federal election
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That part of the parameters for being part of 'the elite'? Does falling many times lead to being a CEO or somebody like that.
Moderation in all things sounds like a better path really.
Conservatives' Kimberly Fawcett-Smith targets cabinet minister Bill Blair
Kevin Connor
Published:
September 2, 2019
Updated:
September 2, 2019 9:38 PM EDT
Federal Conservative candidate Kimberly Fawcett Smith will run in the Scarborough Southwest riding against Liberal incumbent, and former Toronto Police chief, Bill Blair. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun
“Still fit to fight.”
That’s the motto Kimberly Fawcett-Smith has taken as she gears up to run for the Conservatives in the Oct. 21 federal election against high-profile Liberal cabinet minister Bill Blair in the riding of Scarborough Southwest.
And fighting is nothing new for the former Canadian Air Force officer who was preparing for deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 when she lost her son, baby Keiran, and a leg in a vehicle accident.
On May 30, she retired from the Canadian Forces to run against Blair — a former Toronto Police chief — to make “meaningful changes.”
“I want to run because I have the leadership, experience and the training to handle myself,” she said. “I don’t think the riding has had good leadership.”
Federal Conservative candidate Kimberly Fawcett Smith will run in the Scarborough Southwest riding against Liberal incumbent, and former Toronto Police chief, Bill Blair. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun
When she returned to duty after her accident, she became the first woman to serve in Afghanistan with a prosthetic leg.
She loves her riding as it is home to Variety Village, a perfect place for the medal-winning para-triathlete to train.
But she said too many people in the riding lack access to proper transit to get to such places.
“Transportation is huge and too many don’t have access to LTR or bus service. We need to do more to help business. We have been left out of the conversation and there is a lack of vision,” Fawcett-Smith said.
“Veterans also hold a place in my heart. I want to be a role model to mend any holes in the current process.”
Shortly before her accident on Hwy. 401, her husband, Maj. Curtis Smith, was given just days’ notice that he was being sent to serve in Africa and Fawcett-Smith’s deployment to Afghanistan was to follow shortly.
She had been given permission to take advantage of the military’s family care plan and was taking her baby to her in-laws when the crash happened.
After four months in hospital, more months in rehabilitation and almost two dozen surgeries, Fawcett-Smith decided to “take the steps (her son) never got to take.”
The problem was the military produced prosthetic limbs designed for men and they didn’t work for her, Fawcett-Smith said.
EDITORIAL: Let’s keep this campaign’s attacks above the belt
Canadian workers happy, but country’s direction a concern: Poll
WARREN: Here are some sure bets for the coming election campaign
She found a prosthetic manufacturer that specialized in making limbs for women, but the military decided not to cover the specialized costs, leaving Fawcett-Smith with a $30,000 bill.
Her case is now before the Supreme Court of Canada.
kconnor@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/national...ett-smith-targets-cabinet-minister-bill-blair
Kevin Connor
Published:
September 2, 2019
Updated:
September 2, 2019 9:38 PM EDT
Federal Conservative candidate Kimberly Fawcett Smith will run in the Scarborough Southwest riding against Liberal incumbent, and former Toronto Police chief, Bill Blair. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun
“Still fit to fight.”
That’s the motto Kimberly Fawcett-Smith has taken as she gears up to run for the Conservatives in the Oct. 21 federal election against high-profile Liberal cabinet minister Bill Blair in the riding of Scarborough Southwest.
And fighting is nothing new for the former Canadian Air Force officer who was preparing for deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 when she lost her son, baby Keiran, and a leg in a vehicle accident.
On May 30, she retired from the Canadian Forces to run against Blair — a former Toronto Police chief — to make “meaningful changes.”
“I want to run because I have the leadership, experience and the training to handle myself,” she said. “I don’t think the riding has had good leadership.”
Federal Conservative candidate Kimberly Fawcett Smith will run in the Scarborough Southwest riding against Liberal incumbent, and former Toronto Police chief, Bill Blair. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun
When she returned to duty after her accident, she became the first woman to serve in Afghanistan with a prosthetic leg.
She loves her riding as it is home to Variety Village, a perfect place for the medal-winning para-triathlete to train.
But she said too many people in the riding lack access to proper transit to get to such places.
“Transportation is huge and too many don’t have access to LTR or bus service. We need to do more to help business. We have been left out of the conversation and there is a lack of vision,” Fawcett-Smith said.
“Veterans also hold a place in my heart. I want to be a role model to mend any holes in the current process.”
Shortly before her accident on Hwy. 401, her husband, Maj. Curtis Smith, was given just days’ notice that he was being sent to serve in Africa and Fawcett-Smith’s deployment to Afghanistan was to follow shortly.
She had been given permission to take advantage of the military’s family care plan and was taking her baby to her in-laws when the crash happened.
After four months in hospital, more months in rehabilitation and almost two dozen surgeries, Fawcett-Smith decided to “take the steps (her son) never got to take.”
The problem was the military produced prosthetic limbs designed for men and they didn’t work for her, Fawcett-Smith said.
EDITORIAL: Let’s keep this campaign’s attacks above the belt
Canadian workers happy, but country’s direction a concern: Poll
WARREN: Here are some sure bets for the coming election campaign
She found a prosthetic manufacturer that specialized in making limbs for women, but the military decided not to cover the specialized costs, leaving Fawcett-Smith with a $30,000 bill.
Her case is now before the Supreme Court of Canada.
kconnor@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/national...ett-smith-targets-cabinet-minister-bill-blair
NDP hopes in New Brunswick dim further with resignations to the Greens
Canadian Press
Published:
September 3, 2019
Updated:
September 3, 2019 4:49 PM EDT
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to delegates and supporters at the Ontario NDP Convention in Hamilton, Ont., on June 16, 2019.Tara Walton / The Canadian Press
The NDP’S stature in New Brunswick ahead of the October federal election has taken a hit following a wave of defections to the Greens.
Fourteen candidates who ran for the New Brunswick NDP in the last provincial election said today they were leaving to join the provincial and federal Green parties.
