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Wednesday, October 28, 2026
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Alberta referendum questions were ‘misleading,’ not ‘plain English,’ say NDP MP McPherson, Senator Simons 

Fifty-three per cent of voters said yes to restricting access to provincially funded programs for ‘non-permanent’ immigrants. If a question was posed as ‘‘should refugee children be denied the chance to go to public school?’ I think most people would have voted against that,’ says Senator Paula Simons.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's Oct. 19 referendum posed a series of questions around immigration, constitutional issues, and separation. The only questions to receive majority support were on immigration. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
The latest

B.C. voters back ‘chill guy’ Doerkson, punish Eby for ‘cynicism’ in election call, say politicos

B.C. premier-designate Lorne Doerkson took over the B.C. Conservatives just a day before the election call and the party won 62 of the province’s 93 ridings. The NDP now hold 28 seats, and the Greens hold two. Photograph courtesy of LDoerkson/X

The B.C. Conservatives should create the ‘David Eby Award, for single-handedly rescuing the Conservative Party and putting them in power with a majority government. Who would have imagined it?’ says Green Leader Elizabeth May.

Tech sector lobbying picks up with questions about new Ottawa agency for streamlining tech use, procurement

Since Digital Transformation Canada’s launch, more than 40 tech firms began new registrations on the federal lobbyists’ registry, including CCX Technologies and Amazon Web Services Canada.

LRB scoops up new parl affairs, research director from Treasury Board president’s team

Plus, Women and Gender Equality Minister Rechie Valdez has a new communications director, and there are updates for Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu’s office.

Carney’s high popularity, referendum win, and a new right-of-centre party could help Liberals win 10-15 more seats in Alberta in next election, say some politicos

In the current Alberta political landscape, all 11 Edmonton ridings and five Calgary area ridings are in play, says political strategist Stephen Carter.

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POLITICS
Prime Minister Mark Carney's, centre right, team of top fundraising ministers—including Mélanie Joly, Tim Hodgson, Rechie Valdez, François-Philippe Champagne, Anita Anand—have begun to outpace Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's, left, solo prominence since the 2025 election. The Hill Times photographs by Aidan Raynor and Andrew Meade, and illustration by Joey Sabourin

Poilievre raised estimated $20-million for Conservatives since 2022, Carney and cabinet ministers work to outpace one-man show

In the second part of a series on political fundraising, The Hill Times looks at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s surge to top-performing fundraiser since late 2022, and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s team of top-performing ministers and ridings helping him reinvigorate the party’s war chest.

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Nature is an economic ally, not an obstacle

MPs must ensure that the country’s natural heritage is not an afterthought characterized as ‘red tape’ that is getting in the way of a build-fast agenda because Canadians themselves don’t see it that way.


Are we designing progress around human well-being?

Donald Trump
Cuba is experiencing a dire, worsening humanitarian crisis exacerbated by United States President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, writes Kathy Price. White House photograph by Daniel Torok

Cuba needs Canada’s voice in coming UN sanctions vote

A principled foreign policy means voting ‘yes’ at a crucial United Nations vote calling for an end to America’s rights-violating blockade against Cuba.

EDITORIAL CARTOON BY DE ADDER
de Adder’s Take: 10-26-2026
de Adder’s Take: 10-21-2026
de Adder’s Take: 10-19-2026
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Public Service

Pay equity delays pile up for women in federal jobs as union alleges bad faith at Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Canada’s pay equity commissioner is looking into complaint against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which the union says should lead to $15.9-million in pay adjustments. Meanwhile, a new analysis finds Ottawa-area women in the public sector earned three per cent less than comparable men.

‘There’s a danger in removing transparency’ amid questions about Defence Investment Agency oversight: ombud

Bill C-40 won’t extend the ombud’s mandate to cover the DIA, but Alexander Jeglic says ‘there’s the possibility’ regulations under C-31 would give his office some authority to look at elements of Crown corporations.

Public servant’s $42,151 transition-payment cheque goes missing as job cuts test federal pay system

The former Natural Resources Canada employee is one of three federal workers who told The Hill Times they experienced delayed, missing or unresolved payments as Ottawa processes a growing wave of workforce-adjustment departures.

