Don Martin's Blog

Don Martin | Blog

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  Don Martin: The lingering clout of Stephen Harper gets a leadership test

  'The longer he’s not prime minister, the more interesting and influential Stephen Harper becomes,' says Don Martin in a column on CTVNews.ca where he discusses how Harper has evolved into an elder statesman.

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  Don Martin: Who's in the running to become the next Conservative leader, and what are their odds?

  'It’s attracting less water cooler conversation than Justin Trudeau’s struggling beard, but the race to replace the Conservative leader is about to leave the starting gate.' Read Don Martin's column where he handicaps the Tory leadership race on CTVNews.ca

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  Don Martin: Canada's real plastics problem is the politicians

  Before becoming prime minister, Trudeau used to talk like a human. Now his mouth gushes out a jumble of staff-approved nouns, verbs and adjectives which defy assembly into coherent and insightful sentences, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Scheer will enter history books as a one-term mistake

  Even Conservatives loyal to Andrew Scheer confide they couldn't connect with him personally, getting no response even when their help was being offered, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Freeland wins a waiver from PMO control

  Thankfully there's one who can act without permission from a PMO largely drained of superior staffing talent. In a very tangible way, the prime minister’s job has suddenly achieved gender parity as a shared responsibility, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: The Bloc leader stokes a Prairie fire

  So if the prime minister and Quebec's new face in the Commons continue to shrug at western fury, Quebec may find out independence is indeed achievable. For Alberta, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Scheer audacity to expect a win without change

  If the Conservative leader believes he need not change to captivate the convention floor, well, there’s only one way to view that: Scheer audacity, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: MacKay fires first shot in a leadership takedown

  Scheer is now facing a dangerous sniper taking deadly aim at his head with a growing list of supporters behind many grassy knolls. Perhaps now is the time for the boring, besieged Andrew Scheer to mount a more aggressive defense of his position, writes Don Martin

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  Don Martin: Campaign 2019 is the battle where truth goes to die

  Every campaign war room has pails of political dirt held at the ready until it can be thrown for maximum muddy impact into the faces of reeling opponents, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: The 438 days of Parliament that changed Canada, for better or worse

  Let's get the obvious out of the way first in delivering a eulogy to the 42nd Parliament, which has been put out of its misery after 438 sitting days over 3.5 years, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: If Scheer wants to be the PM he needs a credible climate plan

  He doesn't need to be the jolly green giant. But if Conservative leader Andrew Scheer wants to be the next prime minister, he needs to release a credible and comprehensive climate change plan next week, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Last words from Parliament's nearly departed

  Before they disappear into the pages of Hansard history, let’s pause to quote some of the keenest observations from the nearly departed ranks of this Parliament, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Two reasons why voters should support a declaration of MP independence

  The notion of voting for a local force of independent personality over picking a government will drive many voters into established party camps. And yet, a re-elected Wilson-Raybould and Philpott would be assets in the next Parliament, even though I suspect they're just waiting to return to the Liberal fold in the post-Trudeau era, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Gen. Vance's leadership is no longer worth saluting

  It's easy to kneejerk a demand for the prime minister to resign, as the Conservatives do on the flimsiest of pretexts. But beyond Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance’s rushed judge and jury execution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, other issues are starting to make that hefty pay raise given to him this week by Justin Trudeau fall somewhere between inexplicable and laughable, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: It’s a charade, but question period is the only answer

  Question period has become a charade of staff-crafted questions clashing with well-rehearsed non-answers, which are put down on paper lest a $250,000 a year cabinet minister is unable to memorize even the simplest two-sentence response, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: The fall guy could be the general who suspended Mark Norman

  The vindication of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman comes with a potential casualty, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Kenney is a dangerous political animal unleashed against all things Liberal

  Jason Kenney poses a threat to any and all things Liberal which challenge his blueprint for an Alberta resurgence under United Conservative Party rule, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Big stink forces Trudeau to take out the trash

  Say what you want about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and there's a lot to dislike, but this week's fed-up blast at Canada's negligence in removing this olfactory assault suggests he has a good grasp of the Trudeau government, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Loblaws refrigerators the wrong place to shop for votes