The New Democrats also lost Jonathan Richardson today, the federal party’s executive member for Atlantic Canada.
He told a news conference the NDP did not have a path to victory in any of the province’s 10 ridings and invited his NDP colleagues to join him with the Greens.
The defections come as the NDP has so far failed to nominate a single candidate in any of New Brunswick’s ridings with the federal election less than 50 days away.
Federal Green party deputy leader Daniel Green says the resignations are a sign voters are increasingly looking to his party as the true vehicle in federal politics to fight climate change.
On Aug. 19, Quebec MP Pierre Nantel left the NDP and joined the Greens after criticizing his former party’s position on the environment.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...k-dim-further-with-resignations-to-the-greens
Canadian Press
Published:
September 3, 2019
Updated:
September 3, 2019 4:49 PM EDT
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to delegates and supporters at the Ontario NDP Convention in Hamilton, Ont., on June 16, 2019.Tara Walton / The Canadian Press
The NDP’S stature in New Brunswick ahead of the October federal election has taken a hit following a wave of defections to the Greens.
Fourteen candidates who ran for the New Brunswick NDP in the last provincial election said today they were leaving to join the provincial and federal Green parties.
The New Democrats also lost Jonathan Richardson today, the federal party’s executive member for Atlantic Canada.
He told a news conference the NDP did not have a path to victory in any of the province’s 10 ridings and invited his NDP colleagues to join him with the Greens.
The defections come as the NDP has so far failed to nominate a single candidate in any of New Brunswick’s ridings with the federal election less than 50 days away.
Federal Green party deputy leader Daniel Green says the resignations are a sign voters are increasingly looking to his party as the true vehicle in federal politics to fight climate change.
On Aug. 19, Quebec MP Pierre Nantel left the NDP and joined the Greens after criticizing his former party’s position on the environment.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...k-dim-further-with-resignations-to-the-greens
Conservative protesters call Trudeau 'chicken'
Ernest Doroszuk
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 8:07 AM EDT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was branded a “chicken” by Conservative protesters who converged on a Liberal fundraiser in uptown Toronto on Wednesday.
With two people dressed in chicken costumes, Conservative campaign spokesperson Brock Harrison accused Trudeau of “running away. He’s hiding.”
With an election campaign soon to be called, protested in the Yonge St.-Eglinton Ave. area maintained Trudeau should have shown up to defend his record.
Voters go to the polls on Oct. 21.
GUEST COLUMN: A tale of two Trudeaus and their re-election prospects
GUNTER: Voters want change – but who will win their vote?
LILLEY: Trudeau needs to call the election now
‘We wanted to draw attention to the fact that Trudeau is afraid to stand up and defend his record,” Harrison insisted.
Trudeau is reported to be attending two of five scheduled debates in the upcoming federal election
Among the dozen or so protesters was a small group of people demonstrating for support of Grassy Narrows First Nation which has been affected by a mercury-contaminated river.
http://torontosun.com/news/national/conservative-protesters-call-trudeau-chicken
Ernest Doroszuk
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 8:07 AM EDT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was branded a “chicken” by Conservative protesters who converged on a Liberal fundraiser in uptown Toronto on Wednesday.
With two people dressed in chicken costumes, Conservative campaign spokesperson Brock Harrison accused Trudeau of “running away. He’s hiding.”
With an election campaign soon to be called, protested in the Yonge St.-Eglinton Ave. area maintained Trudeau should have shown up to defend his record.
Voters go to the polls on Oct. 21.
GUEST COLUMN: A tale of two Trudeaus and their re-election prospects
GUNTER: Voters want change – but who will win their vote?
LILLEY: Trudeau needs to call the election now
‘We wanted to draw attention to the fact that Trudeau is afraid to stand up and defend his record,” Harrison insisted.
Trudeau is reported to be attending two of five scheduled debates in the upcoming federal election
Among the dozen or so protesters was a small group of people demonstrating for support of Grassy Narrows First Nation which has been affected by a mercury-contaminated river.
Some ex-N.B. NDP candidates deny they left party to join Greens
Canadian Press
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 6:13 PM EDT
MONTREAL — Some of the 14 former candidates for the New Brunswick NDP whose names were on a declaration stating they were jumping to the provincial and federal Green parties are now claiming they were added to the letter without their consent.
On Tuesday, the provincial and federal Green parties distributed a declaration signed by the 14 former provincial candidates, as well as by Jonathan Richardson, a federal NDP executive member. The letter stated all 15 of them were supporting the provincial and federal Green parties and they “encourage all New Democrats, New Brunswickers and, indeed, all Canadians in voting for the Green Party of Canada this election.”
The news hit the NDP hard ahead of the October federal election. But on Thursday during a news conference in Montreal, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the declaration was false.
NDP hopes in New Brunswick dim further with resignations to the Greens
“What the Greens said was false information,” Singh told reporters. “What we learned is that many of the 14 said … ‘They didn’t get our permission to add our names on this letter, and we are not OK with this letter.’”
About two hours after Singh’s news conference, the federal NDP issued statements signed by five of the ex-candidates whose names appeared on Tuesday’s declaration. The five said they remain loyal to the NDP.
“We are disappointed that our names were added to this letter without our consent,” said one statement signed by Jean-Maurice Landry, Hailey Duffy, Madison Duffy and Betty Weir.
Francis Duguay issued a separate statement, stating “I remain loyal to the New Brunswick NDP.” He added that a small group of discontented people had prepared a “coup.”
New Brunswick Green Party spokesman Marco Morency said he was given the declaration by Jonathan Richardson and his mother Joyce Richardson, two of the signatories. “I had no reason to doubt the veracity of the support,” he said.
Morency said he spoke with at least two of the five people who have denounced Tuesday’s declaration.
“The NDP made calls … to put pressure on them and ask them to take a step back and to deny they wanted to join the Green party. And that’s what we are seeing today,” he said in an interview.
Morency said that nine of the 14 ex-candidates have confirmed with him they indeed left the NDP to join the provincial and federal Greens.
