As the world braces for more global freeze-outs prompted by Donald Trump, remember one thing: Canada knows how to survive the cold.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 27, 2025.

OTTAWA—A blanket of cold air covered the continent as the United States of America ushered in an oligarchy under the leadership of its new President Donald Trump.

It was the coldest day on record in the history of American presidential inaugurations. But the frigidity wasn’t only caused by temperature.

It reflected the mood of almost half of the nation, those dreading the return of President Trump to the White House.

Former first lady Michelle Obama expressed her disgust by simply refusing to attend the inauguration. She joined with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who posted the reasons for her boycott on Instagram: “Let me make myself clear: I don’t celebrate rapists so no, l’m not going to the inauguration.”

Others were present in strange garb or body language. Senator Bernie Sanders sat with his arms crossed, scowling at Trump.

Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, wore his customary shorts and hoodie to the event. At 6 foot 8 inches tall, Fetterman could not be missed.

Nor did anyone miss the breasts bared by Jeff Bezos’ fiancé, Lauren Sanchez. Seated in front of Robert Kennedy Jr., when Sanchez doffed her jacket, he could not keep his eyes off them. Mark Zuckerberg was caught ogling, as well.

And then there was the second-tier invitee list, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose assigned seat was so far out in the cold that she gave it up, opting instead to watch the ceremony from the warmth of the Canadian Embassy across from Capitol Hill.

Considering her claim that she saved Canada from tariffs—at least until Feb. 1—Smith should at least have been designated closer viewing.

Instead, she was forced to join the majority of 220,000 invitees who were politely disinvited when the event was moved indoors because of the cold weather warnings.

The president said he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and encouraged those with tickets to go elsewhere.

Smith must have felt more cold air blowing at the Canadian reception, since she is the only premier to have publicly gone rogue in refusing to join all other provincial and territorial leaders in a Team Canada approach to the Trump threat of tariffs.

And while she worked with failed Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary to access the president, Arlene Dickinson joined Trudeau’s Team Canada tariff advisers, and promptly called out her Dragon’s Den foe for “negotiating against us.”

After consistently trashing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Team Canada’s approach, Smith had the nerve to suggest that we should achieve our objectives through “diplomacy rather than bravado, bluster, and escalation.”

Talk about a bull in a china shop.

Smith went on bended knee to Trump in an effort to negotiate a carve-out for her own province. She didn’t care much about what damage tariffs could do in other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Trump marked his first day in office with executive orders on everything, including pardons for the instigators of the Jan. 6, 2021, riots that killed five police officers and injured 140 people. He also ordered that non-binary people cannot be identified as such.

Trump also plans to prevent those transitioning from one gender to another from revising their identity on official federal documents.

He also issued a slew of anti-immigrant edicts, including an unconstitutional decision to deny citizenship to American-born children of undocumented migrants.

Many of these executive orders will not pass legal muster, but they certainly sent a chill through throughout the world.

His decision to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord were the most notable, but he also eliminated security clearances for federal investigative officers, effectively preventing them from doing their jobs.

Trump also put all diversity, equity, and inclusion federal employees on paid leave, while he tasked agencies with drawing up methods to fire them.

Most egregiously, in a speech designed to lay out his vision for the next four years, Trump was silent on housing, health care, wealth gaps and cost-of-living concerns.

In a post-Trump analysis, Sanders pointed out that three people on Trump’s inaugural guest list make more money than half of all residents in the U.S.

Sanders also said that those three invitees—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos—saw their wealth increase by more than $233-billion since Trump’s election.

The oligarchy predicted by former president Jimmy Carter has taken root in Washington, D.C.

As the world braces for more global freeze-outs prompted by President Trump, remember one thing: Canada knows how to survive the cold.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 13, 2025.

OTTAWA—Enemy of the state: that is the only way to characterize the threat of Canadian “economic annexation” by American president-elect Donald Trump.

