Poilievre's byelection win sets the table for his return to Parliament this fall
OTTAWA - After a summer of rodeos, dinosaurs and door-knocking, Pierre Poilievre is now officially heading back to Ottawa as a Conservative member of Parliament for Alberta.
The Tory leader will represent the sprawling rural riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, in the province's eastern region, after winning a byelection on Monday.
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National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
Terry Newman: Poilievre's win means Carney's cakewalk is over
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Tory leader's record of tearing apart Liberal policies will ensure in September, Parliament will be a trial by fire for the prime minister Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks after his win during the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection in Camrose, Alta., Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Despite naysayers and a longest ballot committee, Pierre Poilievre handily won his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot Monday, which means he will be returning to Parliament in September. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Up until this point, Prime Minister Mark Carney has had it easy. The Liberals haven't faced the Conservative leader in the House of Commons since December. And due to Poilievre's loss of the Carleton riding in the federal election, Carney has never had to face the opposition leader's razor-like questioning in Parliament. That respite will be over soon. Poilievre's return means Carney and the Liberal party's cakewalk is over. So far Carney has enjoyed public support for his policies and proposals, but Poilievre could be returning to the House at precisely the right time, as it becomes increasingly obvious that this country's problems, from the gigantic deficit, to housing affordability to our relationship with the United States, are not so easily solved. With the Conservative leader grilling the prime minister day in and day out, these problems will only be magnified. This newsletter tackles hot topics with boldness, verve and wit. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays) By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again In fact, even out of Parliament, Poilievre has been successful at spotlighting criticisms of the Liberals EV mandate which he's described as akin 'to banning rural way of life.' The Conservatives are planning a nationwide campaign targeting the mandate, which a poll has suggested that Canadians think is 'unrealistic' and should be shelved. And there appears to be much more where that came from. Earlier this month, Poilievre challenged Carney to 'get shovels in the ground' for at least two energy projects by March 2026, a year after his swearing-in as prime minister. Carney campaigned on being committed to fast-tracking major project approvals in order to boost Canada's economy against tariff threats from Trump. Both the 'One Canadian Economy' and 'Building Canada Act' passed on June 26, but so far, no energy projects have manifested under Carney who is placing great emphasis on advancing the interests of clean growth and climate change. Poilievre has also repeated requests for Carney to repeal the industrial carbon tax and Impact Assessment Act in order to speed up private projects. Carney has explicitly refused to repeal both. Carney positioned himself as the best man for the job to fight Trump's proposed 25 per cent tariffs, later increased to 35 per cent, and to secure a new trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney failed to reach a deal with Trump first by July 21 and then by Aug. 1. Carney claims negotiations will continue, but the elbows up facade has faded, providing more opportunities for Poilievre to criticize and differentiate his party. Carney has made clear on many occasions that he isn't a fan of being questioned, but, unless the prime minister refuses to show up to work, Poilievre will be there waiting to pounce, providing news reporters with regular punchy, quotable attacks. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It will much more difficult for Carney to defend obviously poor decisions such as his controversial statement that he intends to recognize Palestine as a state in September based on conditions that are not likely to be met that 'Hamas must disarm; and that Hamas must play no role in the future governance of Palestine.' Carney hasn't explained why a terrorist organization would suddenly choose to disarm after 18 years… for Mark Carney. The real test will ultimately be public opinion, and Poilievre's record of tearing apart Liberal policies will ensure September Parliament will be a trial by fire for Carney. The prime minister's polling numbers won't remain positive indefinitely. Despite a survey from early August showing Carney's approval rating at a somewhat-positive 56 per cent, only 36 per cent of Canadians seem to think the country is heading in the right direction. And of course they don't. All of the same problems that existed under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are not only still there, and they appear to be getting worse. As Post columnist Tristin Hopper points out, capital is fleeing the country, government is collecting more tax than ever before, never before has the gap between Canadian and U.S. GDP been wider, insolvencies haven't been this high since the Great Recession, housing