On Tuesday, Jonathan Richardson, the former federal NDP executive member for Atlantic Canada, said he had heard from some potential NDP candidates who were hesitant to run federally because they thought New Brunswick voters wouldn’t vote for a party whose leader wore a turban.
Prominent NDP members took to social media to claim Richardson had said the 14 ex-NDP candidates had quit the party and joined the Greens because they thought Singh couldn’t get elected because of his faith, which isn’t true.
Reached by The Canadian Press Thursday, Richardson had no comment on accusations the declaration was false. He said, however, his car had been vandalized and he is being called, “racist.”
Morency called the NDP’s spin “vicious” and an attempt to “blur” the facts. But he said that in the end, nine people who were candidates for the NDP in New Brunswick’s 2018 provincial election switched to the Greens.
Federal Green Party deputy leader Daniel Green said, “I fully understand the NDP is not happy with the situation. If I were in their situation I would not be happy either.”
The NDP has so far failed to nominate a single candidate in New Brunswick with the federal election less than 50 days away, and Jonathan Richardson had said Singh’s lack of visibility in the province was not helping.
Asked Thursday why he has not visited the province since becoming leader in 2017, Singh replied: “It’s a big country, and I want to visit lots of places that I haven’t been able to get to yet, and I really look forward to being able to visit all this beautiful country.”
http://torontosun.com/news/national/some-ex-n-b-ndp-candidates-deny-they-left-party-to-join-greens
Canadian Press
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 6:13 PM EDT
MONTREAL — Some of the 14 former candidates for the New Brunswick NDP whose names were on a declaration stating they were jumping to the provincial and federal Green parties are now claiming they were added to the letter without their consent.
On Tuesday, the provincial and federal Green parties distributed a declaration signed by the 14 former provincial candidates, as well as by Jonathan Richardson, a federal NDP executive member. The letter stated all 15 of them were supporting the provincial and federal Green parties and they “encourage all New Democrats, New Brunswickers and, indeed, all Canadians in voting for the Green Party of Canada this election.”
The news hit the NDP hard ahead of the October federal election. But on Thursday during a news conference in Montreal, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the declaration was false.
NDP hopes in New Brunswick dim further with resignations to the Greens
“What the Greens said was false information,” Singh told reporters. “What we learned is that many of the 14 said … ‘They didn’t get our permission to add our names on this letter, and we are not OK with this letter.’”
About two hours after Singh’s news conference, the federal NDP issued statements signed by five of the ex-candidates whose names appeared on Tuesday’s declaration. The five said they remain loyal to the NDP.
“We are disappointed that our names were added to this letter without our consent,” said one statement signed by Jean-Maurice Landry, Hailey Duffy, Madison Duffy and Betty Weir.
Francis Duguay issued a separate statement, stating “I remain loyal to the New Brunswick NDP.” He added that a small group of discontented people had prepared a “coup.”
New Brunswick Green Party spokesman Marco Morency said he was given the declaration by Jonathan Richardson and his mother Joyce Richardson, two of the signatories. “I had no reason to doubt the veracity of the support,” he said.
Morency said he spoke with at least two of the five people who have denounced Tuesday’s declaration.
“The NDP made calls … to put pressure on them and ask them to take a step back and to deny they wanted to join the Green party. And that’s what we are seeing today,” he said in an interview.
Morency said that nine of the 14 ex-candidates have confirmed with him they indeed left the NDP to join the provincial and federal Greens.
On Tuesday, Jonathan Richardson, the former federal NDP executive member for Atlantic Canada, said he had heard from some potential NDP candidates who were hesitant to run federally because they thought New Brunswick voters wouldn’t vote for a party whose leader wore a turban.
Prominent NDP members took to social media to claim Richardson had said the 14 ex-NDP candidates had quit the party and joined the Greens because they thought Singh couldn’t get elected because of his faith, which isn’t true.
Reached by The Canadian Press Thursday, Richardson had no comment on accusations the declaration was false. He said, however, his car had been vandalized and he is being called, “racist.”
Morency called the NDP’s spin “vicious” and an attempt to “blur” the facts. But he said that in the end, nine people who were candidates for the NDP in New Brunswick’s 2018 provincial election switched to the Greens.
Federal Green Party deputy leader Daniel Green said, “I fully understand the NDP is not happy with the situation. If I were in their situation I would not be happy either.”
The NDP has so far failed to nominate a single candidate in New Brunswick with the federal election less than 50 days away, and Jonathan Richardson had said Singh’s lack of visibility in the province was not helping.
Asked Thursday why he has not visited the province since becoming leader in 2017, Singh replied: “It’s a big country, and I want to visit lots of places that I haven’t been able to get to yet, and I really look forward to being able to visit all this beautiful country.”
LILLEY: Trudeau shies away from election debates
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 9:23 PM EDT
Comedian Hasan Minhaj grills Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Netflix/YouTube)
So Justin Trudeau won’t show up to any election debate that his own government didn’t have a hand in creating.
Should we be shocked?
Perhaps not.
In the 2015 election, the Conservatives decided that Stephen Harper would not participate in what were then the quasi-official debates organized by the broadcast consortium but would instead be open to other ideas.
There ended up being an exciting mix of debates in English from the Macleans/Citytv debate early in the campaign to a debate on foreign affairs issues hosted by the Munk Centre to The Globe and Mail hosting a debate in Calgary.
None of the leaders could say they had an advantage based on the debate format and Canadians were able to listen to the leaders answer a variety of questions in a variety of formats.
The winners were voters, not politicians.
But the Liberals never liked the free-for-all nature of different organizations proposing debates and parties accepting or rejecting them. So, Trudeau set up the Leaders’ Debates Commission, an “independent commission” to organize future debates.
I put “independent commission” in quotes not only because I am quoting the government but also because at the end of the day, the government of the day — the Liberals — set the rules for the commission to play by.
So now, as Mcleans/Citytv and Munk propose their own debates, the Liberals are saying no. They are also rejecting an independent debate in French proposed by Quebec’s biggest broadcaster, TVA.
