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Yaroslav Baran

Contributing writer Yaroslav Baran is a leading member of the Ukrainian Canadian community. He is a principal of Earnscliffe Strategy Group. yaroslav@earnscliffe.ca

A season of contradictions, focus, and discipline

  • Mark Carney enters the fall flanked by storms: tariff shocks, fiscal pressures, and sharpened opposition.
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 15, 2025
The October federal budget will be the policy focal point of the season, and programs that no longer deliver will be pared back, writes Yaroslav Baran, co-founder of Pendulum. 15BacktoParliament.Baran

A season of contradictions, focus, and discipline

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 15, 2025
  • Mark Carney enters the fall flanked by storms: tariff shocks, fiscal pressures, and sharpened opposition.

A season of contradictions, focus, and discipline

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 15, 2025
  • Mark Carney enters the fall flanked by storms: tariff shocks, fiscal pressures, and sharpened opposition.
The October federal budget will be the policy focal point of the season, and programs that no longer deliver will be pared back, writes Yaroslav Baran, co-founder of Pendulum. 15BacktoParliament.Baran

A parliamentary year like no other: shifting alliances, a cautious ‘legacy’ agenda, and a potential deal with the devil

  • The Liberals can no longer count on the NDP, and the “legacy-building year” will be a limited parliamentary agenda where the government works hard for support
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 16, 2024
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. The NDP will be cautious in the fall sitting, despite its new expressions of independence, writes Yaroslav Baran, former Conservative Hill staffer. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

A parliamentary year like no other: shifting alliances, a cautious ‘legacy’ agenda, and a potential deal with the devil

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 16, 2024
  • The Liberals can no longer count on the NDP, and the “legacy-building year” will be a limited parliamentary agenda where the government works hard for support

A parliamentary year like no other: shifting alliances, a cautious ‘legacy’ agenda, and a potential deal with the devil

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 16, 2024
  • The Liberals can no longer count on the NDP, and the “legacy-building year” will be a limited parliamentary agenda where the government works hard for support
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. The NDP will be cautious in the fall sitting, despite its new expressions of independence, writes Yaroslav Baran, former Conservative Hill staffer. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

How summer shaped the fall sitting: old issues with new focus, and shifting party dynamics

  • While the key policy themes in Parliament are largely unchanged from June to September, some will re-emerge in autumn with sharper or more urgent
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 14, 2023
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have equally prioritized the theme of housing throughout the summer, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

How summer shaped the fall sitting: old issues with new focus, and shifting party dynamics

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 14, 2023
  • While the key policy themes in Parliament are largely unchanged from June to September, some will re-emerge in autumn with sharper or more urgent

How summer shaped the fall sitting: old issues with new focus, and shifting party dynamics

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 14, 2023
  • While the key policy themes in Parliament are largely unchanged from June to September, some will re-emerge in autumn with sharper or more urgent
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have equally prioritized the theme of housing throughout the summer, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

The political ‘policy’ convention: what it is, what it isn’t, and what we should be paying attention to

  • Conventions are a communication exercise for leaders to develop their personal brand and the brand they hope the party to have under their watch.
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 6, 2023
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s convention keynote address will provide him with an opportunity to build on his last major speech when he won his leadership last September, and expand on the program he started laying out then, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The political ‘policy’ convention: what it is, what it isn’t, and what we should be paying attention to

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 6, 2023
  • Conventions are a communication exercise for leaders to develop their personal brand and the brand they hope the party to have under their watch.

The political ‘policy’ convention: what it is, what it isn’t, and what we should be paying attention to

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | September 6, 2023
  • Conventions are a communication exercise for leaders to develop their personal brand and the brand they hope the party to have under their watch.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s convention keynote address will provide him with an opportunity to build on his last major speech when he won his leadership last September, and expand on the program he started laying out then, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Memo to NATO: Ukraine’s admission to the alliance isn’t an act of charity

  • Ukraine’s membership would be a significant addition to NATO’s collective security in an increasingly insecure world.
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | July 12, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speak at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12. Photograph courtesy of NATO/Flickr

Memo to NATO: Ukraine’s admission to the alliance isn’t an act of charity

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | July 12, 2023
  • Ukraine’s membership would be a significant addition to NATO’s collective security in an increasingly insecure world.

