John Ivison

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 John Ivison.

The more at sea Trudeau has seemed, the more assured Poilievre has been

The more at sea Trudeau has seemed, the more assured Poilievre has been

The week in politics has been defined by a series of momentous events but Friday’s lame duck cabinet appointment process...

Chrystia Freeland's savage exit

Chrystia Freeland's savage exit

Who saw Chrystia Freeland pulling a gun, after Justin Trudeau unsheathed a knife? The finance minister is an unlikely champion...

Freeland to reverse promised $250 ‘working Canadians’ cheques in mini-budget Monday

Freeland to reverse promised $250 ‘working Canadians’ cheques in mini-budget Monday

Cancelling the PMO's questionable giveaway may be a victory of sorts for Freeland. If you are one of the nearly...

With our ‘post-national’ leader it’s no wonder Trump thinks we aren’t a real country

With our ‘post-national’ leader it’s no wonder Trump thinks we aren’t a real country

Trudeau has undermined the idea of citizenship that held us together, with its sense of obligation, sacrifice and collective mission

Another wake-up call to ready for war as Canada slumbers on

Another wake-up call to ready for war as Canada slumbers on

On the day that Vladimir Putin said NATO members are now directly involved in the war in Ukraine because they...

Canada is ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for radical Islam

Canada is ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for radical Islam

Western democracies are not pushing back on violent Muslims who seek to dismantle our way of life, says author Yasmine...

Trudeau already has Trump irritated. He might soon make it worse

Trudeau already has Trump irritated. He might soon make it worse

Trudeau doesn’t have many options left. He might be tempted to use Trump as an insult against Conservative Leader Pierre...

The Defence Department just gave Trump a bigger stick to whack us with
Liberals discover that Trudeau was never really a team player

Liberals discover that Trudeau was never really a team player

I don’t know what it’s like to be part of a political team — as former Maclean’s columnist Allan Fotheringham...

Canada can save our friendship with India, but probably not while Trudeau's around

Canada can save our friendship with India, but probably not while Trudeau's around

Canada must convince India that it is prepared to counter Khalistani extremism on its soil

Trudeau deftly turns the foreign interference inquiry into a Liberal attack ad

Trudeau deftly turns the foreign interference inquiry into a Liberal attack ad

On any other day, the prospect of interfering in a police matter would have dominated the news

Seeds for a Liberal revolt against Trudeau were planted long ago

Seeds for a Liberal revolt against Trudeau were planted long ago

The first rule of regicide is: “if you come for the king, you best not miss.” Another useful axiom is...

Canada and India need to call a swift end to their diplomatic war

Canada and India need to call a swift end to their diplomatic war

While Canada has arguably 'provided space' for extremists, it is equally apparent that the Modi government has been engaging in...

The Senate is already spoiling for fight against a Poilievre Conservative government

The Senate is already spoiling for fight against a Poilievre Conservative government

If the latest polls are to be believed, the Conservatives are on course for a 220-plus seat majority. That could...

Government policy is now in the hands of pro-Palestinian radicals

Government policy is now in the hands of pro-Palestinian radicals

The NDP ripped up its deal with the Liberals but that hasn't stopped radicals in both parties from combining to...

Poilievre won’t axe all of the carbon tax, ex-Harper adviser says

Poilievre won’t axe all of the carbon tax, ex-Harper adviser says

'I just don't see any government in any future getting rid of that, Conservative, Liberal or New Democrat,' Ken Boessenkool...

Liberals are already acting like the unofficial opposition to Pierre Poilievre

Liberals are already acting like the unofficial opposition to Pierre Poilievre

Hints of the Conservative 'hidden agenda' folklore that has been used to scare progressive in every election for the past...

Mark Carney gets hired to tell Liberals they've been doing it all wrong

Mark Carney gets hired to tell Liberals they've been doing it all wrong

Why is Carney doing it? I think he wants to keep himself in the public eye, in case there's a...

The NDP sold its soul. The Liberals might not give it back

The NDP sold its soul. The Liberals might not give it back

Voters have likely tired of sunny ways, unfulfilled promises and vacuous slogans such as the NDP’s new motto: 'It’s the...

What an irate steelworker can tell us about the hole Trudeau is in

What an irate steelworker can tell us about the hole Trudeau is in

Justin Trudeau’s exchange with a steelworker at the Algoma plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., last Friday suggests two things...

Union finally does the right thing after a whole lot of wrong

Union finally does the right thing after a whole lot of wrong

The news that the national board of the Canadian Public Employees Union has called on its vice-president, Fred Hahn, to...

