Columns

National Column: Trouble and opportunities in the new Trump world

Is Dion the best pitchman for Canada-U.S. affairs? A connected Freeland gets a second look

Count back from known events. Late this month the Trudeau cabinet will hold a two-day retreat outside Ottawa. The last time the prime minister summoned his colleagues for one of these occasional getaways, in Sudbury at the end of August, he gave a few ministers new jobs and shook up the committees that organize their work. […]

Columns

National Column: Trump’s NAFTA gambit could take aim at medicare

Donald Trump has promised to renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Don’t be surprised if he takes a swipe at medicare.

Right now, Canadian medicare is relatively exempt from NAFTA, as it was from the original 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. […]

Columns

National Column: Rising nationalism a test for Liberals

It’s way too early to guess how this will turn out, but it’s becoming clear that Justin Trudeau now leads a government in crisis.

It’s not a crisis Trudeau made, but heís stuck with it. How he responds will go far toward making or breaking his career as prime minister. […]

Columns

National Column: U.S. election threatens plans for Canada’s infrastructure

The fallout from Donald Trump’s election victory continues. One casualty could be Justin Trudeau’s ambitious infrastructure plan.

Ironically, that’s because Trump has his own infrastructure scheme. The U.S. president-elect has promised to put $1 trillion over the next decade toward problems such as crumbling highways. […]

Columns

National Column: PM has good reason to make nice with Trump

A few thoughts about this mess.

First, if you think Donald Trump is an idiot, of course you’re not alone. But you’re also hardly the first.

Google the words “Barack Obama idiot,” without quotes. I got more than 800,000 results.
[…]

Columns

National Column: Campaign of fear and loathing just might work for Trump

Donald Trump’s campaign for the U.S. presidency is based on fear. It uses outrageous hyperbole. It might also work.

Day one of the Republican Convention in Cleveland shows why. Much of the press attention focused on what went wrong as Republican delegates kicked off the four-day convention to formally crown Trump their presidential nominee. […]

Columns

National Column: Washington awaits the “anti-Trump”

Next week’s White House state dinner will be the first such soiree in 19 years in which the guest of honour is a Canadian prime minister.

But it will be the first such dinner in memory in which the Canadian prime minister will be the subject of fascination by official Washington. […]