  The last two months have been a prolonged self-harming communications meltdown unlike anything I've seen in politics, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Without a rebrand, the SNC smell will stick to the Liberals

  Now comes the political post mortems to see if the rank SNC smell sticks to Liberals like a mushy cow paddy misstep until the October election, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: The Liberal caucus isn't worthy of Jane Philpott

  To know Jane Philpott is to understand the devastating impact her condemnation of the government's SNC-Lavalin behavior registers on the prime minister and his foot soldiers, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: It's about time, not truth, in justice committee showdown

  It's no longer about the truth, if it ever was. It's about ameliorating or amplifying the consequences of a political poop that defies polishing, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: SNC-Lavalin proves it's still who you know in the PMO

  If the SNC-Lavalin caper proves anything, knowing the PMO is precisely how you still get things done, Don Martin writes.

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  Don Martin: Here's an inconvenient truth, Trudeau's brand is broken

  We now have two different truths on the SNC-Lavalin scandal: one altruistic and one inconvenient, Don Martin writes.

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  Don Martin: Two truths ahead as the SNC-Lavalin controversy heads for a showdown

  So the only question now: Was that pressure improper? If there is a definitive answer to that, it is the line of demarcation between this story as Trudeau government kryptonite or a fizzle that'll be forgotten by election day, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Keeping quiet means cover-up is the only conclusion

  Here’s proof that a week can be a lifetime in politics, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Until the byelection is over, no NDP news is good news

  If you believe there’s no such thing as bad news, the NDP had a banner day earlier this week, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Forget sunny ways, here comes the mud

  The spectre of voter manipulation from foreign operatives is real. But the greater threat to clear-sighted voting comes from the antagonists slinging made-up mud at each other under glass in the House of Commons, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: The blockade that killed pipeline investment

  This was the week international investment in Canadian energy transportation went palliative following multiple bouts of protracted suffering. The industry obit will detail how a few chiefs, bestowed with the ceremonial title by their ancestors, finally proved there’s no way to move oil, bitumen or natural gas from the ground to the ocean, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Kevin Vickers would be a welcome change to political scene

  In a Canadian political realm hardening into partisan divides dominated by promise-breaking, polling-directed and scripted-to-the-comma political leaders, a welcome change is musing about entering a leadership race. A successful bid would be a big gain for New Brunswick and even bigger win for Canadian politics, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin's 2019 predictions: Another Liberal majority, and Singh steps down

  The oncoming year is going to be an epic one for Canadian politics with a general election, a key provincial election, a pivotal byelection and plenty of economic jitters here and around the world. Here’s how 2019 could roll out.

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  Don Martin's 5 political power players of 2018

  Here are Don Martin’s picks for the top five political power players of the year:

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  Don Martin's story of the year: The plight of Alberta

  The imminent rollout of Canadian news stories of the year will be predictable. All important. All nation-defining. All second rate considerations to the main news event. For sustained national impact, intense political fallout and no clear route to resolution or solution on the horizon, there’s only one most-newsworthy story, the plight of Alberta, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Pre-election grandstanding behind federal francophone huddle

  Consider the parliamentary emergency which rushed a handful of federal political party leaders, including the prime minister, into a huddle of five-alarm concern this week.

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  Don Martin: A deficit of logic as the government goes squirrelly on spending

  Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fiscal update has been welcomed by already-profitable businesses, although it spends deficit dollars in heady economic times, says Power Play host Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Taxpayers have spoken, winter games not worth the Olympic-sized bill

  For the first time in bidding-war history, a city which has already felt the magic of Olympic hosting gave the Games a pass. What should concern the International Olympic Committee even more than general global apathy for hosting rights was having a decisive Games rejection come from, of all places, Calgary, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Craig Oliver turns 80 — credibility spanning decades

  Craig Oliver is usually among the first to show up in the Ottawa bureau in the morning.

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  Don Martin: The GG retirement package reeks of entitlement and extravagance

  All it takes to do the job is the stamina to smile through migraine-inducing diplomatic dinners, the odd bill-signing ceremony and the ability to drone out a Throne Speech every few years. But it turns out that the real dream is life after you leave Rideau Hall, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Nasty Canadian campaign coming? Look south to see the real thing

  Canada, brace yourself. Both the prime minister and the Official Opposition leader warn this year-long fight for your election vote is going to be particularly 'nasty.'

