Latest news with #Liberal Party
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Michael Taube: No, Globe and Mail, Mark Carney isn't the second coming of Brian Mulroney
Mark Carney has been prime minister of Canada since March. He's been called many things by many people in this short time period. It never came to mind that he would be described as a 'progressive conservative' along the lines of Brian Mulroney. Article content This, in a nutshell, is the nonsense that the Globe and Mail's editorial board is currently peddling. Article content Article content 'That Mr. Carney was going to drag the Liberal Party back to the centre after years of an NDP-lite government under Mr. Trudeau was to be expected,' a June 28 Globe editorial noted. 'But more than mannerisms have changed. Since April, the Prime Minister has cut personal income taxes, boosted defence spending dramatically, pledged to cut the cost of the federal bureaucracy, tightened immigration rules, eliminated federal barriers to internal trade, created a framework for breaking the stasis on big national projects and signaled that he will dismiss underperforming top bureaucrats,' they wrote. Article content Article content The Globe's editorial board suggested 'that's an agenda that Brian Mulroney could have endorsed.' Article content Article content This analysis likely raised a few eyebrows, and not just in the Mulroney household. Alas, the editorial writers then flipped their collective wig with this bizarre assessment. 'In fact, it overlaps a good deal with the actual governing record of his Progressive Conservatives. Mr. Carney is a Liberal but, in the early going, he looks to be governing much like a Red Tory — a progressive kind of conservative.' Article content We shouldn't be surprised by the Globe's over-the-top analysis of Carney's leadership. It's become the raison d'être of this once-venerable publication to carry water for this particular prime minister. Article content Nevertheless, let's be serious about our national leader. Carney is certainly a progressive, but he's no 'progressive conservative' in any way, shape or form. Article content Left-leaning progressive conservatives, or Red Tories, generally combine two ideological components: classical conservative sensibilities (espoused by High Tories like philosopher Edmund Burke and former U.K. prime minister Benjamin Disraeli) and socialist-type policies such as government intrusion and developing a social safety net. Article content Article content As Gad Horowitz, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, wrote in the May-June 1965 issue of the defunct left-wing magazine Canadian Dimension, 'socialism has more in common with Toryism than with liberalism, for liberalism is possessive individualism, while socialism and Toryism are variants of collectivism.' Article content Article content Modern conservatism has little in common with classical conservatism. The former has largely incorporated classical liberal and libertarian ideals into its main ideology, while maintaining a smattering of social conservative principles related to individuals and families. That's why modern conservatives typically champion small government, lower taxes, free markets, private enterprise, greater individual rights and freedoms and so forth. Article content Carney doesn't fit into these conservative-leaning parameters. His progressive values do fit within the context of the modern Liberal Party of Canada. While he's not exactly the same as Trudeau, I pointed out in a March 16 National Post column that they're 'remarkably similar.' How so? In my estimation, 'they're both left-wing, pro-government intervention, distrust privatization and free markets, favour wealth redistribution, champion radical environmentalist policies, support woke ideology and political correctness — and more.' That's what today's Liberals basically stand for, and Carney's personal and political record fits like a glove.
ABC News
21-07-2025
- ABC News
Bruce Lehrmann's lawyer queries 'possible destruction' of evidence in Toowoomba rape case
A rape case involving former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann has heard claims about "the possible destruction" of a police hard drive containing evidence relating to the case. The claim by Mr Lehrmann's defence counsel, Zali Burrows, was made during a mention of the matter in the Toowoomba District Court today. "We have received information, which was contained in one of the redacted police notebooks, which raises the possible destruction of exculpatory material, which is basically a hard drive that the police officer in charge placed all the material and evidence on and that subsequently has been damaged and we have made a request for that to be made available for an independent IT interrogation," Ms Burrows told the court. She said the defence wanted the police officer to appear at court later this week for cross-examination. Mr Lehrmann faces two counts of rape, alleged to have occurred in Toowoomba in October 2021. The 30-year-old has been committed for trial on the matter but has not yet been required to enter a formal plea. A pre-trial hearing of the case is due to be held on Friday. Today's hearing came after Mr Lehrmann's lawyer recently lodged an application for a permanent stay of the case against her client. The court today heard that Mr Lehrmann's defence is seeking full disclosure of the cellebrite forensic download report of the complainant's mobile telephone, in an unredacted form. The defence is also seeking unredacted versions of three police notebooks in relation to the case — two notebooks of the investigating officer, Detective Senior Constable Ashlee Ryder, and one notebook of an unknown police officer. The two issues — of the mobile phone report and the police notebooks — will be heard at Friday's hearing. Judge Benedict Power also questioned Ms Burrows about an application she had made last week for the complainant in the matter to be subpoenaed to testify later this week. Ms Burrows said it related only to the complainant's communication with investigating police. But Judge Power pointed out there were restrictions in relation to cross-examination of complainants in sexual assault cases. "On what basis did you think you could simply, without reference to the court, require the complainant to come and give evidence?" Judge Power asked. Ms Burrows then asked to have the request set aside. Judge Power also noted that the defence had sought for the investigating police officer to provide a wide-ranging list of documents including all police notebooks, all police diaries and police reports of the Bruce Lehrmann investigation. Judge Power said the subpoena should be directed, not to the individual officer as it was, but to the commissioner of police. Ms Burrows told the court that the investigation hard drive was in the possession of the police officer. After legal argument Ms Burrows agreed to set aside two points of her application: seeking a declaration that Queensland Police do not have the power to determine what is relevant to a defence case and must disclose all materials; and that the prosecution must ensure the defence has a list of all materials regardless of police or prosecution view of relevance. Judge Power had noted these declarations would be academic if the defence obtained the material it was seeking on subpoena. Ms Burrows said that when the matter comes back before the court the defence would seek a ruling that the redactions to police notebooks be lifted and the defence receive unredacted versions. Mr Lehrmann's defence has, in addition to filing an application for a permanent stay of the case, sought a declaration that intercepted phone calls between Mr Lehrmann's lawyers and Queensland police were "illegally obtained". The prosecution and defence did not appear personally in court today and were heard via telephone link. Mr Lehrmann was also on the call but did not make any comment. The matter will be back in court on Friday for a hearing.
News24
18-07-2025
- Politics
- News24
Brazil police search Bolsonaro's home, court orders ankle monitor
Jair Bolsonaro was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and stop using social media amid coup plot charges. Brazilian police searched his home as courts feared he might flee to the US. Donald Trump defended Bolsonaro, calling the case a 'witch hunt' and threatening tariffs on Brazil. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday had his home searched by police and was ordered to wear an ankle monitor, adding to legal pressure that US President Donald Trump has tried to end by threatening a steep tariff on Brazilian goods. Lawmakers from Bolsonaro's right-wing Liberal Party said the former president had been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, stop using social media and cease communications with diplomats. They said Bolsonaro was also banned from contacting key allies, including his son Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman who has been lobbying in Washington to help his father. On social media, the lawmaker tied the latest court order to a video his father released on Thursday, thanking Trump for his support. CNN Brasil reported that the court orders targeting Bolsonaro had been motivated by the risk of him fleeing to the United States. Bolsonaro's lawyers expressed 'surprise and indignation' in a statement at what they called 'severe precautionary measures imposed against him,' adding that Bolsonaro has so far complied with court orders. Federal police said in a statement that they had served search warrants and non-specified 'precautionary measures' ordered by the Supreme Court but did not name Bolsonaro, who governed Latin America's largest country from 2019 to 2022. Trump has pressed Brazil to stop a legal case against Bolsonaro, saying that his former ally was the victim of a 'witch hunt.' Bolsonaro, who was friendly with Trump when they were both in office, is on trial before Brazil's Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023. Trump, who last week said he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, posted a letter on Truth Social on Thursday that he sent to Bolsonaro. 'I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately!' he wrote.