is still unaffordable, and somehow, there are more bureaucrats on the government payroll than ever. Some might argue that this was all a product Trudeau's leadership, even though Carney advised the Liberals on economic policy informally during COVID and formally, since September 2024 when they appointed him as the Chair of the Liberal Party's Task Force on Economic Growth until he became leader of the party. This problem will be two-fold for Carney in September. Not only will he have to face questions about policy decisions since he has become prime minister, but his relationship with Brookfield means that some of his personal interests and business relations may also be a subject for debate once Parliament convenes in the fall. Poilievre, on the other hand, is a much better known quantity — often attacked for being a 'career politician.' One of the benefits of being a career politician is that everyone already knows where he stands, and they already know his life story. It would be strange for a skeleton to suddenly emerge from Polievre's closet at this point. Carney came in as a fresh face, but the party itself, especially notable cabinet ministers, didn't change much, they were just shuffled — Joly, Miller, Guilbeault, Freeland, Anand, Hajdu, Champagne and Fraser — just shifted around in a game of political musical chairs, as if these ministers would suddenly perform better in their latest positions. This all spells political trouble for Carney. And it begs another question: Which Carney can Canadians expect in House of Commons in the fall? Brookfield Carney? Former bank governor Carney? Climate Carney? Elbows up Carney? Who knows where those elbows have gone. They certainly haven't solved trade issues with Trump nor were they invited to what is being referred to as a successful meeting in Washington, D.C. about the future of Ukraine. It looks like Carney's going to need some elbow grease to explain this and more to the returning Opposition leader in the fall.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
After Air Canada strike, Section 107 of labour code is ‘dead,' says union leader
OTTAWA – A rare show of defiance by Air Canada flight attendants in the face of a back-to-work order from the government has proven the ineffectiveness of the section of Canada's labour code that allows a minister to order the end to a strike or lockout, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress said. On Aug. 16, just hours after flight attendants hit the picket line after failing to reach a new contract deal with the airline, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu invoked section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to order binding arbitration and get the flight attendants back on the job. The section grants the minister the power to act to 'maintain or secure industrial peace.' Flight attendants ignored the order and remained on strike until a deal was finally reached early Tuesday, a move Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske lauded as effective. 'It sets a precedent (that) you can defy, and you will find a solution at the bargaining table,' Bruske said Tuesday in an interview with The Canadian Press. 'It sets a precedent for the reality that (section) 107 is no longer effective, it is effectively dead.' 'The best way to deal with it is to remove it entirely because unions, workers, the labour movement has been emboldened by this and we're not going to turn around.' Section 107 has been in the Canada Labour Code for more than 40 years but using it has become more common particularly in the last year. The Canadian Labour Congress says the Liberals have resorted to section 107 eight times since June 2024, including to prevent a strike by WestJet mechanics, and to end strikes or lockouts at the country's two main railways, ports in Montreal and Vancouver and temporarily a strike and lockout at Canada Post. Before then, section 107 was only used a handful of times, says the Canadian Labour Congress, including four times between 1995 and 2002. In 2011, the CLC says then-labour minister Lisa Raitt used section 107 after flight attendants rejected two tentative agreements, though the parties ultimately voluntarily agreed to send their dispute to binding arbitration. The CLC says it was used one other time between 2011 and 2024. Initially the government didn't seem willing to turn to it quickly to end the Air Canada work stoppage. On Aug. 17, a few hours before the deadline set by the union representing flight attendants to reach a new contract deal, Hajdu urged the airline and the union to go back to the negotiating table, and suggested she wasn't ready to intervene in the dispute. Hajdu told The Canadian Press that day that it was 'critical' the two sides return to the table to forge a deal on their own. The strike officially began just before 1 a.m. ET on Saturday and in turn, Air Canada locked out its agents about 30 minutes later due to the strike action. Hajdu announced just after 12 p.m. on Saturday that she was invoking the labour code section and directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees to resume operations and resolve the dispute through binding arbitration. The minister said she made the call after meeting with both sides Friday night, finding that talks had broken down and the parties remained too far apart to resolve the conflict quickly enough. But CUPE defied the order, flight attendants stayed on the picket line and the union launched a legal challenge of the government's move. On Monday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board board declared the strike unlawful and ordered the union's leadership to tell its striking workers to go back to work. The federal government also announced that it was launching a probe into allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector. The union and Air Canada met late Monday night and very early Tuesday morning announced a tentative agreement had been reached, ending the work stoppage. Bruske acknowledged that Air Canada workers' defiance of back-to-work orders could set a precedent for future strikes. She said that, while the government was under 'a lot of pressure' from business groups and customers to avoid a disruption, their interference 'caused more of a problem than it solved.' 