According to Joel-Denis Bellavance, the Ottawa Bureau Chief for LaPresse, the Liberals don’t see an advantage to their guy appearing.
“There is not much benefit for us to participate in all these debates,” a Liberal strategist told Bellavance.
Not much benefit for the Liberals but there is much benefit for voters.
As someone that has had to sit through all the leaders debates since 2004, this reversion to the old-fashioned consortium debates as being the only ones with the PM showing up is a step back. Those debates have always been awful, showed little of the character and intelligence and of the men and women taking to the podiums.
In 2015, Trudeau did pretty well.
I thought he was weak at the Macleans debate, did well with the Globe debate and the Munk debate was neutral for him. For any leader, that’s not a bad record.
Yet now, the man who said he wouldn’t be a standard politician wants to play it safe. He doesn’t want to share a stage with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer anymore than he has to and that means saying no to these other debates.
When Stephen Harper said no to the consortium debate in 2015 he rejected one debate and accepted three others. Trudeau is doing the opposite, all to avoid being seen on TV as sharing a podium, an equal footing, with his biggest rival in this election, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
LILLEY: Private-school Trudeau claims to be saviour of public education
LILLEY: Liberals must answer questions on dumped candidate
LILLEY: City begs for more money while wasting your cash
It’s worth pointing out that while Trudeau doesn’t have time to debate fellow Canadian political leaders, he did have time to sit down for an extensive one-on-one with American comedian Hasan Minhaj for his show on Netflix. That didn’t turn out as Trudeau’s team hoped, Minhaj skewered him, but they would still rather do that than debate other Canadian politicians.
We can expect more of this from Trudeau as the campaign goes on, few sit-down interviews with political journalists that will know the issues and ask tough questions but plenty of call-ins to morning shows on music radio where the PM hopes for easy banter.
In the 2019 election, Justin Trudeau has become the politician that he said he wouldn’t be — the one who is less than open, the one who hides, the one who does things the same old self-serving way that he used to denounce.
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 5, 2019
Updated:
September 5, 2019 9:23 PM EDT
Comedian Hasan Minhaj grills Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Netflix/YouTube)
So Justin Trudeau won’t show up to any election debate that his own government didn’t have a hand in creating.
Should we be shocked?
Perhaps not.
In the 2015 election, the Conservatives decided that Stephen Harper would not participate in what were then the quasi-official debates organized by the broadcast consortium but would instead be open to other ideas.
There ended up being an exciting mix of debates in English from the Macleans/Citytv debate early in the campaign to a debate on foreign affairs issues hosted by the Munk Centre to The Globe and Mail hosting a debate in Calgary.
None of the leaders could say they had an advantage based on the debate format and Canadians were able to listen to the leaders answer a variety of questions in a variety of formats.
The winners were voters, not politicians.
But the Liberals never liked the free-for-all nature of different organizations proposing debates and parties accepting or rejecting them. So, Trudeau set up the Leaders’ Debates Commission, an “independent commission” to organize future debates.
I put “independent commission” in quotes not only because I am quoting the government but also because at the end of the day, the government of the day — the Liberals — set the rules for the commission to play by.
So now, as Mcleans/Citytv and Munk propose their own debates, the Liberals are saying no. They are also rejecting an independent debate in French proposed by Quebec’s biggest broadcaster, TVA.
According to Joel-Denis Bellavance, the Ottawa Bureau Chief for LaPresse, the Liberals don’t see an advantage to their guy appearing.
“There is not much benefit for us to participate in all these debates,” a Liberal strategist told Bellavance.
Not much benefit for the Liberals but there is much benefit for voters.
As someone that has had to sit through all the leaders debates since 2004, this reversion to the old-fashioned consortium debates as being the only ones with the PM showing up is a step back. Those debates have always been awful, showed little of the character and intelligence and of the men and women taking to the podiums.
In 2015, Trudeau did pretty well.
I thought he was weak at the Macleans debate, did well with the Globe debate and the Munk debate was neutral for him. For any leader, that’s not a bad record.
Yet now, the man who said he wouldn’t be a standard politician wants to play it safe. He doesn’t want to share a stage with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer anymore than he has to and that means saying no to these other debates.
When Stephen Harper said no to the consortium debate in 2015 he rejected one debate and accepted three others. Trudeau is doing the opposite, all to avoid being seen on TV as sharing a podium, an equal footing, with his biggest rival in this election, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
LILLEY: Private-school Trudeau claims to be saviour of public education
LILLEY: Liberals must answer questions on dumped candidate
LILLEY: City begs for more money while wasting your cash
It’s worth pointing out that while Trudeau doesn’t have time to debate fellow Canadian political leaders, he did have time to sit down for an extensive one-on-one with American comedian Hasan Minhaj for his show on Netflix. That didn’t turn out as Trudeau’s team hoped, Minhaj skewered him, but they would still rather do that than debate other Canadian politicians.
We can expect more of this from Trudeau as the campaign goes on, few sit-down interviews with political journalists that will know the issues and ask tough questions but plenty of call-ins to morning shows on music radio where the PM hopes for easy banter.
In the 2019 election, Justin Trudeau has become the politician that he said he wouldn’t be — the one who is less than open, the one who hides, the one who does things the same old self-serving way that he used to denounce.
Russian election-meddling in Canada linked to Arctic ambitions: report
Canadian Press
Published:
September 8, 2019
Updated:
September 8, 2019 5:35 PM EDT
Russia's President Vladimir Putin casts his ballot at a polling station during the Moscow city parliament election in Moscow, Russia September 8, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. ORG XMIT: MOS
OTTAWA — A new University of Calgary study is predicting Russian interference in the federal election campaign to serve what it describes as the Kremlin’s long-term interest of competing against Canada in the Arctic.
The study’s author, Sergey Sukhankin, said in an interview that Moscow’s ability to inflict serious damage is relatively low because Canadian society is not as divided as countries targeted in past elections, including the United States presidential ballot and Britain’s Brexit referendum in 2016, as well as various attacks on Ukraine and the Baltic states.