How do the Liberals fix skyrocketing immigration? By lowering the entry standards

How do the Liberals fix skyrocketing immigration? By lowering the entry standards

The government will create a new economic class of permanent residency candidates for people with high school education or less...

Can the foundering federal Liberals pull a Kamala out of their hat?

Can the foundering federal Liberals pull a Kamala out of their hat?

A repeat of the Kamala effect would require the Liberal party to ease aside its leader and replace him with...

Cheap Chinese EVs are coming, even if Ottawa tries to stop them

Cheap Chinese EVs are coming, even if Ottawa tries to stop them

The panic is understandable. The auto sector supports around 500,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, contributing $18 billion to the economy

Canada and the West prove impotent against the fraudulent dictator of Venezuela

Canada and the West prove impotent against the fraudulent dictator of Venezuela

Venezuela’s election “result” made it a black Sunday for democracy around the world. The opposition parties claimed they won the...

Trudeau’s signature pot legalization is failing on all fronts

Trudeau’s signature pot legalization is failing on all fronts

Ottawa's attempts to outflank the illicit market has been undermined by the clumsy and unresponsive nature of the tax regime

Trump survived a bullet. American democracy will survive this, too

Trump survived a bullet. American democracy will survive this, too

Another likely Trump presidency will test the guardrails imposed by the Founding Fathers. But they are robust

How the Liberals accidentally triggered an avoidable, nightmarish WestJet strike

How the Liberals accidentally triggered an avoidable, nightmarish WestJet strike

It was O’Regan’s order to enter binding arbitration that stopped the collective bargaining process in its tracks

Poilievre tries on the prime minister’s boots at Stampede

Poilievre tries on the prime minister’s boots at Stampede

He seems increasingly to be turning his mind to what he might do as the country’s next chief executive

20-point comeback election wins are as rare as hen’s teeth, history shows

20-point comeback election wins are as rare as hen’s teeth, history shows

The difference in this case is the government has been in power for almost a decade with the same leader...

Inequality has only widened amid Freeland’s obsessive war on wealth

Inequality has only widened amid Freeland’s obsessive war on wealth

The conclusion is that the Liberals have misdiagnosed Canada’s major economic weakness and applied remedies that have not made things...

Ottawa’s cruising for another trade bruising from Donald Trump

Ottawa’s cruising for another trade bruising from Donald Trump

The sense that Trump would guarantee Canada access to U.S. markets under the renegotiated CUSMA is naive

MPs suspected of foreign influence deserve justice, but not frontier justice

MPs suspected of foreign influence deserve justice, but not frontier justice

If the names of senators and MPs suspected of foreign influence were released, they would be ruined, possibly without appropriate...

Behold the shattered wasteland of Liberal government credibility

Behold the shattered wasteland of Liberal government credibility

It is hard to remember a time when faith and trust in the federal government were at such a low...

Freeland claimed deficits were under control. We're now discovering the truth

Freeland claimed deficits were under control. We're now discovering the truth

It turns out the deficit was actually $50.9 billion, making it much harder to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio. Canadians may...

If 2025 becomes the mortgage-pain election, the Liberals have already lost

If 2025 becomes the mortgage-pain election, the Liberals have already lost

Freeland brushed off Poilievre’s concerns with a dismissive: 'Tory times are hard times.' But the data suggest Canadians have never...

Eco-activist Liberal ministers could ruin a $300M lifeline for a struggling First Nation

Eco-activist Liberal ministers could ruin a $300M lifeline for a struggling First Nation

The Ehattesaht First Nation's chief makes clear that his people know better than 'misinformed activist business leaders and political leaders'

A high-stakes fish fight is fracturing Trudeau’s cabinet

A high-stakes fish fight is fracturing Trudeau’s cabinet

Eco-activist ministers are clashing with the fisheries minister over a proposal to renew salmon farming licences in British Columbia

The sudden, mysterious muteness of Pierre Poilievre

The sudden, mysterious muteness of Pierre Poilievre

If lowering taxes is the Conservatives' strength, it's strange that the leader isn't fighting a capital gains hike

The Liberals’ response to the arrest warrants against Israel is mired in typical fudge

The Liberals’ response to the arrest warrants against Israel is mired in typical fudge

The world doesn’t allow for moral relativism. Israel is a fellow democracy under attack. We can be critical of the...

Mark Carney keeps appearing like a ghost at Trudeau’s feast

Mark Carney keeps appearing like a ghost at Trudeau’s feast

Friends say Carney is not messianic about a career in politics, but he believes at some point it will be...