His so-called joke about Canada joining the United States is turning deadly serious.

It is a threat that one would expect from a dictator. It is not a threat that one could expect from the leader of our democratically-elected neighbour, the United States.

All bets are off with the Trump claim that Canada should join the U.S. in the formation of a single country.

He even has the nerve to post a map of Canada absorbed into the United States, with the stars and stripes flag covering all the way from Mexico to the Arctic.

Trump has ruled out military force as a method of annexation, speaking instead about economic annexation.

He continues to falsely claim that Canada receives hundreds of millions in subsidies in America.

He wants to end auto, milk, and lumber imports from Canada, claiming that his country doesn’t need any of our goods to survive.

However, Trump did not mention electricity or oil and gas, Canadian exports that America needs to keep its economy running.

Trump also reached out to support the candidacy of Pierre Poilievre as a future prime minister, saying the pair are on the same political wave length.

Poilievre moved quickly to distance himself from Trump, stating the obvious: Canada will never become the 51st state.

But Conservative allies like Alberta Premier Danielle Smith plan to attend the president’s inauguration on Jan. 20 in celebration of his victory.

The Alberta premier has also refused to join Ontario Premier Doug Ford in denying the export of energy to the U.S. Ford promised to retaliate on tariffs by refusing to export energy south of the border, but Smith quickly rebutted that Ford did not speak for her province.

However, that happened before Trump launched his campaign to annex Canada.

Smith would be hard-pressed to explain her presence at Trump’s inauguration when the leader she plans to celebrate is claiming publicly he will buy Greenland, annex Canada, and take over the Panama Canal.

While Trump’s threats are being widely covered here at home, they won’t make the news very long in the U.S.

Ford was supposed to be interviewed on the subject by CNN, but his presence was cancelled when the California wildfires replaced Canada’s annexation in the news cycle.

While Americans may gloss over Trumpian machinations, we cannot afford to do so.

We need to get tough on as many fronts as possible. One of those could be a refusal to allow the president to enter Canada for the G7 meeting in June because of his recent federal criminal conviction.

Diplomacy could override that refusal, but diplomacy is also a two-way street.

Unless Trump issues a clarification regarding his crazy annexation claims, he should be kept out of the country.

Words have consequences, and the words of a bully need to be met with consequences.

Some might argue that barring Trump from the country would simply poke the bear.

But stroking the bear has not gotten us anywhere.

Peter Donolo, former prime ministerial communications adviser to then-prime minister Jean Chrétien, recently wrote an opinion piece saying that we can’t treat the Trump threats as a joke.

Instead, we need to act with political muscle. That muscle should include testing Trump in international fora.

The Organization of American States is where the unilateral declaration of annexation theory could be tested. Last year, the OAS issued a condemnation of Venezuela’s move to annex the Essequibo region of Guyana.

Canada, and the rest of the Americas, has an interest in dampening down Trump’s rhetoric.

Annexation is not legal, which is why the world has been working to get Russian troops out of Ukraine.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization should also be asked to take a stand on the American president-elect’s annexation ruminations.

The United Nations could also be an appropriate forum for condemnation of Trump’s hostile annexation rhetoric.

These claims need to be fought at the highest level of international diplomacy, including the potential for legal remedies.

The International Court of Justice should be asked for its opinion as to the legality of Trump’s annexation threats. It has a mandate to give advice on international legal issues. What could be more pressing than a claim that one democratic country will undertake ‘economic annexation’ of another?

Trump must be taken seriously. It is time to fight a bully by destroying his bully pulpit.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on December 9, 2024.

OTTAWA—While governments are focusing on gender designation in sport, women are just making it happen.

Charge Ottawa opened the second season last week with a three-two victory over the Toronto Sceptres at TD Place.

The game started a new season with a new name.

The league launched last year without team names, and fans were thrilled with the Charge new look.

Season ticket holders were snapping up merchandise while fans in the thousands arrived to witness the season opener for the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government passed three bills last week limiting transgender rights.

One bill is designed to prohibit transgender pronoun choices by minors, another restricts transgender access to human rights support.

The third is a sport bill. The Fairness and Safety in Sport Act is designed to require school boards, educational institutions and provincial sports organizations to develop policies to “protect the integrity of female athletic competitions by ensuring women and girls have the opportunity to compete in biological female-only divisions.”

The law will also require parents to opt in to education on transgender issues. Current law requires parents to opt out. The burdensome requirements for opting in include informing parents one month in advance and offering alternative education for children who do not get gender sex education.

The law will also limit educational material and lesson plans on sexual orientation and gender identity, potentially erasing same-sex families from the curriculum.

Opponents say the proposals go against research that proves sexual education reduces the number of unwanted pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases and unchecked child abuse.

Puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy would be illegal for children under the age of 16. Youth aged 16 to 17 would require parental consent for such therapies.

Some bill opponents say the prohibition would be particularly challenging for adolescents trying to avoid puberty that is not aligned with their sexual identity.

Equality groups are vowing to fight the Alberta legislation as they have enjoined legal challenges against similar changes to law and policy in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

The Canadian Medical Association, the Alberta Medical Association, and the Canadian Paediatric Society oppose the medical limitations in the legislation.

The Alberta changes go beyond those introduced by New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.

The New Brunswick government that introduced a prohibitive transgender law was defeated recently while the Saskatchewan government faced a steep drop in its recent election support.

For years, governments have used their power to keep women out of sport, even when female athletic prowess would have meant they could participate equally in men’s sport.

Some say the sport changes are just another example of government weakening laws that protect athletes from harassment and bullying.

Meanwhile, girls and women are just doing it.

From the PWHL to the wildly popular American-based Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), professional sports has opened a new venue for girls who want to make a career of their sport of choice.

The WNBA, which has been operating for almost 30 years, has 13 teams and is the premier women’s pro team globally. Two more teams will join the league next year and their televised games are very popular.

The world of tennis is also changing as the issue of pay equality has been addressed between the genders. Last year, the Women’s Tennis Association approved a plan to achieve pay equity by 2033. Part of that proposal means that gender payments for non-Grand Slam 1,000 and 500-level tournaments will be equal in 2027.

Governments have ignored their potential role in pay equity although former federal sport minister Pascale St-Onge moved quickly to stem sexual harassment in sport, suspending world junior hockey financial support while the issue of sexual assault was addressed.

Smith could be focusing her government’s attention on equality for women and girls in sport. Instead, she is catering to a small minority that is interested in stamping out understanding or support for those who choose to change their gender.

By targeting her attention on reducing support for adolescents struggling with gender identity issues, Smith will shore up support with ultra-conservative members of her caucus.

But she opens the door to a revolt by ordinary Albertans who believe there are other health issues far more important than what pronoun is used to identify non-binary students in the classroom.

Naheed Nenshi and opposition New Democrats are hoping the legislation will provoke the same reaction from Albertans that New Brunswickers expressed at the polls when they dumped the Blaine Higgs Progressive Conservative government.

Only time will tell.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Thanks to their agreement with the New Democratic Party, the Liberals now have a year to aggressively sell its vision to Canadians. And that doesn’t involve an axe-the-tax. 

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on April 8, 2024.

OTTAWA–I woke up to a news item last week that said Liberals had experienced a big spike in national popularity while the Greens and the Bloc were on the uptick.

Hardly believable, but in the world of politics, you are on a roller coaster. And six months is about the time-frame for either a dip or rise in popularity.

Then I had a coffee and realized it was April Fool’s Day. I was the fool. Because for a brief second, I thought Liberals’ flagging fortunes had turned around.

Both the Liberal and Conservative leaders seem to be in campaign mode.

Whether it’s an orthodox synagogue in Montréal, or a rally in Newfoundland or British Columbia, Pierre Poilievre is everywhere. And on his ‘Axe the Tax’ campaign, he really seems to be enjoying himself.

Finally, it looks as though the prime minister is also moving into campaign mode.

In a series of pre-budget announcement, Justin Trudeau and some of his key ministers have peppered the country with funding and programs.

From children’s school lunch funding, to a renters’ bill of rights, to carbon pricing, the governing party has finally realized that in government, you can control the agenda.

And they are definitely shaping a narrative that could play in their favour in the next election.

Poilievre is focusing on individual pocketbook issues. By pushing his anti-tax view, he is sending the message that under a Poilievre government, there would be cuts in government spending that would end up in your wallet.

He may be on to something. As altruistic as we would like to think ourselves to be, Canadians usually vote for what is in their personal self-interest.

Up until last week, not too many Canadians actually knew that 80 per cent of the population will receive a carbon rebate which exceeds the additional cost of the pricing program.

The frenetic pace Poilievre was keeping climaxed on April 1 when the new pricing regime went into effect.

He pulled out all the stops, including engaging oil-producing provincial premiers in a fight to roll back the carbon price increase.

But by associating so closely with leaders like Danielle Smith and Doug Ford, who are not universally admired across the country, he may be digging himself a petroleum hole from which he cannot get out.

Smith was hard-pressed to explain why, on the same day she was trashing carbon pricing, her government was hiking Alberta’s gas tax by a total of 13 cents a litre. Her supporters defended the hike, saying the money would be used to build roads and infrastructure, not to reduce carbon emissions.

When you compare the building of roads to the fight against global warming, which is more critical to our survival?

The younger generation—or NexGen as they are euphemistically known—consider global warming the challenge of our times.

Poilievre has been successful in attracting young voters on the basis that his policies will make housing and daily essentials more affordable.

Just like Trudeau rode the marijuana wave to victory in his first election in 2015, Poilievre hopes to ride the affordability train.

But on global warming, he has been strangely silent. His communications people say that the Conservative plan to fight climate change will come out when an election is called. That will be too late. By then, his image as a petro-politician will have solidified.

That will help in Alberta, but he certainly won’t become prime minister on the basis of that province alone.

His anti-environmental positions do not play well in Quebec or British Columbia, both provinces which were critical in getting the Liberals over the line in the last election.

Because Poilievre’s political message has been so tightly identified with carbon pricing, it will be hard for him to build any credibility on global warming.

His axe will also be used to cut government spending. But where will he start? Will he cancel dental benefits, pharmacare, or $10-a-day childcare? Something has to go.

The Axe-the-Tax campaign has finally created an opening for Liberals to start talking about what they have achieved, and asking the pertinent question: what will Poilievre axe?

Thanks to their agreement with the New Democratic Party, the Liberals now have a year to aggressively sell its vision to Canadians. And that doesn’t involve an axe-the-tax.

With April 1 come and gone, if the sky doesn’t fall, Poilievre could be left looking like Chicken Little.

A campaign that promotes dental care, pharmacare, rental rights, and daycare sound a lot more interesting than one involving an axe.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Conservatives need to convince Canadians that they are centrist enough to be trusted in government. But linking themselves to the likes of Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson will not reinforce that sentiment.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on January 29, 2024.

OTTAWA—He was too toxic for Fox News. But Tucker Carlson was welcomed with open arms by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last week.

The pair enjoyed a private dinner before they shared the stage at a sold-out Carlson appearance.

The premier featured in a photo with two other Carlson wannabees: Conrad Black and Jordan Peterson.

Carlson was in the province for two speaking events, engaging 4,000 attendees in Calgary and 8,000 in Edmonton.

Carlson, who spent the fall on tour to countries governed by extreme right-wingers, told the media he was coming to Canada to liberate the country from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

While Carlson attracted thousands of people to his events, more than 17,000 people signed a petition calling for the cancellation of those appearances because of his hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community.

Carlson has also spoken out vociferously against support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

Carlson says he would rather liberate Canada from Trudeau than liberate Ukraine. He has compared the Canadian prime minister to Hitler, and said Canada was turning into a totalitarian state because of its legalization of medically-assisted deaths.

Since the MAID legislation was introduced in 2016, almost 45,000 medically assisted deaths have been recorded in Canada, much to the chagrin of Carlson, who claimed that these deaths were evidence that Canada was slipping into totalitarianism.

While Carlson and Smith were linking arms on issues like their opposition to COVID vaccinations, the federal Liberals were meeting in caucus to figure out how they may be able to dig themselves out of their political hole.

Trips like that of Carlson are fodder for Liberal strategists who think the way to beat Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is to link his party to the Trumpian-inspired anti-government movement in the United States.

Like Carlson, Poilievre refused to fund war assistance for Ukraine, calling it a faraway foreign land when they voted against financial assistance in the House.

Like Carlson, Conservative Members of Parliament such as Leslyn Lewis are calling for Canada to drop out of the United Nations.

Conservatives need to convince Canadians that they are centrist enough to be trusted in government. But linking themselves to the likes of Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson will not reinforce that sentiment.

Peterson was another speaker at the Carlson roadshow. He was listed as an author.

Peterson has failed to meet professional standards in psychology, and has been required to undergo social media communication coaching.

In refusing to do so, Peterson went to court, but his appeal was denied by a three-judge divisional panel in August. Their decision was recently upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeals, and refusal to comply means Peterson will soon lose his right to practise.

Peterson teaches that chaos is a feminine trait, and that “confused gay kids are being convinced they’re transsexual.”

Peterson says women’s studies should be banned from university, and claims that the pay gap between women and men could be “predicated on competence.”

Peterson says the rise of Donald Trump is a response to a collective push to “feminize” men, claiming that if men are pushed too hard, they will become more and more interested in fascist ideology.

Poilievre has been promoting the defence of Peterson on X (formerly Twitter).

At the same time that the Conservative leader attacks “woke Liberal-NDP mayors,” he defends Peterson’s decision to ignore a court order on his professional misconduct charges.

Before Carlson appeared on the stage with Smith last week, he joined a webinar with Peterson and Canadian businessman Brett Wilson.

Liberals were quick to tie Poilievre to the Tucker event, with Edmonton Centre Member of Parliament and minister Randy Boissonnault leading the charge.

Boissonnault, a gay MP, said Carlson’s appearance in his riding in downtown Edmonton had caused a lot of fear in the LGBTQ+ community.

Boissonnault was joined by fellow ministers Pascale St-Onge, Pablo Rodriguez, and Steven Guilbeault in Ottawa last week. They all called on Poilievre to denounce the presence of Carlson, and make it clear that his caucus is not aligning their views with those of Smith and Carlson.

The Carlson appearance was limited to Alberta, and chances are he may not be invited elsewhere in Canada as he continually referred to Toronto as an “atrocity,” a great crowd-pleaser.

He laughed at gays and defended white anglos who are being undermined in Canada.

The decision by the Alberta premier to invite Carlson will certainly provide political fodder to those who question what kind of Canada conservatives really want.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

If Justin Trudeau wants to keep smiling, his people have to start fighting back on all the negativity that is currently emanating from Ottawa. 

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on November 20, 2023.

OTTAWA—How does Justin Trudeau manage to keep the smile on his face?

One of the things he must have learned as a small child was that, no matter what is happening around you, when you are in the public eye, you can’t afford to let it show.

With his own children, the prime minister has managed to stay engaged and yet guard their privacy.

That has been smart because no matter what children do, the critics are always ready to jump in.

When the prime minister recently took his eldest son on an international trip, the poor boy was trashed for sporting runners and not dress shoes during a tarmac welcome party.

Give me a break! What teenager doesn’t wear running shoes all the time.