“The Kremlin has a growing interest in dominating the Arctic, where it sees Russia as in competition with Canada. This means Canada can anticipate escalations in information warfare, particularly from hacktivists fomenting cyber-attacks,” writes Sukhankin, a senior fellow with the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. think-tank, who is teaching at the University of Calgary.
“Perceived as one of Russia’s chief adversaries in the Arctic region, Canada is a prime target in the information wars, with Russia potentially even meddling in the October 2019 federal election. Ottawa should be ready for a new surge in cyberattacks, disinformation and propaganda levelled against Canada in the near future.”
Sukhankin argues that Moscow’s disinformation efforts are designed primarily for domestic Russian consumption, and are not intended to sway Canadian voters.
It is part of a broader Kremlin effort to show the “ugly side of democracy and liberalism” to a Russian audience, and to portray Canada as being unduly influenced by the United States and the “Ukrainian lobby” in Canada, he writes.
“Russia uses patriotism and this anti-fascist sentiment to convince the domestic audience and Russian-speakers abroad, primarily in Ukraine, Belarus and the three Baltic states, that Russia is the only country to stand against far-right sentiments and nationalism. This is basically used by the Russian side to garner domestic solidarity,” he said in an interview.
Sukhankin’s argument echoes previous warnings about potential Russian interference from the Liberal government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, and the country’s intelligence agencies.
The government has appointed a group of five senior public servants to guard against foreign election meddling during the campaign. The public servants will be able to brief members of all political parties about potential threats and will have the power to go public during the campaign to sound the alarm against malign acts of interference that they together deem a fundamental threat.
Canada expelled four Russian diplomats last year in connection with the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain that has been blamed on Moscow. (The Kremlin denies the charge).
At the time, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the diplomats were intelligence agents who were undermining Canadian democracy.
As Sukhankin’s paper notes, Freeland has been a frequent target of Russian propaganda as part of a broader attempt to brand Canada as “russophobic” and having an “affection for fascism,” including a soft-spot for Nazism that dates back to the 1930s.
The goal is to justify Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula — the most serious breach of Europe’s border since the Second World War — which President Vladimir Putin has said was necessary to protect “Russian-speakers in Ukraine against their physical extermination,” writes Sukhankin.
Russia’s disinformation about Canada also focuses on three other areas, according to the report.
These include ridiculing Canada’s military presence in Latvia as part of NATO’s deterrent against Russia, portraying the country as a “useful satellite” of the U.S., and calling it a testing ground for “immoral Western values” because of its support of same-sex marriage and legalizing of cannabis.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/ru...g-in-canada-linked-to-arctic-ambitions-report
Canadian Press
Published:
September 8, 2019
Updated:
September 8, 2019 5:35 PM EDT
Russia's President Vladimir Putin casts his ballot at a polling station during the Moscow city parliament election in Moscow, Russia September 8, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. ORG XMIT: MOS
OTTAWA — A new University of Calgary study is predicting Russian interference in the federal election campaign to serve what it describes as the Kremlin’s long-term interest of competing against Canada in the Arctic.
The study’s author, Sergey Sukhankin, said in an interview that Moscow’s ability to inflict serious damage is relatively low because Canadian society is not as divided as countries targeted in past elections, including the United States presidential ballot and Britain’s Brexit referendum in 2016, as well as various attacks on Ukraine and the Baltic states.
“The Kremlin has a growing interest in dominating the Arctic, where it sees Russia as in competition with Canada. This means Canada can anticipate escalations in information warfare, particularly from hacktivists fomenting cyber-attacks,” writes Sukhankin, a senior fellow with the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. think-tank, who is teaching at the University of Calgary.
“Perceived as one of Russia’s chief adversaries in the Arctic region, Canada is a prime target in the information wars, with Russia potentially even meddling in the October 2019 federal election. Ottawa should be ready for a new surge in cyberattacks, disinformation and propaganda levelled against Canada in the near future.”
Sukhankin argues that Moscow’s disinformation efforts are designed primarily for domestic Russian consumption, and are not intended to sway Canadian voters.
It is part of a broader Kremlin effort to show the “ugly side of democracy and liberalism” to a Russian audience, and to portray Canada as being unduly influenced by the United States and the “Ukrainian lobby” in Canada, he writes.
“Russia uses patriotism and this anti-fascist sentiment to convince the domestic audience and Russian-speakers abroad, primarily in Ukraine, Belarus and the three Baltic states, that Russia is the only country to stand against far-right sentiments and nationalism. This is basically used by the Russian side to garner domestic solidarity,” he said in an interview.
Sukhankin’s argument echoes previous warnings about potential Russian interference from the Liberal government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, and the country’s intelligence agencies.
The government has appointed a group of five senior public servants to guard against foreign election meddling during the campaign. The public servants will be able to brief members of all political parties about potential threats and will have the power to go public during the campaign to sound the alarm against malign acts of interference that they together deem a fundamental threat.
Canada expelled four Russian diplomats last year in connection with the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain that has been blamed on Moscow. (The Kremlin denies the charge).
At the time, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the diplomats were intelligence agents who were undermining Canadian democracy.
As Sukhankin’s paper notes, Freeland has been a frequent target of Russian propaganda as part of a broader attempt to brand Canada as “russophobic” and having an “affection for fascism,” including a soft-spot for Nazism that dates back to the 1930s.
The goal is to justify Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula — the most serious breach of Europe’s border since the Second World War — which President Vladimir Putin has said was necessary to protect “Russian-speakers in Ukraine against their physical extermination,” writes Sukhankin.
Russia’s disinformation about Canada also focuses on three other areas, according to the report.
These include ridiculing Canada’s military presence in Latvia as part of NATO’s deterrent against Russia, portraying the country as a “useful satellite” of the U.S., and calling it a testing ground for “immoral Western values” because of its support of same-sex marriage and legalizing of cannabis.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/ru...g-in-canada-linked-to-arctic-ambitions-report
They've already declared that the Pole is Russian.
