Mirabel Mayor Patrick Charbonneau dies at 46
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Globe and Mail
28 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
The NDP will rise again
Take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. In pondering the condition of the federal New Democratic Party, the old expression comes to mind. The New Democrats are almost as low as low can go. In 2011, they won 103 seats. They now have seven, their fewest in history. They've lost their official party status. They're broke. They have less and less working-class horsepower. They have no Bernie Sanders. The seven members that remain can't even get along. Three of them raised Cain about not being adequately consulted on the selection of Don Davies as interim leader. Tom Mulcair, the former party leader and now a shrewd CTV commentator, doesn't mince his words: 'It's a gong show.' Some, though not Mr. Mulcair, think it could be game over for the party and that we'll move to a two-party system like in the United States. Less choice. More polarization. Diminished democracy. But don't bet on that. It's not about to happen. Just as it did after the 1993 election, when it was reduced to just nine seats, the NDP will ascend from the depths once again. Before long, the New Democrats will be back to their usual level of support between 15 and 20 per cent. They will be a force that Prime Minister Mark Carney – unless he can get enough floor-crossers to form a majority government – will have to reckon with to stay in power. Given their dismal standing, the NDP will not be hesitant to force an early election. They have nowhere to go but up. Several considerations make a comeback for the party likely. Polls already indicate the recent election result was a fluke. The NDP is at 12-per-cent popularity in the latest Nanos poll, which is double their share of the vote in the election. Without official status, NDP looks to stay relevant in Parliament The Mark Carney Liberals are moving from Justin Trudeau's wokeish leftist brand to the moderate middle. This gives the New Democrats more open real estate on the political spectrum than they've had in decades. Jean Chrétien moved the Liberals to the middle but his factory-floor persona gave him blue-collar appeal. As Dalton Camp once quipped, he looked like 'the driver of the getaway car.' It's the leader who dictates a party's fortunes and the NDP will get a new one who will change theirs. For all his integrity and noble intentions, Jagmeet Singh was a dud as a vote-getter. He could not connect. As Matt Fodor, author of From Layton to Singh, points out, instead of being the outsider party challenging the status quo, the NDP was seen lately, via its support for Mr. Trudeau, as the party defending it. It diluted its brand. It became ambiguous. It was left to the Conservatives to channel the people's wrath. For a new leader, the party has potentially formidable candidates in the wings, like former Alberta premier Rachel Notley – if she can be convinced to run – and Nathan Cullen, the former British Columbia MP who made a good run for the party leadership in 2012. He's witty, camera-friendly, experienced and policy-sharp. Though feeble federally, the New Democrats are well entrenched provincially. They form the government in B.C. and Manitoba and are positioned strongly in opposition in several other provinces. Sometimes you get the breaks in politics, sometimes you don't. In the past election, the NDP got trapped by the Donald Trump effect. Progressive voters ran to the Liberals because they wanted a strong government to put up a resistance to the U.S. President. But when the next Canadian election rolls around, Mr. Trump will be either out, or on his way out. Though the NDP under Mr. Singh was a political failure, it was not a policy failure. In teaming with the Liberals, it pressed for and helped secure social advances in child care, dental care and pharmacare – improvements the party can be proud of. It's worth remembering that as recently as a decade ago, the party under Mr. Mulcair was number one in some polls and appeared on the verge of forming government. It fell victim in Quebec to Mr. Mulcair's principled stand on the niqab issue, and in the rest of the country to his tacking too moderately. The Liberals had a new, big-name leader in Justin Trudeau, and pounced. But there's no reason why the New Democrats can't rebuild and issue a hard challenge to the two main parties again. They're a Canadian institution. Their values are woven into this country's fabric. They've had their lickin'. They'll keep on tickin'.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Politics! Carney so far, Poilievre's second chance
Prime Minister Mark Carney made big promises to transform the Canadian economy, fast track national building projects and secure a trade deal with U.S. He also set Canada Day this year as a deadline for some key goals. How has he done so far and what are we learning about what he's willing to do to make things happen? Plus, where do trade talks stand now that Ottawa has dropped the Digital Services Tax, a major sticking point for their American counterparts? How has Pierre Poilievre been handling his time away from Parliament and the byelection race in Alberta? Catherine Cullen, host of CBC's The House, joins us. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: Listen on Google Podcasts Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Anti-landmine advocates urge Canada to try keeping Ukraine, others in Ottawa Treaty
Suleiman Khalil, 21, who lost his leg in a landmine explosion while harvesting olives with his friends in a field, walks outside his home in the village of Qaminas, east of Idlib, Syria, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed) OTTAWA — Canadian advocates are urging Ottawa to protect the 1997 treaty Canada brokered to stop the use of landmines, as six countries on Europe's eastern flank move toward using the explosive weapons. 'I'm deeply concerned about this,' said Sen. Marilou McPhedran. 'Thousands and thousands of lives have been saved because of this treaty.' Global Affairs Canada says it's in talks with countries moving away from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, often referred to as the Ottawa Treaty, which since 1999 has banned the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Since then, Canada has spent millions of dollars to help rid the world of landmines that overwhelmingly injure and maim civilians and children, including in Ukraine. In a statement provided on Wednesday, Global Affairs Canada spokesman Louis-Carl Brissette Lesage said Canada is aware countries are making 'difficult and complex decisions' around the treaty, and has been in 'ongoing dialogue' with them to emphasize Canada's strong support for the Ottawa Treaty. 'Support for the Ottawa Convention and its universal adherence remains a core priority for Canada,' he wrote. 'We view the Convention as one of the most successful humanitarian disarmament treaties, given its prohibition of anti-personnel landmines, which disproportionately harm civilians.' But it's starting to unravel. On June 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw Ukraine from the convention, though the treaty technically bars states from exiting while engaged in an armed conflict. On June 27, all three Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — issued official notices with the United Nations that will have each pull out of the treaty in six months. That would be the first time any signatories had exited the treaty. Poland and Finland are undertaking parliamentary moves to get to such a step. All six countries have cited the growing threat from Russia to front-line states, including the fact Moscow uses landmines and isn't a member of the treaty. Mines Actions Canada condemned the 'rushed processes' to pull the three Baltic countries out of the convention, and urged Ottawa in a statement 'to speak up and engage with our allies in defence of the Ottawa Treaty.' In an interview, the group's head, Erin Hunt, said European countries are usually the staunchest supporters of international law, and demonstrate a double standard if they decide to pull back when under pressure. 'The Ottawa Treaty is one example of a global decision that there is limit to war. And to withdraw from that when there's a threat of conflict does not speak very highly to our convictions, to make war safer for the people who are not fighting,' she said. Landmines can kill or maim people even decades after a conflict ends, and can disproportionately harm civilians. Research by the International Committee of the Red Cross shows that landmines aren't useful in preventing war nor in actual conflict, which Hunt says is why the U.S. stopped producing those arms. She argued the recent increase in drone warfare makes landmines even less useful. McPhedran helped organize an advocacy event with Humanity and Inclusion Canada last month that featured Lloyd Axworthy, the former foreign affairs minister who helped broker the Ottawa Treaty. McPhedran said the treaty has had 'a hugely positive humanitarian impact.' She noted that the Carney government has made protection of civilians a central part of its foreign policy, and has asked the government to host an event to mark three decades of the treaty in 2027. Brisette Lesage wrote on behalf of Global Affairs Canada that Ottawa will continue to highlight the impact of anti-personnel landmines on civilians, and work with advocates 'to assess the implications of this development and to explore ways to uphold and strengthen the critical norms enshrined in the Treaty.' Axworthy said exiting the treaty could speed up the disintegration of the global order and the suspension of other arms-control measures, particularly as countries rush to boost their military spending. He said Eastern European countries have legitimate security concerns, but have no demonstrable proof that using landmines will actually stem Russian aggression. 'Ukraine is already one of the most corrupted countries in the world, with landmines. And not just Russian landmines, but Ukrainian landmines,' he said. 'The level of destruction — of killing and maiming and wounding for the next 100 years is being sewn into those fields right now. And it's not necessary.' The international watchdog Landmine Monitor said in a report last year that landmines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. Nearly three dozen countries have not adopted the Ottawa Convention, including some key current and past producers and users of landmines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan and South Korea. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
