Latest news with #CanadianPolitics
National Post
3 days ago
- General
- National Post
'Liberals are engaging in bad faith politics': Feminist Conservatives fight back
Article content American politics can be a distraction, we agree, and labelling Canadian conservatives as MAGA acolytes is manipulative. But we also agree the federal Conservatives could have done better in the last election, engaging more effectively with female voters, making stronger connections between issues that matter to women — for example, reducing violent crime on streets. 'There was a way their platform could have taken down a lot of this rhetoric on the left about women's rights,' Stella says, 'because, frankly, it's just sensational.' Article content 'The weaponization of feminism, weaponizing what it is to be a conservative,' Stella observes, 'is really frustrating.' There are many women in the conservative movement, she suggests, pointing to Rona Ambrose as one example, who are strong independent thinkers and wouldn't join a party that's actively trying to harm them. Article content Yet it's sometimes difficult to have rational discussions with people, Seniru observes, when they can't explain what underpins their distrust of conservative leadership. 'When I speak with female friends, some of them are conservative, some are not,' Seniru says. Some just believe these things about Poilievre — such as, he's anti-immigrant. 'When I ask why, they say, 'Oh, it's just the vibe that I get.' How do you try to course-correct a vibe?' he shrugs. Article content Do optics influence public perceptions of equality; for example, Prime Minister Mark Carney's gender-balanced cabinet? Seniru is skeptical; he sees Carney's decision to not appoint a gender-balanced cabinet during the election as a ploy to convince conservative-learning voters he wasn't a DEI crusader, like his predecessor. However, he notes, once elected, Carney reverted to diversity quotas. Article content Stella's response is more personal: 'I never want to be told that I got my job or that I'm in a position of power because there's a quota,' she declares. 'Being told that because I'm a woman, things are going to be harder,' that's a message that can be very harmful, she adds. Article content 'We support women when they are liberal and as soon as an unapologetically conservative woman comes to the front,' Stella asserts, 'all of a sudden, that support goes away.' Pointing to people like Alberta NDP opposition leader Naheed Nenshi — who refers to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as a 'pick-me girl' and 'selfie-queen' — Stella suggests this idea of empowering women disappears when the female doesn't fit the narrative of what we think a girl boss should be. Article content Article content Although social media is often identified as a culprit in the deepening divide between young men and women, both Seniru and Stella credit Poilievre's success to a solid online presence over the last few years. And yet, we agree, where are the female influencers in this space? That could make a difference. Conservative females in Canada can't seem to find their Jordan Peterson. Article content And all that sloganeering in the last election, how did that land with young voters? Both Stella and Seniru roll their eyes and submit: You might attract attention with slogans, but younger generations, males and females, also crave substance. Article content 'We're tired of having Boomers think we just care about funny memes,' Stella says, with a chuckle. Article content
Globe and Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
The Throne Speech: nice staging, crummy dialogue
This week's Speech from the Throne was a brilliant bit of theatre. Former prime ministers and governors-general mingled. King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. Inviting the King himself to open Parliament sent an unmistakable message: This is not the 51st state and never will be. We have our own practices and traditions, founded on centuries of history. Anyone who thinks that all that separates us is a line on the map has another think coming. The speech itself was a different matter. It was billed as a 'bold, ambitious plan' for a 'bold, ambitious, innovative country.' What issued from the King's lips was anything but. Apart from promises to tear down provincial trade barriers and speed up big projects – changes that just about everyone agrees are needed – it was a stand-pat, status-quo document that offered next to nothing in the way of serious change. Nothing about reviving Canadian democracy, which continues its steady slide toward a centralized, presidential system where Parliament is an empty formality and its members spineless drones. Nothing about solving Canada's limp economic productivity and stagnating standard of living. No talk of reforming or simplifying the tax system, laden as it is with politically motivated breaks, incentives and loopholes. In fact, the new government of Prime Minister Mark Carney went out of its way to underline what it will not change. It won't touch child care and pharmacare, two costly programs introduced under Justin Trudeau's government. It won't touch supply management, the archaic system of production quotas and import controls that keeps the price of eggs, milk and chicken way higher than they should be and gives the Trump White House a club to beat us with. It will 'protect' the CBC, which desperately needs reform to match the fast-changing media landscape but will get heaps more money instead. It will leave 'transfers to provinces, territories or individuals' untouched. Many of the plans announced in the speech are things that Ottawa was already doing before