They do that sort of thing to all the Poles, eventually.
LILLEY: Liberal candidate loves Castro, just like Trudeau
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 9, 2019
Updated:
September 10, 2019 8:16 AM EDT
Liberal candidate Heather Megill (Twitter)
The Conservatives are hoping to embarrass a Liberal candidate in Eastern Ontario over comments she made about the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Although given what Justin Trudeau thinks of Castro and, of course, of basic dictatorships, it’s unlikely this candidate will walk the plank before the election is called later this week. In fact, if the Liberals win, she could be up for a cabinet post.
“Long live the Revolution,” Heather Megill wrote in a Facebook post in November, 2016.
That comment from Megill, nominated by the party just last week, was part of a longer post defending Trudeau who had come under fire for his tone deaf praise upon Castro’s death.
“Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and health care of his island nation,” Trudeau said in an official statement.
I mean sure, Castro oppressed the people of Cuba for more than 50 years, he jailed his opponents, banned religious practice for much of his time in office, closed down dissenting media and executed thousands — including gays and lesbians — but look at the schools and those speeches!
There is no way to praise a man like Castro who rose to prominence with a promise to rid Cuba of a corrupt government and outside interference and then became everything he claimed to be replacing.
Unless, of course, you are Trudeau.
Trudeau gets a hug from late Cuban President Fidel Castro at the arrival in front of Notre Dame Church prior to the funeral of his father Pierre Trudeau on Oct. 3, 2000 Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette
He had in fact visited Cuba a few weeks before Castro’s death, tweeting photos of himself receiving a gift of a photo album from the Castro family of a Trudeau family visit in 1976. In his official statement, Trudeau acknowledged that Castro was a controversial figure, but praised him nonetheless.
“I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raúl Castro during my recent visit to Cuba,” Trudeau said.
Pierre Trudeau may have embraced a relationship with Cuba in an attempt to soften the brutal dictatorship but it didn’t work. That Justin was embracing Fidel Castro at Pierre’s funeral in 2000 was a shocking thing, Castro arriving in Montreal as an honorary pallbearer.
Perhaps you can be forgiven for embracing who shows up to comfort you in a time of loss but that Trudeau embraced Fidel Castro — and his legacy — even after his death is unforgivable.
There may have been problems in pre-revolutionary Cuba but Castro only made things worse while promising paradise. Cuba’s per capita income prior to Castro was higher than much of Europe’s. The country welcomed immigrants from around the world.
Within years of Castro taking power, the people were not only oppressed but also impoverished and have been fleeing by any means necessary ever since.
That Trudeau, and Ms. Megill, would praise such a man should be shocking to anyone that values democracy, who claims to uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
LILLEY: Election race a dead heat as campaign gets set to start
LILLEY: Liberals must answer questions on dumped candidate
LILLEY UNLEASHED: What does Trudeau know about public education?
In Cuba there are no rights and there are no freedoms for those on the wrong side of the government.
I could make a glib joke about Trudeau admiring China’s “basic dictatorship,” something he actually said back in 2013 but his affection for less than democratic governments is no joke.
His love of places like Cuba and China, both dictatorial regimes, is out of step with Canada’s democratic values.
I’d say Ms. Megill doesn’t deserve to be a Liberal candidate, never mind get the votes of the people of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, but her leader and her party clearly do like Cuba as it is, not as it could be.
That’s not a position any Canadian should hold.
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-liberal-candidate-loves-castro-just-like-trudeau
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 9, 2019
Updated:
September 10, 2019 8:16 AM EDT
Liberal candidate Heather Megill (Twitter)
The Conservatives are hoping to embarrass a Liberal candidate in Eastern Ontario over comments she made about the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Although given what Justin Trudeau thinks of Castro and, of course, of basic dictatorships, it’s unlikely this candidate will walk the plank before the election is called later this week. In fact, if the Liberals win, she could be up for a cabinet post.
“Long live the Revolution,” Heather Megill wrote in a Facebook post in November, 2016.
That comment from Megill, nominated by the party just last week, was part of a longer post defending Trudeau who had come under fire for his tone deaf praise upon Castro’s death.
“Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and health care of his island nation,” Trudeau said in an official statement.
I mean sure, Castro oppressed the people of Cuba for more than 50 years, he jailed his opponents, banned religious practice for much of his time in office, closed down dissenting media and executed thousands — including gays and lesbians — but look at the schools and those speeches!
There is no way to praise a man like Castro who rose to prominence with a promise to rid Cuba of a corrupt government and outside interference and then became everything he claimed to be replacing.
Unless, of course, you are Trudeau.
Trudeau gets a hug from late Cuban President Fidel Castro at the arrival in front of Notre Dame Church prior to the funeral of his father Pierre Trudeau on Oct. 3, 2000 Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette
He had in fact visited Cuba a few weeks before Castro’s death, tweeting photos of himself receiving a gift of a photo album from the Castro family of a Trudeau family visit in 1976. In his official statement, Trudeau acknowledged that Castro was a controversial figure, but praised him nonetheless.
“I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raúl Castro during my recent visit to Cuba,” Trudeau said.
Pierre Trudeau may have embraced a relationship with Cuba in an attempt to soften the brutal dictatorship but it didn’t work. That Justin was embracing Fidel Castro at Pierre’s funeral in 2000 was a shocking thing, Castro arriving in Montreal as an honorary pallbearer.
Perhaps you can be forgiven for embracing who shows up to comfort you in a time of loss but that Trudeau embraced Fidel Castro — and his legacy — even after his death is unforgivable.
There may have been problems in pre-revolutionary Cuba but Castro only made things worse while promising paradise. Cuba’s per capita income prior to Castro was higher than much of Europe’s. The country welcomed immigrants from around the world.
Within years of Castro taking power, the people were not only oppressed but also impoverished and have been fleeing by any means necessary ever since.
That Trudeau, and Ms. Megill, would praise such a man should be shocking to anyone that values democracy, who claims to uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
LILLEY: Election race a dead heat as campaign gets set to start
LILLEY: Liberals must answer questions on dumped candidate
LILLEY UNLEASHED: What does Trudeau know about public education?
In Cuba there are no rights and there are no freedoms for those on the wrong side of the government.
I could make a glib joke about Trudeau admiring China’s “basic dictatorship,” something he actually said back in 2013 but his affection for less than democratic governments is no joke.
His love of places like Cuba and China, both dictatorial regimes, is out of step with Canada’s democratic values.
I’d say Ms. Megill doesn’t deserve to be a Liberal candidate, never mind get the votes of the people of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, but her leader and her party clearly do like Cuba as it is, not as it could be.
That’s not a position any Canadian should hold.
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-liberal-candidate-loves-castro-just-like-trudeau
many people were upset that Justine called the election on patriot day. what was the latest date that the election could have been called?
What the hell is "Patriot day"?
I'm upset that Yankee bullshit should have any effect at all on us.
I've never heard of Patriot Day. Why would American patriotism affect us? ...except in a negative way?
Scheer taps 'Summer of '69' co-writer for campaign song
Joe Warmington
Published:
September 11, 2019
Updated:
September 11, 2019 4:48 PM EDT
Jim Vallance (Joe Warmington/Toronto Sun files)
Looking for a cure for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has gone to the doctor for some help to “Get Ahead” with his election campaign.
But this visit was to the “Song Doctor.”
Yes, the Conservatives’ catchy new campaign song has some very Canadian distinctive licks that people may recognize — including the riffs from the beginning of the iconic Bryan Adams tune Summer of 69.
Call this one the Summer of ’19.
LISTEN TO THE SONG
Actually, the song is called Get Ahead — written and produced by none other than Order of Canada member Jim Vallance, who co-wrote many hit songs with Adams and others including Tina Turner, Aerosmith, Loverboy, Prism, Heart and Ozzy Osbourne.
It is the Scheer campaign’s theme song after the writ was dropped Wednesday and the election for Oct. 21 was called.
“A brand new, a better way, it’s time for you to get ahead,” is the main lyric over some spirited Canadian rock.
Vallance, who has also co-written such classics as Cuts Like a Knife, Run to You and Rag Doll, was commissioned to do the song for the campaign and told me he got it done just in time.
Liberals, Conservatives start election campaign virtually tied: Poll
Federal election campaign begins with leaders in Ontario, Quebec and B.C.
MULCAIR: Progressive voters, betrayed by Trudeau, weigh the alternatives
“I wasn’t ready for this to be a story, at least not so soon,” he said. “I just submitted the song on Sunday.”
It will become one of those tunes you will be hearing a lot of in the weeks ahead.
Vallance, 67, is not known for taking a political stance, but with Adams he spent some time in the past at 24 Sussex jamming with former prime minister Stephen Harper.
Known in the industry as the “Song Doctor,” Vallance is often brought into studios on a paid freelance basis by producers to help artists sort out problems with songs they are having difficulties finishing.
The song doctor has made a house call again — and this time the patient is none other than a man who hopes to be Canada’s next prime minister.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://soundcloud.com/user-30174477/scheer-campaign-song
http://torontosun.com/news/national/scheer-taps-summer-of-69-co-writer-for-campaign-song
Joe Warmington
Published:
September 11, 2019
Updated:
September 11, 2019 4:48 PM EDT
Jim Vallance (Joe Warmington/Toronto Sun files)
Looking for a cure for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has gone to the doctor for some help to “Get Ahead” with his election campaign.
But this visit was to the “Song Doctor.”
Yes, the Conservatives’ catchy new campaign song has some very Canadian distinctive licks that people may recognize — including the riffs from the beginning of the iconic Bryan Adams tune Summer of 69.
Call this one the Summer of ’19.
LISTEN TO THE SONG
Actually, the song is called Get Ahead — written and produced by none other than Order of Canada member Jim Vallance, who co-wrote many hit songs with Adams and others including Tina Turner, Aerosmith, Loverboy, Prism, Heart and Ozzy Osbourne.
It is the Scheer campaign’s theme song after the writ was dropped Wednesday and the election for Oct. 21 was called.
“A brand new, a better way, it’s time for you to get ahead,” is the main lyric over some spirited Canadian rock.
Vallance, who has also co-written such classics as Cuts Like a Knife, Run to You and Rag Doll, was commissioned to do the song for the campaign and told me he got it done just in time.
Liberals, Conservatives start election campaign virtually tied: Poll
Federal election campaign begins with leaders in Ontario, Quebec and B.C.
MULCAIR: Progressive voters, betrayed by Trudeau, weigh the alternatives
“I wasn’t ready for this to be a story, at least not so soon,” he said. “I just submitted the song on Sunday.”
It will become one of those tunes you will be hearing a lot of in the weeks ahead.
Vallance, 67, is not known for taking a political stance, but with Adams he spent some time in the past at 24 Sussex jamming with former prime minister Stephen Harper.
Known in the industry as the “Song Doctor,” Vallance is often brought into studios on a paid freelance basis by producers to help artists sort out problems with songs they are having difficulties finishing.
The song doctor has made a house call again — and this time the patient is none other than a man who hopes to be Canada’s next prime minister.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://soundcloud.com/user-30174477/scheer-campaign-song
http://torontosun.com/news/national/scheer-taps-summer-of-69-co-writer-for-campaign-song
Where the parties stand as the election starts and where they need to go
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 11, 2019
Updated:
September 11, 2019 5:44 PM EDT
The Centennial Flame is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Postmedia file
There are 338 seats in Parliament and for a party to obtain a majority they need to win at least 170 seats.
While there is much talk of the national campaign, the reality is that there are a series of regional campaigns across the country.
The Liberals do well in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, the Conservatives do well in the prairies, and Ontario and British Columbia become battle grounds for parties hoping to form the next government.
