As Rustad tried to stem an internal party revolt, dissident MLAs hatched a plan to force him out. The days leading up to John Rustad’s resignation played out like a dramatic soap opera of secret meetings, legal gymnastics and even a gingerbread making competition. The climax came Wednesday with the party announcing Rustad’s removal, and the denouement came Thursday, when...
The Quebec Liberals have lost two members of their caucus within a week and are facing multiple investigations as a crisis within the party shows no sign of abating. The Liberals have been dogged by controversy for nearly three weeks, with one recent poll showing the party and its leader, former federal cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez, have taken a substantial...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.”...
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...
A political analyst says John Rustad's disputed leadership of the B.C. Conservatives appears "unsustainable" after he refused to step down in the face of a caucus mutiny. University of British Columbia political science lecturer Stewart Prest says he can't see a way for Rustad to regain control of the Opposition, but he can make it "ungovernable." Rustad refused to quit...
The B.C. Conservative Party announced that John Rustad was "removed" as leader of the Opposition on Wednesday and a caucus vote had installed Trevor Halford as interim leader after 20 MLAs representing a caucus majority said they had lost confidence in Rustad and wanted him out. But if Rustad's opponents thought that was the end of the matter they were...
Ontario spent a record $112 million on taxpayer-funded advertising last year, with the province’s auditor saying 38 per cent of the campaigns were meant to leave people with a “positive impression” of Premier Doug Ford’s government and came ahead of the snap election.
The B.C. Conservative Party says John Rustad has been "removed" as leader of the Opposition and a caucus vote has installed MLA Trevor Halford as interim leader. The announcement comes after 20 MLAs representing a majority of Rustad's caucus said they had lost confidence in him and wanted him out, but he refused to resign and said there was no...
A B.C. legislator who previously argued Truth and Reconciliation Day should not be recognized as a statutory holiday is proposing a new one that would celebrate the self-described “Freedom Convoy.” Tara Armstrong, one of two MLAs who formed the right-wing One BC Party after being elected as B.C. Conservatives, introduced the Freedom Convoy Recognition Act Tuesday. “The bill’s purpose is...
Premier Danielle Smith appears to be the latest United Conservative Party (UCP) MLA facing a recall effort. According to documents sent to CTV News by petition organizers, a recall drive in her Brooks–Medicine Hat riding has been approved by Elections Alberta.
Alberta’s health agency has cancelled negotiations with two companies owned in part by Sam Mraiche, the Edmonton businessman at the centre of the province’s procurement controversy. The companies were in talks with Alberta Health Services to open private surgical facilities. Matt Jones, the Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, made the surprise announcement in the legislature on Tuesday, saying...
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...
A day after being named federal culture minister, Marc Miller is drawing ire from several Quebec officials, including the premier of his home province. Miller, who replaced Steven Guilbeault in cabinet on Monday, said Tuesday that the French language is precarious throughout North America, rather than saying it is declining in Quebec specifically, as the provincial government would characterize it...
The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party has booted Marwah Rizqy from caucus, saying she has broken his trust. Pablo Rodriguez issued a statement announcing his decision ahead of a scheduled news conference later today.
Culture Minister Marc Miller is expressing support for the removal of a religious exemption for hate speech in the Criminal Code. Miller, who chaired the justice committee until he rejoined cabinet Monday, says he doesn't believe people should be using religion to escape from prosecution for a hate crime. The Bloc Quebecois said in a press release Monday that the...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pointed to her advisers when asked to explain how an Edmonton businessman whose contracts with the province’s health agency are now under scrutiny ended up in a hotel suite with her top lieutenants on the night of the 2023 provincial election. A Globe and Mail investigation published over the weekend examined the links between medical supply...
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...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to work with British Columbia on a potential new pipeline but still hopes to convince that province to lift the federal tanker ban. “I’m sensitive to the fact that we don’t want to see the entire coast of British Columbia, that has extensive port infrastructure. I understand that,” Smith told reporters in Calgary...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her United Conservative Party isn't a separatist party. Last week's historic energy deal between Alberta and Ottawa was met with skepticism, and at multiple points by boos, by members at the party's annual convention over the weekend. Leaders in the party's separatist camp, meanwhile, received standing ovations and raucous applause and a number of pro-separation...
