Canada must hold drug companies accountable for opioid crisis
Canada is the world’s second-biggest consumer of pharmaceutical opioids—second only to the United States. To put that in perspective, retail pharmacies across Canada dispensed 19 million prescriptions for opioids in 2016, up slightly from 18.9 million in 2015. That’s more than one prescription for every two Canadians. The opioid crisis has now claimed the lives of more than 10,000 […]
Top Liberals push big fundraising email campaign in effort to outdo Conservatives in first financial quarter
Lagging behind the Conservatives in fundraising, the Liberals pushed a massive email campaign last month that included messages from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, and more to the party faithful asking for donations to ensure the Conservatives don’t out-fundraise their party again this year. “As revenue chair for […]
NDP discord shows lack of focus, poor caucus management from Singh, say insiders
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s clash with caucus last week reveals his team has neglected caucus management and good lines of communication that party sources say may have a lasting impact with an anxious caucus still getting to know their leader, who only recently made the jump from provincial to federal politics. Mr. Singh and NDP […]
On Jagmeet Singh and Canadian Sikhs
Re: “NDP too slow on Singh Sikh controversy, say strategists, but it’s not likely to hurt him in 2019,” (The Hill Times, March 21, p. 1). There appear to be a number of conflicting elements in Emily Haws’ article that are perplexing. On the one hand, it suggests that the Sikhs who fled to Canada “feel […]
NDP analyst Capstick leaving world of political punditry
Longtime NDP political analyst and former NDP press secretary Ian Capstick announced in a Facebook note last week that he’s signing off from the world of political punditry. The founder of Media Style public affairs agency who had been a commentator on CBC’s Power & Politics for eight-and-a-half years, said he has been dealing with […]
NDP too slow on Singh Sikh controversy, say strategists, but it’s not likely to hurt him in 2019
The NDP should have expected questions on leader Jagmeet Singh’s associations with Sikh nationalist or extremist groups, so it’s surprising his team took so long to mount a defence when the issue blew up in the past week, say political strategists. But, they say, given that the Liberals and Conservatives have both also taken heat […]
Why we need a green economy today, and for tomorrow
In a seminal 1987 report, Our Common Future, the Brundtland Commission advanced the understanding of global interdependence and the relationship between economics and the environment. The report wove together social, economic, cultural and environmental issues towards global solutions. It found, for the first time that “the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from […]
Trans Mountain expansion could be ‘major issue’ in next election, says Riis, but most MPs in pipeline’s path cite ‘overwhelming’ support
The government’s approval of Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is expected to cost the party electorally in 2019, but most MPs in the pipeline’s proposed path say the majority of their constituents support it. “This could be one of the major issues in the next federal election, particularly in the Lower Mainland […]
Foreign Minister Freeland hires (another) Rhodes Scholar as policy aide
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland recently hired former University of Oxford Rhodes Scholar Joseph Singh to serve as a new policy adviser in her ministerial office. Mr. Singh officially started on the job on Feb. 26, and fills a gap left by former policy adviser Omer Aziz, who ended his time in the minister’s office […]
Left-leaning budget ‘big problem’ for NDP, reveals Liberal fear of fleeing progressive voters, say pollsters
Last week’s budget shows the Liberals are preparing to battle for left-leaning voters, trying to shore up gains made in 2015 from the NDP, who observers say should be worried as Grit policies leave little room for wedge issues to prove their progressive offer is any different. The budget is clearly aimed at taking a […]
