arms of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives