Smith’s win ‘complicates’ climate change debate for Ottawa, but Trudeau may gain from provincial sparring partner, say observers
Energy policy will provide the major ‘flashpoints’ between Alberta and Ottawa, and it’s no longer possible for the feds to wait Smith out, said Dan Arnold.
All bets are off in today’s policy-free political environment
Policies, or the specific actions of governments, seem less important than ever in an era when emotion and the demagoguery that taps into it overwhelm public discourse.
Protecting publicly funded health care is shaping up as a last-ditch stand
Holding off the push toward private care will take measurable results.
Ford’s free pass from integrity commissioner shows plenty of leeway in Ontario ethics conventions
The public may want to concentrate a bit more closely than it has been on the actions of the premier and his colleagues.
Planning the post health-care summit to-do list
The big cheques and the hopeful political communications that will flow in the days ahead can’t be enough to satisfy us.
Ignoring Danielle Smith is Justin Trudeau’s best strategy as she tries to bait him into a fight leading up to Alberta election
‘The heat in the federal-provincial arena has to do with who’s coming up for re-election and who’s not,’ says pollster Nik Nanos, whose poll recorded the lowest scores on the federal-provincial relationship in 16 years.
Signs of Ontario inching towards a health-care deal may ‘break the logjam’ so other provinces follow suit, as premiers’ united front shows cracks
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent moves on health care and Ottawa’s reaction to them show a ‘pragmatic’ relationship exists, says Liberal strategist Greg MacEachern.
Alberta is, indeed, a ‘distinct society’
The province’s reputation for individualism is more than a cliché. Facing the challenges of eking out a living ranching and farming, people had to rely on themselves.
Growing discontent between feds and provinces
Passing a Meech Lake-like constitutional accord would be the only way to save the country from disintegrating.
Danielle Smith a political mayfly, not long for the job
The idea that a province in Confederation can decide which federal laws it will obey, and which ones it won’t, is absurd. Is it really a step forward to give Smith the right to order the national police force, the RCMP, not to enforce federal law?