Mr. Carney came around. Tightening up the immigration system to control the number of temporary workers and international students? The Trudeau government was doing that. Spending more on national defence? The Trudeau government was doing that, if belatedly and reluctantly. Working to increase the supply of housing that Canadians can afford? Same. Except Mr. Carney has said he will 'get the government back in the business of building' as a developer and a provider of subsidized loans. The price tag promises to be staggering. But that does not seem to worry Mr. Carney. If Mr. Trudeau was free with the public's money, the new Prime Minister promises to be positively bounteous. We don't know exactly how bounteous in the absence of a budget, which the government will not produce till the fall, but raising defence spending to the rising standards of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will alone cost tens, ultimately hundreds, of billions. Add in the costs of supplying housing, defending industries hit by the trade wars and everything else on the government's plate and we are talking real money. Where will it come from? Not from higher taxes. Perish the thought. The government boasted in the Throne Speech that, to the contrary, it is bringing in a middle-class tax cut and eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers on places that go for less than $1-million. No, like every other government under the sun, it says it will save money by 'cutting waste,' 'ending duplication' and 'deploying technology.' Oh, and it will move capital spending to a separate set of books, making it easier to balance the operating budget – a brazen bit of trickery brought to you by the former head of two central banks. The government calls all this the 'new fiscal discipline.' As Mr. Carney surely knows after years of studying government finances, however, it is a fiscal fantasy – absurdly unrealistic and blatantly dishonest. A government that prides itself on standing up to Donald Trump is doing just as he does: telling the public they can have tax cuts and big spending at the same time. The speech that the King read this week set off on a rousing note. 'We must be clear-eyed: The world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War. Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes.' Many Canadians, it continued, are feeling anxious. 'Yet this moment is also an incredible opportunity. An opportunity for renewal. An opportunity to think big and to act bigger. An opportunity for Canada to embark on the largest transformation of its economy since the Second World War.' So true. Sadly, there was little evidence of transformational thinking in this nicely staged but vapid opening act of the Carney era.
National Post
25-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
On Alberta separatism, just over half of Canadians say they understand the desire: poll
Article content A new poll suggests more than half of Canadians say they understand why Alberta might want to split from Canada — even if almost two-thirds say they don't want that to happen. Article content Article content The Leger survey, which polled 1,537 Canadians between May 16 and 18, suggests that 55 per cent of Canadians understand Albertans' desire for independence. Article content Because the poll was conducted online, it can't be assigned a margin of error. Article content Seventy per cent of Albertans said they understand why their province might want to become an independent country. Article content The poll suggests 63 per cent of men say they grasp what's driving Alberta separatism, while 48 per cent of women report the same. Article content While 77 per cent of Conservative voters said they understand the reasons behind the separatism movement, only 48 per cent of Liberal supporters responded the same way. Article content Sebastien Dallaire, Leger's executive vice-president for Eastern Canada, said the survey suggests that there's a 'level of empathy' for Albertans. He added Canadians likely don't think it's a good idea for the province to separate, given the dire consequences it would have for the entire country. Article content 'If you're in B.C., it means the country will be split in half from your perspective,' Dallaire said. 'If one province leaves, then it may open up, you know, more discussion about, of course, Quebec possibly also wanting to do the same, or other provinces.' Article content Only 26 per cent of respondents said they support the idea of Alberta becoming an independent country, with 12 per cent saying they 'strongly' support it and 15 per cent saying they support it 'somewhat.' Article content The numbers in the polling don't always match up due to rounding. Article content Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they're opposed, with 50 per cent saying they're 'strongly' opposed, 13 per cent saying they are somewhat opposed and 11 per cent saying they 'don't know.' Article content Among respondents who support the province of Alberta becoming a country, 76 per cent say they understand why Alberta might want to become independent. Article content Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government introduced a bill earlier this month to make it easier to launch a citizen-initiated referendum — including one on separating from Canada. Article content Smith has pointed to growing alienation in her province and frustration with Ottawa and has argued that those wanting to separate 'are not fringe voices.' Article content While she said she does not support separating from Canada, Smith is hoping to negotiate a new deal for the province with Prime Minister Mark Carney. She has said repeatedly that Albertans