Memo to NATO: Ukraine’s admission to the alliance isn’t an act of charity

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | July 12, 2023
  • Ukraine’s membership would be a significant addition to NATO’s collective security in an increasingly insecure world.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speak at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12. Photograph courtesy of NATO/Flickr

Ten immutable rules for Hill staffers

  • Politics can be a rough-and-tumble business, but there are ways to navigate a successful career without falling prey to ego and burnout, write two
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN, MARCI SURKES | May 31, 2023
Work hard, stay humble, and learn everything you can are just some of the tips for political staffers offered by Yaraslav Baran and Marci Surkes. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ten immutable rules for Hill staffers

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN, MARCI SURKES | May 31, 2023
  • Politics can be a rough-and-tumble business, but there are ways to navigate a successful career without falling prey to ego and burnout, write two

Ten immutable rules for Hill staffers

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN, MARCI SURKES | May 31, 2023
  • Politics can be a rough-and-tumble business, but there are ways to navigate a successful career without falling prey to ego and burnout, write two
Work hard, stay humble, and learn everything you can are just some of the tips for political staffers offered by Yaraslav Baran and Marci Surkes. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The road to Toronto: pathway to power

  • The Conservative Party of Canada is in the midst of a leadership campaign. That is Act One. But selecting a leader is not the
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | March 16, 2020
Some federal Conservative tacticians try to write Toronto off, seeing it as a political dead zone for the party, arguing campaign resources are better spent squeezing out the remaining isolated swing ridings that still went Red last year in more fertile regions of the country. How do you do that? Concentrate on a combination of demographic micro targeting (to boost Conservative votes) and 'opposition research' (to suppress Liberal votes). That means more small-fry boutique policy and more negative campaigning. Yet we want our politics to be more than this, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The road to Toronto: pathway to power

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | March 16, 2020
  • The Conservative Party of Canada is in the midst of a leadership campaign. That is Act One. But selecting a leader is not the

The road to Toronto: pathway to power

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | March 16, 2020
  • The Conservative Party of Canada is in the midst of a leadership campaign. That is Act One. But selecting a leader is not the
Some federal Conservative tacticians try to write Toronto off, seeing it as a political dead zone for the party, arguing campaign resources are better spent squeezing out the remaining isolated swing ridings that still went Red last year in more fertile regions of the country. How do you do that? Concentrate on a combination of demographic micro targeting (to boost Conservative votes) and 'opposition research' (to suppress Liberal votes). That means more small-fry boutique policy and more negative campaigning. Yet we want our politics to be more than this, writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ten lessons for the Conservatives as they seek to rebuild

  • Currently embarking on a leadership race, the Conservative Party of Canada is poised for collective introspection and renewal, the result of which will determine
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 20, 2020
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured Dec. 4, 2019, about a week before he announced his resignation as party leader. 'The Conservative Party is not in existential crisis. It is on an upward track. Continuing this trajectory, however, does require that it learn from the Harper decade and from the brief Scheer era—including the deficiencies of the 2019 campaign and the mistakes of the 2015 campaign, which was much worse,' writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Ten lessons for the Conservatives as they seek to rebuild

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 20, 2020
  • Currently embarking on a leadership race, the Conservative Party of Canada is poised for collective introspection and renewal, the result of which will determine

Ten lessons for the Conservatives as they seek to rebuild

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 20, 2020
  • Currently embarking on a leadership race, the Conservative Party of Canada is poised for collective introspection and renewal, the result of which will determine
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured Dec. 4, 2019, about a week before he announced his resignation as party leader. 'The Conservative Party is not in existential crisis. It is on an upward track. Continuing this trajectory, however, does require that it learn from the Harper decade and from the brief Scheer era—including the deficiencies of the 2019 campaign and the mistakes of the 2015 campaign, which was much worse,' writes Yaroslav Baran. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Trump and the erosion of the Western consensus

  • OTTAWA—Two thousand seventeen may well go down in history as the year the post-war global order was scrambled irreversibly. The last year’s major electoral
Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 16, 2017
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, pictured on Oct. 19, 2016, in Berlin for talks on the Minsk agreement meant to restore peace to eastern Ukraine. German federal government photograph/Güngör

Trump and the erosion of the Western consensus

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 16, 2017
  • OTTAWA—Two thousand seventeen may well go down in history as the year the post-war global order was scrambled irreversibly. The last year’s major electoral

Trump and the erosion of the Western consensus

Opinion | BY YAROSLAV BARAN | January 16, 2017
  • OTTAWA—Two thousand seventeen may well go down in history as the year the post-war global order was scrambled irreversibly. The last year’s major electoral
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, pictured on Oct. 19, 2016, in Berlin for talks on the Minsk agreement meant to restore peace to eastern Ukraine. German federal government photograph/Güngör
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