That was quite a spectacle this week when about 20 per cent of the 153-member Liberal caucus lunged at their leader and lost. Politically, Justin Trudeau, who is languishing in the national polls, had every reason to hang on. When a beleaguered Brian Mulroney stepped down in 1993, the resulting election was a debacle for his Progressive Conservative Party. Kim Campbell took over and managed to go from 154 seats to two seats in the next election. There’s no reason to believe the Liberals would do any better in an election today. After all, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are ahead in...
Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Official Opposition, has a new TV ad campaign. At first, I didn’t recognize him, with the camera showing such a close-up of his face. His hair is usually the best guide to his identity; it looks different every time you see it. That’s because he always sleeps on it wrong and in the morning can’t remember how it goes, so he just leaves it as is. In this ad, his hair hardly shows, so tight is the camera on his face. Good editing. And wait, is this the strident Axe the Tax, Build the Homes,...
I happened to be in Montreal on this day in 2000 when Pierre Trudeau’s funeral service was held. Notre-Dame Basilica was packed with mourners so I stood outside in Place d’Armes, one among the many hundreds listening to the service on loudspeakers and saying our sad farewells. I was struck at the time by how the very architecture of the surroundings spoke to the always frosty relationship between the former prime minister and the business community. The soaring spires of the Basilica, erected in 1830, dominated one side of the square. On the opposite side stood the head office of...
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