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  Don Martin: Trust me, there's no pardon on pot in American eyes

  Amid euphoric media coverage of the first Canadian to buy legal pot, the more interesting and ignored angle would be the last person charged with possession of cannabis in this country.

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  Don Martin: Michaelle Jean has lost the aura of someone worth defending

  Incredibly bright and charismatic with an instant connection to average Canadians, Michaelle Jean checked every box on a list to shake up the staid image of a Canadian Governor General. What happened to that Michaelle Jean is now a major international mystery, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Both sides are wrong turning McClintic transfer into parliamentary circus

  It's not often both major federal parties are right and wrong at the same time. But as the rehashing of the tragic 2009 murder of eight-year-old Tori Stafford echoes through the House of Commons, the Liberals and the Conservatives have accomplished this rare feat, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Canada at risk of becoming garbage pickers of the world

  With reports of Canada negotiating for a used surveillance drone, one stripped of its hi-tech navigating equipment and considered scrap-worthy by German defence officials, we are at risk of becoming the garbage pickers of the world, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Alleslev defection an argument for banning floor crossing

  There's a very simply solution that would save voters from being jerked around by MPs who see the Commons aisle as a red carpet welcome to personal gain and political revenge: ban it, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Jagmeet Singh's Burnaby byelection run takes more guts than brains

  Even among the truest believers in the NDP, doubts are growing about their rookie leader. They say Jagmeet Singh lacks communications skills beyond photo-ops, stands for everything left and nothing definitive at the same time and rarely projects the aura of being in command of his caucus.

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  Don Martin: Real or hypothetical, Alberta separation angst bound to grow

  Alberta separation talk is not intended as a threat. Yet. It's the sort of grumble which rumbles when Albertans feel they're undervalued as a mere gas tank for Canada's economic engine.

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  Don Martin: Scheer hopes ignoring Bernier will send him to political oblivion

  Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s response to renegade MP Maxime Bernier and his policy complaints is clearly to ignore him, Don Martin writes.

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  Don Martin: Mad Max's backstabbing exit could unify Tories

  Maxime Bernier’s exit has the potential to unify the Conservatives in the same way as that party’s runner-up leadership candidate Belinda Stronach’s defection to the Liberals in 2005, Don Martin writes.

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  Don Martin: Why bigger isn't always better in building a new cabinet

  It's bigger, but that’s not to say it is any better. Boosted by five new ministers—who in turn will be bolstered by plenty of support staff and the costly perks of executive office—the Trudeau election-ready cabinet is bordering on bloated with overlaps and carved-out creations aimed at tackling nagging problems, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: MPs mulling their political best-before dates

  It's that time of the pre-election cycle when MPs ponder their private lives and then take the pulse of their ridings to gauge the odds of being rewarded with re-election or facing the risk of a voter pink slip.

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  Don Martin: As a boycott, U.S. ambassador's July 4th party was a bust

  While the U.S. ambassador's July 4th bash – usually a social highlight of the summer in Ottawa – was undeniably smaller than the 4,000 overcapacity crowd of recent years, but as a boycott, it was a bust, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Five ways the political landscape shifted this season

  After 195 shows covering 118 sitting days in the House of Commons, raging trade wars, travel controversies, ethical investigations and a lot of Donald Trump huffing and puffing, Power Play rests until September starting today. It's been a season of seismic shifts on multiple political landscapes, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Trump's America an embarrassment to this dual citizen

  I've always been proud of being born in the U.S.A., even after five decades as a Canadian citizen. Having access to dual citizenship in a country that gave so much to the world economically, militarily and democratically was a bonus branch from our family tree. Not any more, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Time for Trudeau to take aim at Trump's base

  This unprecedented White House hostility is a moment to take advantage of the confusion in an American public which doesn’t understand why North Korea is lionized and Canada demonized by President Trump. The answer is not just retaliation, it’s also education, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Ruth Ellen Brosseau's political rise a welcome triumph

  Don Martin: The political rise of Ruth Ellen Brosseau to NDP House leader is a welcome triumph on Parliament Hill.