CUPE is being held to account for its obsessive anti-Israel vitriol

CUPE is being held to account for its obsessive anti-Israel vitriol

Lawyer Kathryn Marshall is intent on showing there are consequences by going after CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn personally

Madness in the House is the prelude to a powerful reckoning There is a new pugnacity to the Liberals.

Madness in the House is the prelude to a powerful reckoning There is a new pugnacity to the Liberals.

There is a new pugnacity to the Liberals. But the day will come when the NDP feels it is in...

India is too important for cheap Liberal domestic politics

India is too important for cheap Liberal domestic politics

The world is becoming too dangerous to surrender foreign policy to diaspora vote-hustling

The decline and fall of Canada

The decline and fall of Canada

A state's citizens must have the will for it to exist in the world. Has there been any moment in...

Trudeau’s budget comeback tour isn’t proving popular enough to save his career

Trudeau’s budget comeback tour isn’t proving popular enough to save his career

Millennials do not seem to have forgiven or forgotten what Trudeau failed to deliver for them earlier in his mandate.

The federal budget is a Liberal strategy driven by panic

The federal budget is a Liberal strategy driven by panic

Chrystia Freeland is so averse to private enterprise, she’s now trying to put satirists out of business. Fairness demands more...

Liberals have a chance to reverse their fiscal doom spiral. Expect them to pass

Liberals have a chance to reverse their fiscal doom spiral. Expect them to pass

Canada’s coveted triple-A credit rating is in danger, but a government with the political will could spark a recovery. The...

Canada's economy desperately needs shock treatment after this Liberal government

Canada's economy desperately needs shock treatment after this Liberal government

Lack of business investment is the main culprit. Canadians are digging holes with shovels while our competitors are buying excavators

The Liberals' shameful arms ban against Israel will come back to haunt us

The Liberals' shameful arms ban against Israel will come back to haunt us

During the debate on the NDP’s proposal to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state last week, Global Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly...

Liberals dodge a Palestinian bullet, but the NDP's bill is yet to come

Liberals dodge a Palestinian bullet, but the NDP's bill is yet to come

We will doubtless find out the quid for this particular quo in the next budget. The vote on the NDP...

Trudeau’s not for turning, even as the carbon tax precipice approaches

Trudeau’s not for turning, even as the carbon tax precipice approaches

Justin Trudeau had a message for anyone expecting a U-turn on the carbon tax at his press conference in Calgary...

Canada's Air Force ends pilot training as Ottawa’s spending priorities grow more unbalanced

Canada's Air Force ends pilot training as Ottawa’s spending priorities grow more unbalanced

The Royal Canadian Air Force announced earlier this month that it will retire its fleet of pilot training jets and...

Expect a finance minister in survival mode to turn on the spending taps

Expect a finance minister in survival mode to turn on the spending taps

But the billions of dollars of new expenditure needed to shift the political dial could make an already grave fiscal...

Here’s to the blustering, funny, vain, exceptional, sometimes inexplicable Brian Mulroney

Here’s to the blustering, funny, vain, exceptional, sometimes inexplicable Brian Mulroney

Canada’s 18th prime minister, who passed away Thursday, said that without StFX, he’d be back in his hometown of Baie...

The online harms bill risks replacing digital anarchy with a surveillance state

The online harms bill risks replacing digital anarchy with a surveillance state

If all these new regulatory bodies and adjudicators are overzealous, it will have a chilling effect on the behaviour of...

Canada wavers on military exports to Israel under pressure to suspend shipments

Canada wavers on military exports to Israel under pressure to suspend shipments

Canada has stopped issuing export permits for selling military equipment to Israel, according to one person familiar with the matter...

Poilievre signals he’s up for taking a good whack at runaway immigration levels

Poilievre signals he’s up for taking a good whack at runaway immigration levels

Liberals who make lazy comparisons between Donald Trump and Pierre Poilievre risk using the kind of bombastic rhetoric they accuse...

The moral preening of Steven Guilbeault grows as insufferable as bicycling in January

The moral preening of Steven Guilbeault grows as insufferable as bicycling in January

Progressive politicians hoping to triumph over right-leaning political adversaries can only succeed if they can do a better job of...

Warnings about too many international students were clear. The Liberals ignored them

Warnings about too many international students were clear. The Liberals ignored them

Some days you’re the dog and some days you’re the tree. Housing minister Sean Fraser must have had that arboreal...