Liberal leadership candidates faced off in battleground Montreal near the epicentre of their September byelection loss.
The four remaining candidates took to the English-language debate stage on Feb. 25 to tackle key policy planks and present themselves as the best pick as Canada’s next prime minister.
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says it’s important to complete her mandate, but Carleton journalism professor Chris Waddell says he’s ‘not sure this will survive much longer than the announcement.’
Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson says the world is returning to a ‘darker age for small- and medium-sized powers like Canada’ as Donald Trump has no interest in the U.S. safeguarding the global rules-based order.
International affairs professor Michael Manulak says world leaders are holding back comment so far because they’re ‘unsure about how serious to take the 51st-state rhetoric and whether it was genuine or whether it was just bluster.’
Local Liberal MP Terry Sheehan says there were lessons from the 2018 tariffs and Canada’s response. ‘They were lobbing grenades at us—like they’re doing now—and we came back with lasers and hit them.’
Former Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick says opposition leaders calling for Parliament to resume need to ‘retract the threat to immediately stab the government in the chest and force a six-week election.’
Experts say a formal annexation of Canada is unlikely, but warn of a possible erosion to Canadian sovereignty.
‘Even being mentioned in the same breath as China on trade relations is beyond bizarre,’ says former foreign minister Peter MacKay.
Ontarians will head to the polls in a snap provincial election on Feb. 27, just over a week before federal Liberal Party members choose their next leader—and the next prime minister.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre indicates he won’t change his ‘axe the tax’ messaging in light of some Liberal leadership candidates planning to drop the consumer carbon price.
Green Leader Elizabeth May says party members will soon hold a final vote on a proposed co-leader model, as Jonathan Pedneault returns to the fray after stepping down as deputy leader six months ago.
Liberals faced questions about losing touch with voters, but some MPs said the leadership race is an ‘opportunity’ to reconnect with Canadians.
However, a former federal Liberal candidate says the leadership race can provide the party with a captive audience for their messaging.
U.S. President Donald Trump also drops numerous bombshells for Canada in his World Economic Forum address as Liberals meet in Ottawa.
The Canadian Association of Journalists’ annual diversity survey reveals news interns are more likely to be female, Indigenous, or a visible minority, while ‘white people are overrepresented in supervisor and leadership roles.’