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  Don Martin: Parliamentarians should heed cautionary tales of Alexander, Leitch

  With one simple pledge not to seek re-election, Parliament’s two most infamous star-crossed MPs -- Kellie Leitch and Chris Alexander -- have finally completed a double-helix dive into obscurity.

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  Don Martin: Is Trudeau playing politics with pro-choice funding stance?

  There's something queasy in forcing organizations applying for Canada Summer Job funding or support from the new Canada Service Corps. to attest that anti-abortion activity is not a core principle or mandate, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Political correctness behind Sir John A. pub name change

  The Sir John Public House in the Kingston law offices where Macdonald began mapping out a country called Canada, stripped the pub of his name on Tuesday.Surely this is a sign of hyper-reactive cleansing for the sake of political correctness, a small step toward the sort of Stalinist purging of people from Soviet history, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Trudeau showed questionable judgment in meeting with Boyle

  Back on December 18, the itinerary listed nothing about meeting with freed hostage Joshua Boyle and his family, whose five-year ordeal while held captive by Taliban-linked hostage-takers in Afghanistan ended in October. It was a curious omission, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin's political predictions for 2018

  After consulting insiders and veteran observers, Don Martin offers a glimpse the year ahead, and hopes his mostly-wrong 2017 predictions were a particularly miserable anomaly.

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  Don Martin: Surely Kent Hehr has talked himself out of cabinet

  At best Hehr's comments, which he doesn't totally deny saying, betray a tin political ear. At worst it projects a stony-hearted attitude which renders him unfit to be the minister in charge of a portfolio where empathy for the suffering is a leading prerequisite, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Bill Morneau's political fate in Mary Dawson's hands

  If you passed her on the street, you'd be reminded of a Mrs. Doubtfire or a friendly visitor to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. But if those gentle bespectacled eyes narrow and that unassuming tone turns inquisitional, the most powerful politicians in the land ought to be wary of Mary Dawson, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Parliament Hill skating rink a teeth-grinding waste of tax dollars

  The $5.6-million ice rink on Parliament Hill, which was extended from 24 to 83 days of operation this afternoon as public backlash started to grow is pointless icing on a bland birthday cake, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Retired cops chasing pot of gold at the end of legalization rainbow

  It's been four decades since two undercover cops ripped open the doors of my parked Rambler and busted all four of us for pot possession because they found some cannabis seeds in the ash tray.

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  Don Martin: Faced with political pushback Liberals developing a cut-and-run mentality

  Watching the Trudeau government dodge, weave and retreat through the prolonged crisis on taxation and ethics this fall, one question comes to mind: Are they smart or are they weak? asks Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Trudeau government needs to start sweating the small stuff

  It usually takes a full term or two for a government to achieve a level of sufficiently arrogant entitlement to boldly spew patronage, wildly squander money or rule by secretive decree - and it usually hits just before voters throw the bums out. But there are disquieting signs an early outbreak of second-term-itis is already infecting the sunny ways Trudeau government, writes Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Fixing Phoenix may be all but impossible

  It always seemed so inside baseball, a big problem for the public service but not a pressing concern in the real world, but the federal government’s severely boondoggled Phoenix payroll system has now reached the level of implementation disaster that’s cause for national taxpayer alarm, says Don Martin.

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  Don Martin: Despite damage control, Morneau’s reputation has taken a hit

  When crisis communicators of the future need an example of a reputation-shredding failure to enact timely damage control, they will point to the Bill Morneau debacle. By pledging today to sell his Morneau Shepell shares and put all other assets in a blind trust, a minister who had a Boy Scout reputation lost the ability to claim a principled high ground response and was forced into surrender at knife point, Don Martin says.

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  Don Martin: Feds fumble on employee discounts a display of supersized political stupidity

  The updated edict from the Canada Revenue Agency clearly indicated that, while this is an extreme example, discounts and freebies were taxable benefits and must be declared as such on company and individual tax forms. In other words, the government unleashed a Big Mac tax attack, Don Martin writes.

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  Don Martin: Time for Trudeau to quit the Harper blame game

  There’s a statute of limitations on political blame – and the time’s up for this Liberal government, Don Martin says.