Minister Ali sidesteps question on whether red-tape reforms mean fewer public servants

Bill S-7, the Cutting Red Tape Act, promises $264-million in savings over 10 years, mostly for industry, but questions remain about staffing, regulatory capacity, and Indigenous consultation.

Most large departments have yet to publish 2025-26 wrongdoing reports as critic questions ‘piecemeal’ practice

Some departments reporting granular data on specific instances of misbehaviour, and others broadly summarize founded and unfounded cases, an approach that one ethics researcher says suggests ‘the ship has sailed’ on the exercise.

FOREIGN POLICY
Donald Trump
When speaking to some Americans about how U.S. President Donald Trump is affecting the relationship with Canada, they are encouraging and sympathetic, writes Andrew Caddell. White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian

Talking to some Americans can be encouraging

Trump’s America was clearly a concern for a class of seniors I recently spoke to: they are familiar with the scourge of American isolationism in the last century, and its effect on world events.

Policy
Checking rights, managing metadata, and ensuring compliance is skilled work, and resources vary enormously between institutions, write Richard Hayman, Stefanie Haustein, Brianne Selman, and Bryn Williams-Jones. Pexels photograph by Tima Miroshnichenko

Canada’s new open access policy is a win for science, with a bill for taxpayers

The revised Tri-Agency policy requires immediate access to publicly funded research. It also leaves commercial publishers free to profit from public money.

Canada’s next housing strategy starts with Budget 2026

Building a stronger Canada means ensuring everyone has a safe, affordable, and adequate place to call home.

Addressing Canada’s child care workforce crisis

Centres cannot expand if they cannot hire and keep qualified staff. New spaces on paper mean little to parents if there aren’t enough educators to care for the children who would fill them.

Canada deliberately recruits highly educated workers because we believe their skills will strengthen the economy, and then those workers often encounter a second system after they arrive, writes Akolisa Ufodike. Pexels photograph by cottonbro studio

Canada’s productivity problem starts with the decisions we force people to make

Productivity is ultimately an aggregate record of millions of smaller decisions, so we must ask what behaviour our institutions encourage.

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Women need better health care. A national framework can help deliver it

A bill calling for a framework aims to close gaps in research and innovation, strengthen primary care, improve clinician training in women’s health, and expand access for women and gender-diverse patients in rural and remote communities. 

Canada wants $1-trillion in investment. Mineral exploration is where it starts

Without sustained investment in foundational work, Canada will eventually have fewer mineral projects ready to advance.

Canada doesn’t just need to mine more, we need to mine differently

Ottawa is pursuing closer integration with Europe in critical minerals and other strategic industries. A rapidly deepening partnership with our European allies offers the chance to pair Canada’s resources and ambition with European expertise in advanced manufacturing, engineering and industrial technology.

THE LATEST POLICY BRIEFINGS

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Finance & Budget

House Finance Committee calls on government to ‘strengthen’ Online Streaming Act as public support for streamer payments grows

The committee, where Liberal MPs hold a majority, is recommending that the government keep the policy it plans to walk back, and protect the payment structure in any future trade discussions with the United States.

Insurance costs for public servants on the rise: PBO

The Parliamentary Budget Officer projects the government’s cost for federal public service insurance plans will reach $4.4-billion in 2030-31. The report came after the Senate’s National Finance Committee asked the budget watchdog to analyze these costs.

Canada’s charitable sector needs a federal home

The Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, established in 2019 to encourage meaningful dialogue with government, remains a periodic consultative body that has not met since fall 2024. And while consultation matters, it is not enough.

Main estimates set out $502.8-billion for 2026-27 as National Defence tops voted spending

National Defence’s $48.4-billion represents the biggest ask of the $230.4-billion set to be voted on by MPs, with five more departments seeking approval for more than $10-billion.

Liberals to cut CBC by $192-million in 2026-27

This year’s estimates include $1.38-billion in funding for the CBC, representing a marked decrease from the $1.58-billion allotted to the public broadcaster during the 2025-26 fiscal year.