A citizen-led petition affirming Alberta should remain part of Canada has been verified by elections officials and is now on its way to the legislature. In a statement, Elections Alberta says it accepts that more than 400,000 citizens signed the petition spearheaded by former provincial deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk. That exceeds the legally required minimum to force a plebiscite by...
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...
Alberta’s Official Opposition on Sunday said a Globe and Mail story documenting ties between Premier Danielle Smith’s government and an Edmonton businessman underscore the need for a public inquiry into the province’s health care procurement practices. New Democratic Party Leader Naheed Nenshi said The Globe’s investigation detailing links between executive Sam Mraiche and Ms. Smith’s government reveal “deep, deep, deep”...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith walked a thin line at this weekend’s annual United Conservative convention trying to appease the pro-independence grassroots base of her party while simultaneously touting a new energy deal with her frequent foes in Ottawa. While the she faced loud boos attempting to sell her energy accord with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, and a combination...
Ottawa offers voluntary program on banned assault-style guns. The Alberta government will introduce a motion this week under provincial sovereignty legislation to defy the federal gun buy-back program, Premier Danielle Smith announced Saturday during a speech at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting. Smith said the motion, if passed by the legislature, will instruct “provincial entities,” including municipalities and...
This is a love story. In May, Ontario Premier Doug Ford implored his ally, Prime Minister Mark Carney, to show the west “some love.”
Premier Danielle Smith isn't personally challenged at this UCP convention, but still faces blowback from separatists and recall campaigns. Every United Conservative Party annual convention is odd in its own way, but this one is truly special. Article content Premier Danielle Smith faces pressure from separatists at the gathering in Edmonton this weekend. Recall campaigns are also a challenge for...
Alberta's watershed pipeline deal with Ottawa wasn't front and centre Friday when Premier Danielle Smith spoke with United Conservative Party faithful at their annual convention. Smith took the stage in Edmonton for the first of many addresses planned for the weekend. It wasn't until after she spoke on issues including rural policing, new federal legislation and even separatism that someone...
Analysts at CIBC Capital Markets say they don't expect the private sector to take the lead on a new West Coast oilsands pipeline so long as the British Columbia government and First Nations are opposed. "The requirement to consult with B.C. and Indigenous groups is necessary and logical," they wrote in a report Friday, a day after the Alberta and...
Ontario's Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli knows he has to hustle to secure job-creating developments with defence industry ties for his province -- now that Ottawa is poised to move quickly on major military purchases. With the navy looking to place a rush order for submarines and the Swedish defence firm Saab dangling the prospect of assembling fighter jets in...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were all smiles as they put their signatures to an energy co-operation agreement that specifies the conditions that must be met for a new bitumen pipeline to the Pacific to be approved under the federal major projects law.
Anti-corruption police say they are looking into the internal crisis shaking the Quebec Liberal Party. Mathieu Galarneau, a spokesperson for the anti-corruption unit, says investigators are working to validate allegations of wrongdoing before deciding whether to proceed with a formal investigation. The party has been in crisis since Marwah Rizqy, former Liberal leader in the legislature, fired her chief of...
At weekend UCP convention, activists might not settle for federal accord when what they want is separation. B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix purports to see right through Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her pipeline deal-making with Ottawa. To him, the memorandum of understanding to be inked today by Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney is really all about her base...
'We believe the government of British Columbia has to agree,' says Prime Minister Mark Carney, of a new pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast. Pierre Poilievre was ready. The Conservative leader was ready to rumble. Article content On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Calgary. As reported in this column this past Saturday morning, Carney and Premier Danielle...
Newfoundland and Labrador's new premier is meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney welcomed Tony Wakeham to Ottawa today and said the premier's agenda is ambitious. Wakeham and his Progressive Conservatives won a slim majority in the province's election last month, ending a decade in power for the Liberals. Wakeham told reporters Tuesday he wants the federal government to spend...
The president of the Coastal First Nations in British Columbia said Wednesday an oil pipeline to the province's north coast "will never happen" and slammed Ottawa for negotiating with Alberta on a possible pipeline deal without involving First Nations. Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to unveil details of a memorandum of understanding with the Alberta government on a pipeline...
Ontario and Manitoba struck draft agreements with the federal government this week to streamline reviews for major projects, as part of a larger push by Prime Minister Mark Carney to fast-track resource development and infrastructure building in the face of U.S. trade uncertainty. The co-operation agreements will allow the provinces to take the lead role in environmental assessment and Indigenous...