House won’t hold priority debate on MPs implicated in foreign interference report: Speaker

House won’t hold priority debate on MPs implicated in foreign interference report: Speaker

MPs will not hold a priority debate on how to release the names of politicians implicated in a foreign interference report released earlier this year. House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled Monday that the question of privilege raised by NDP MP Jenny Kwan in June didn’t rise to the level of a “prima facie” violation of MPs’ … Read more

The balance of power in Ottawa has shifted to the Bloc. So what does it want?

The balance of power in Ottawa has shifted to the Bloc. So what does it want?

When the NDP and Liberals signed the confidence and supply agreement in 2022, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the agreement caused the pendulum of power to swing so far in one direction that the interests of Quebec were not being served. Since NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh terminated that governance agreement, Blanchet said, the pendulum has swung even harder back in … Read more

The Liberals can’t win a general election if they keep losing safe seats

The Liberals can’t win a general election if they keep losing safe seats

In the summer of 1978, against his top political strategist’s advice, Pierre Trudeau called a full slate of byelections to fill 15 vacancies in the House of Commons, including seven seats the Liberals had won in the previous election. As recounted in John English’s Just Watch Me, the Liberal Party’s own pollster said the governing … Read more

Poilievre’s office silent on leader’s Pride plans as other party leaders say they’ll attend

Poilievre’s office silent on leader’s Pride plans as other party leaders say they’ll attend

Fête Nationale Pierre Poilievre is the only federal party leader whose staff won’t say whether their chief intends to participate in Pride events this summer. Officials for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May all confirmed they will attend various Pride events. Poilievre’s … Read more

Bloc leader says he’s in no hurry to read intelligence report linking parliamentarians to foreign interference

Bloc leader says he’s in no hurry to read intelligence report linking parliamentarians to foreign interference

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says that while he plans to read the unredacted version of the intelligence watchdog report that’s been stirring up debate in Ottawa for more than two weeks now, he’s in no rush to do so. Earlier this month, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), a cross-party committee … Read more

Poilievre hints to police he would use notwithstanding clause to change justice laws

Poilievre hints to police he would use notwithstanding clause to change justice laws

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says he would use “whatever tools the constitution allows” to pass criminal justice laws if his party forms the next government. Speaking to the Canadian Police Association on Monday, Poilievre promised to implement more stringent requirements for bail and make it harder for convicted murderers to transfer out of maximum security … Read more

Ottawa to force banks to use carbon rebate label for direct deposits

Ottawa to force banks to use carbon rebate label for direct deposits

Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. Tuesday’s federal budget promised to amend the Financial Administration Act to ensure that government payments accepted for deposit at Canadian banks will carry … Read more

How to follow CBC’s federal budget coverage

How to follow CBC’s federal budget coverage

The prime minister and cabinet ministers have spent the last few weeks touring the country to preview some of the key elements of the budget that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will unveil in full on Tuesday, April 16. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has framed the budget as one focused on fairness. Here’s how to watch CBC’s … Read more

Anti-authority narratives could tear ‘fabric of society,’ intelligence report warns

Anti-authority narratives could tear ‘fabric of society,’ intelligence report warns

Threats against politicians have become “increasingly normalized” due to extremist narratives prompted by personal grievances and fuelled by misinformation or deliberate lies, warns a newly released intelligence report. The report, prepared by a federal task force that aims to safeguard elections, says the Canadian violent extremist landscape has seen the proliferation of conspiracy theories, a … Read more

Trudeau says Liberals won’t be sidetracked following MP’s leadership review comments

Trudeau says Liberals won’t be sidetracked following MP’s leadership review comments

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday his government won’t get sidetracked by “distractions” after one of his MPs walked back comments calling for a leadership review. Trudeau, who was addressing the Liberal caucus in Ottawa, said the party is focused on the House of Commons returning from its winter break next week. “There’s a lot … Read more