Politics Insider for October 5, 2021: Conservative Caucus Day; a liberal disappointment; and a federal vaccine mandate, maybe
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O’Toole confronts his MPs: Conservative MPs are meeting today for their first caucus meeting since the recent elections, which should give everyone a better sense of Erin O’Toole immediate future. An important issue on their agenda, and what a pity that it happens behind closed doors, is the vote on the Reform Law, which the caucus could use, theoretically, to oust its leader. CTV has the story.
Whine and dine: the Star‘s Stephanie levitz opinion polls in the caucus and he does not find any incipient revolt, but he does find some complaints.
Meanwhile, as the caucus is briefed on Tuesday, O’Toole’s campaign team will hold a post-election briefing for members of the Albany Club, where the perceived agents of power of the conservative movement like wine, whining and dinner. The fear that the party is becoming more indebted to members of that club than to its own grassroots is an issue that has nagged for months, and some say it reflects the fact that O’Toole never spent much time in the club. secondary bench of the party.
Very sorry: There is an interesting comment on the attitude of the prime minister. whereabouts the weekend, starting with a fun column of Maclean’s own Marie danielle smith imagining Trudeau’s latest apology.
I’m sorry I created a federal holiday for reconciliation and then I went and spent part of it on vacation. I’m sorry I didn’t go to Kelowna instead. I am sorry that my itinerary said that I would be in “private meetings” in Ottawa and did not mention my flight to Tofino. I am especially sorry that this stay has attracted national attention. Because, cough, fish wrap, cough, we all should have focused on reconciliation. So my regret, most of all, is that you took advantage of my trip instead of spending the day silently reflecting. The thing is, I keep saying “I’m sorry” over and over and over again. But what makes me sadder is how my apologies never seem to satisfy you. Even when I use all the correct words.
Non-negotiable: At Mail, Colby cosh have a interesting rumination about how we think about politicians and elections. He also imagines what Trudeau could say to voters, if he were honest.
“I was in an uncomfortable position because I promised my unfortunate wife and innocent children that we would have a getaway as soon as the rigorous and exhausting election campaign was over. We did not see the problem over time soon enough and, as you can imagine, I have long since exhausted the supply of excuses that even a prime minister can offer his family. This was not negotiable, and I trust that all husbands will understand my situation.. “
Amazing vacuum cleaner: In CTV, Don martin write that The prime minister’s absence from the reconciliation ceremonies suggests that all is not well in his operation.
Such a staggering void of common political sense at the top of this government’s expanding staff pyramid can only be caused by one of three things. Or your advisers have had a case of programming blindness and communications incompetence during the third term. Or the prime minister was warned about the brutal optics of flying straight over residential school cemeteries to get to some of the best beaches for surfing, and chose to ignore them anyway. Or your staff is too scared to put a red flag on even the most jarring oversight of a super-sensitive file that already requires every word of every statement to be scrutinized by a dozen bureaucrats.
What happened? On Maclean’s, Justin ling has a revealing article looking at a focus group based election study, showing that the Liberals’ election promises did not seem concrete enough to voters, suggesting they were in trouble on the campaign trail.
One of the most revealing findings of the consultants study was around affordability—Particularly a hot, increasingly inaccessible real estate market and rising gasoline prices. “The main platforms of the party nibbled the edges of the basket, but with no leader successfully tackles this issue head-on, the electorate chose to reward none of them, ”they warned. Affordability and inequality have crashed together in particularly poignant fashion during the pandemic. As one small business owner voter explained: “We are the hardest hit. And when you look at how ridiculous a lot of the restrictions were, like your mom and dad’s basic stores closed and Walmart, or Costco, or stayed open. “
Close to most: At Hill times, Abbas ranna smash the numbers and looks at how the Liberals could have won a majority:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals could have won a majority government in the September 20 election if they had received 16,870 more votes spread across 11 constituencies, according to an analysis of The Hill Times.
Middle person: At Star, Jacques gallant have a interesting profile from the first openly two-spirited MP, the new NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach.
There is a word in Cree tastawiyiniwak – that Blake desjarlais says it describes it best. It means “the middle people.” “I love that word because it helps me show how I operate and how I see myself,” said Desjarlais, 27. “I see myself between this terrible binary that has been created: the western world imposed this masculine / feminine binary, ‘in this way or that way’ type of mentality ‘.
Back to work: Global has a haunting story from Mercedes stephenson and Rachel gilmore revealing that a general who wrote a referral letter for a sex offender He has been tasked with working on a series of reviews related to sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces.
Pallister out: Brian Pallister has resigned from the legislature five weeks after resigning as prime minister, CP reports. The Manitoba Tories elect a new leader on October 30.
No ends: It seems that international travelers who wanted to avoid quarantine only needed to fly to Calgary, CBC reports, presumably because the government was so poorly organized that it could not impose fines.
The feds could require vaccination: Federal officials were told in the spring that the government could make it mandatory so that all workers receive the vaccine, CP’s Jordan Press reports. Although public health is under provincial jurisdiction, the documents say the federal government may consider making vaccines “an article of national interest.”
Pinchales: At Balloon, Andre Picard trademarks a convincing argument that health workers should be forced to receive needle sticks.
Parliamentarians also: And the Hill Times argues that Parliamentarians need to be vaccinated.
22 percent: A new survey shows Jason kenney It’s so unpopular I could be doomed, veteran Calgary herald columnist Don braid writes.
– Stephen Maher
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