Justin Trudeau in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada on August 14, 2019. ANDREJ IVANOV / REUTERS
The Liberals: Justin Trudeau’s party walked away from the 2015 election with 184 seats and a solid majority. Thanks to by-election losses, defections like MP Leona Alleslev moving to the Conservatives and both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott leaving the party over the SNC-Lavalin scandal means the party dropped to 177 seats.
While there is much focus for the Liberals on Quebec where they entered the election with 40 seats their real powerbase is Ontario where they held 76 seats at dissolution.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and Atlantic Canada last election and are likely to lose some of those ridings, meaning that to keep power they will have to win elsewhere. Trudeau will look to pick up seats in Quebec and British Columbia and hold what he has in Ontario.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer walks to a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on April 7, 2019. The Canadian Press file
The Conservatives: In 2015 the Conservatives were reduced to 99 seats and now hold 95 as the election kicks off. It’s a long way from 95 to 170 seats but Andrew Scheer’s team believes they have a plan.
After being shut out in Atlantic Canada four years ago the Tories hope to win between 6 and 12 seats on the East Coast. In Quebec the party that currently holds 11 seats is looking to pick up more, so much so that Scheer kicked off his campaign in Trois-Rivières in a riding they think they can steal from the NDP.
The party also hopes to pick up seats in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia but of course the big prize is Ontario. The party currently holds 33 seats in Ontario and needs to effectively double that or more if they want to form a majority government. Expect the Conservatives to focus on the seat rich area around Toronto referred to as “the 905.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press
The NDP: The party ends the current Parliament with 39 seats and polling would seem to indicate that leader Jagmeet Singh will be lucky to hold on to that many seats when October 21 rolls around.
The party should do well in British Columbia but will be in a tough four way fight with the Liberals, Conservatives and Greens. In Ontario the party hopes to hold seats they currently have and expand with some suburban seats around Toronto. Quebec could be their Achilles heel and their current 14 seats could easily be reduced to low single digits.
Federal election campaign begins with leaders in Ontario, Quebec and B.C.
LILLEY: RCMP were blocked from fully investigating Trudeau’s office on SNC obstruction claims
Liberals, Conservatives start election campaign virtually tied: Poll
Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May waves during the 2018 Toronto Pride Parade on June 24, 2018. Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun
The Greens: Elizabeth May’s party ends the current Parliament with the highest seat count the party has ever had, two. Polling looks good for the party but has not translated into seats in the past.
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, speaks during a party event in Fort McMurray, Alta., on July 9, 2019. Vincent McDermott / Fort McMurray Today / Postmedia Network
People’s Party: Maxime Bernier’s party has one seat, his own. He will be in a fight to keep his own seat. Can he win elsewhere including in Toronto where Rob Ford’s widow Renata is running as a candidate? Stay tuned!
http://torontosun.com/news/national...the-election-starts-and-where-they-need-to-go
Brian Lilley
Published:
September 11, 2019
Updated:
September 11, 2019 5:44 PM EDT
The Centennial Flame is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Postmedia file
There are 338 seats in Parliament and for a party to obtain a majority they need to win at least 170 seats.
While there is much talk of the national campaign, the reality is that there are a series of regional campaigns across the country.
The Liberals do well in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, the Conservatives do well in the prairies, and Ontario and British Columbia become battle grounds for parties hoping to form the next government.
Justin Trudeau in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada on August 14, 2019. ANDREJ IVANOV / REUTERS
The Liberals: Justin Trudeau’s party walked away from the 2015 election with 184 seats and a solid majority. Thanks to by-election losses, defections like MP Leona Alleslev moving to the Conservatives and both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott leaving the party over the SNC-Lavalin scandal means the party dropped to 177 seats.
While there is much focus for the Liberals on Quebec where they entered the election with 40 seats their real powerbase is Ontario where they held 76 seats at dissolution.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and Atlantic Canada last election and are likely to lose some of those ridings, meaning that to keep power they will have to win elsewhere. Trudeau will look to pick up seats in Quebec and British Columbia and hold what he has in Ontario.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer walks to a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on April 7, 2019. The Canadian Press file
The Conservatives: In 2015 the Conservatives were reduced to 99 seats and now hold 95 as the election kicks off. It’s a long way from 95 to 170 seats but Andrew Scheer’s team believes they have a plan.
After being shut out in Atlantic Canada four years ago the Tories hope to win between 6 and 12 seats on the East Coast. In Quebec the party that currently holds 11 seats is looking to pick up more, so much so that Scheer kicked off his campaign in Trois-Rivières in a riding they think they can steal from the NDP.
The party also hopes to pick up seats in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia but of course the big prize is Ontario. The party currently holds 33 seats in Ontario and needs to effectively double that or more if they want to form a majority government. Expect the Conservatives to focus on the seat rich area around Toronto referred to as “the 905.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press
The NDP: The party ends the current Parliament with 39 seats and polling would seem to indicate that leader Jagmeet Singh will be lucky to hold on to that many seats when October 21 rolls around.
The party should do well in British Columbia but will be in a tough four way fight with the Liberals, Conservatives and Greens. In Ontario the party hopes to hold seats they currently have and expand with some suburban seats around Toronto. Quebec could be their Achilles heel and their current 14 seats could easily be reduced to low single digits.
Federal election campaign begins with leaders in Ontario, Quebec and B.C.
LILLEY: RCMP were blocked from fully investigating Trudeau’s office on SNC obstruction claims
Liberals, Conservatives start election campaign virtually tied: Poll
Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May waves during the 2018 Toronto Pride Parade on June 24, 2018. Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun
The Greens: Elizabeth May’s party ends the current Parliament with the highest seat count the party has ever had, two. Polling looks good for the party but has not translated into seats in the past.
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, speaks during a party event in Fort McMurray, Alta., on July 9, 2019. Vincent McDermott / Fort McMurray Today / Postmedia Network
People’s Party: Maxime Bernier’s party has one seat, his own. He will be in a fight to keep his own seat. Can he win elsewhere including in Toronto where Rob Ford’s widow Renata is running as a candidate? Stay tuned!
http://torontosun.com/news/national...the-election-starts-and-where-they-need-to-go