are frustrated that the province's natural resources are landlocked and that its oil and gas exports are sold almost exclusively to the United States at a cut rate. Article content Almost half of respondents in Alberta — 47 per cent — said they support separation. Article content Just 29 per cent of Quebecers, 22 per cent of Ontarians and 14 per cent of people in B.C. said they think Alberta should split. Though the poll's sample size for the two provinces was small, 30 per cent of people in Manitoba and Saskatchewan said they supported the idea. Article content At 43 per cent, Conservative supporters were far more open to the idea of separation than Liberal supporters, at only 12 per cent. Article content Dallaire said the results of the recent federal election 'did not satisfy everybody.' Article content He also said the poll suggests that Albertans are very divided on the issue of separation. Article content 'We see that there is significant support for at least trying to shake things up,' he said, adding that previous referendums in Quebec have shown that numbers tend to move quite a bit once people learn the facts about what separation would mean. Article content 'Is this really a hard level of support? At this time, probably not, but it's a clear indication that there's a potential for the movement to really gain a strong foothold in the province and it's something to really keep an eye on,' he said. Article content 'There's a potential for this to grow even stronger, depending on what happens next.' Article content
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Liberals, Conservatives continue ‘tight race' in ballot support after election: Nanos
Watch Pollster Nik Nanos speaks on the close race between Liberals and Conservatives in recent polls after the election and how Canadians view their personal finance.
National Post
18-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Finding a million more Conservative votes: 'It's about figuring out a way to speak to women'
Article content Talk of the new kind of conservative coalition that's emerging animates Ben; his faint British accent (he moved to Canada as a teenager) becomes noticeably more pronounced as his enthusiasm builds. Article content 'What group do you suggest could be added to this coalition?' I ask. 'Female voters' is Ben's unequivocal answer. 'We did very well with younger men,' he explains, 'and I think there are a lot of women, younger women … who face the same problems as young men … making it harder for them to achieve the things they want to achieve in life.' Article content Article content While I agree wholeheartedly with Ben's aspiration to engage women, it's no secret the Conservative messaging didn't land well with female voters in the federal campaign. We both wince recalling the backlash to Poilievre's observations about biological clocks early in the campaign. Article content 'So I think it's going to be about figuring out a way to speak to women … on issues that affect them,' Ben reflects, in ways that don't alienate other people. But, he admits, it's a challenge to thread that needle. Article content There are many divides bubbling up in Canada's political landscape — generational, regional, rural versus urban, education levels. And now gender. 'The parties of the right are increasingly male-dominated,' Ben notes, and the 'parties of the left are increasingly female-dominated.' It's an unhealthy social divide, he adds, 'a trend that's happening independent of any specific leader or any specific party, and I think that's part of why we didn't do as well with younger female voters.' Article content These trends, Ben explains, are happening all over the Western world, all over advanced democracies. 'So you can accelerate them and you can minimize them, but you can't necessarily avoid them.' Article content In an effort to turn the conversation in a more positive direction, I ask Ben about Poilievre's decision to run for election in Alberta. 'There's a touch of destiny about this,' Ben answers thoughtfully, 'I think he's going to be an important voice in the next few years, simultaneously speaking to those (western) frustrations and what needs to change, but also articulating a slightly different but more expansive vision, a more inclusive vision, of what it means to be Canadian. Article content 'I think the centre of political gravity is slowing shifting west in Canada,' Ben continues, 'just following population trends and demographics.' And our vision of what it means to be Canadian needs to be updated, which he acknowledges is a big project and 'not something you can impose from the top down.' Article content The ubiquitous symbol of Canada is the maple leaf, Ben explains, 'but you don't get maple trees west of Manitoba.' (He means sugar maples, as seen on the flag.) There are shared values across the country — he's lived in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, since immigrating to Canada — but, he observes, 'it's very much an eastern-centric Laurentian vision of what this country means, and I still think the future of Canada is very much out west … If people move within Canada, people go east to west, not west to east.' Article content Article content The resurgent wave of patriotism, triggered by Donald Trump's threats, is an opportunity to create a slightly different vision of what it means to be Canadian, Ben suggests, one that speaks to a Canada of 2025 and not a Canada of 1991. Article content The last election was about change, Ben concludes, and that desire for change is not going to go anywhere. 'Some people think it will just bubble down, and I think it will just bubble up even more.' Article content