'It really gave the employer a way to avoid having to get serious at the bargaining table,' Bruske said. When the union decided to defy the return-to-work order, Bruske said it sent a 'strong message' that the only way to resolve the issue is at the bargaining table, 'which is where it needed to be found all along.' Bruske noted that the government used the labour code to force the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to vote on an offer from Canada Post, an offer the workers rejected. Canada Post and the union are returning to the bargaining table Wednesday. 'The labour movement is going to be with them no matter what they choose to do,' Bruske said. She said CLC and its affiliate unions, including the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, met on Sunday and labour leaders were unanimous that they supported CUPE in defying back-to-work orders and that they will 'do whatever' to support them. CUPE national president Mark Hancock said that, given the availability of Section 107, it seemed like the company felt that they didn't need to negotiate and were instead preparing to go to binding arbitration. Once it was 'pushed to the side,' Hancock said the company 'got serious' at the bargaining table and a tentative deal was reached. 'Hopefully this has sent a message to government and to everybody that the way to get a deal and a collective agreement is at the bargaining table,' Hancock said. 'Section 107 is just an impediment that makes it much more difficult to get an agreement on the table.' While he doesn't agree with forcing workers back in a dispute, Hancock said other options, like back-to-work legislation debated in Parliament, are more democratic. 'We're gonna continue talking about 107 and I'm hoping the government never, ever, ever uses it again because it's not a helpful tool,' he said. Hancock encouraged future unions that have to face Section 107 to 'respond appropriately.' He also said it's still unclear if there will be any consequences for the union or its members as a result of the strike but that CUPE will protect and defend workers and their jobs. 'Hopefully Air Canada has learned a lesson that we're not going to back down when it comes to bargaining and that we'll be there to support our members every step of the way,' Hancock said. 'I'm sure Air Canada wants to put this behind them and move forward and if they start disciplining or attempting to discipline people, that's not gonna be helpful for them or anybody.' Daniel Safayeni, president and CEO of FETCO, an employers' association comprised of federally regulated firms within the transportation and communications sectors, said CIRB and the Supreme Court have affirmed the constitutionality of Section 107, recognizing that the right to strike can be limited in exceptional circumstances when justified by threats to national economic stability. 'There is a time and place for the usage of this,' Safayeni said, adding that something like a special mediation process could be used before the invocation of Section 107. 'At the end of the day, the government is going to need a tool to keep particularly critical industries, critical supply chains moving, if a deal can't be reached.' He said unions are entitled to challenge decisions in court but can't just ignore orders because that 'sets a dangerous precedent.' 'That is normalizing behaviour that frankly, I think when we look south of the border, we see it and we are shocked and disappointed to see it, and I don't think we want to replicate those same norms here,' Safayeni said. — with files from Kyle Duggan and Craig Lord This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Quebec government renews promise to make changes to forestry reform bill
MONTREAL – The Quebec government is renewing its promise to modify a forestry bill that has provoked blockades and growing tension in the province. Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière said Tuesday evening that the forestry reform bill must be amended to take into account the rights of First Nations. His social media statement came after a six-hour meeting with First Nations leaders and representatives of the forest industry. He and Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina are expected to meet today with the Assembly of First Nations Quebec–Labrador and the office of Premier François Legault. The legislation would designate certain areas of public land as forestry zones, but Indigenous leaders say it infringes on their rights. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. A series of blockades in recent months in opposition to the bill has disrupted operations for some in the forestry sector. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.