Once you have learned as a child to keep your emotions hidden from the public, that can stay with you all your life.

In my little world, my dad was elected the mayor of my city, Hamilton, when I was in Grade 6.

One of the first issues the new council had to vote on was a pay raise.

Some citizens opposed the raise (even though my father took a 50 per cent pay cut to enter politics) and they paraded outside city hall with a sign saying “Copps and the Robbers.”

Concurrently, I was having a birthday. And as a birthday gift my parents gave me a beautiful leather coat, which I proudly wore to school.

Upon reaching the playground, I was surrounded by a couple of bullies shouting that they had paid for my coat because my father was a crook.

I had just celebrated my 11th birthday and ran home in tears.

My parents convinced me that one of the things so crucial in politics was developing a thick skin to avoid taking every criticism so seriously.

My childhood political experience was a microcosm of what young Justin Trudeau and his brothers must have experienced when their father was the prime minister. They were exposed to jibes and nasty criticisms for things that he might have been doing in government.

Trudeau learned early to keep smiling on the outside. But we know that must be tough on the inside, given the recent marriage meltdown and his falling popularity in public opinion polls.

Is there a way to turn it around?

It is getting tougher as more people line up on the negative side of the equation.

Trudeau and his inner circle are counting on the fact that the likability factor of the leader of the official opposition is also in question.

However, in most instances, when the public has an appetite for change, they don’t necessarily vote opposition leaders in. They simply vote governments out and let the chips fall where they may.

Poilievre has been working hard to soften his image. From the decision to dump the glasses and the haircut, to the massive advertising campaign focusing on his role as a father and husband, the softening-up strategy is working.

And on the Liberal side, the government seems content to let the Conservatives define themselves without any counter narrative that could hurt Poilievre.

Just last month, Alberta United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith was running anti-government ads in Ottawa, trying to convince Canadians that the Liberal climate plan would result in a four-fold hike in electrical costs in Ontario.

Bizarre as it may be for the Alberta government to be advertising in Ottawa about provincial hydro prices in Ontario, what was more disturbing was that nobody countered her message.

The silence spoke volumes about how the Trudeau Liberals intend to pursue their agenda without attacking their opponents with paid negative advertising.

In sunnier days, that might have been a good strategy. But if Trudeau wants to keep smiling, his people have to start fighting back on all the negativity that is currently emanating from Ottawa.

They are not going to be able to turn the tide with a few friendly newspaper columns. There are simply far too many journalists who have decided that Trudeau’s time is over and he needs to go.

An aggressive paid advertising campaign focusing on some of the positive initiatives of the government needs to be launched as soon as possible.

And that should be coupled with a negative paid campaign pointing out some of Poilievre’s weaknesses.

His radio silence on the new anti-scab legislation is worth pointing out, for example.

For Trudeau to smile inside and out, he needs some paid media support now.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 7, 2023.

OTTAWA—Party conventions are truly places to party. As a political party is a gathering of like-minded individuals, in a sense, it takes on the ethos of a large family.

In every family, there are those who don’t always agree. And sometimes high-octane gatherings like weddings, funerals and conventions can literally blow up.

Organizers for the Conservative convention in Québec City are hoping for what all political operatives seek: internal party peace.

During most of the year, the fighting spirit of a political activist is focused on the opposition. Their policies, their leadership, their direction are all fair game in the political battle for the hearts and minds of voters.

Conventions are the only place where the cannons are turned inward.

Party policy wonks fight for their favoured positions while volunteers try to support the issues that they think are important.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been trying to keep the temperature down at the convention, with good reason.

This is the first gathering of his clan in five years. And it is likely to be their last national confab before a federal election where they are obviously hoping their guy will win.

As happens in every political party, the pragmatists will battle purists on the convention floor.

Some purists will have been pushing the party to adopt a stronger stance on the so-called “woke” agenda.

Three provincial premiers have already adopted some limitations on the use of pronouns in schools by students without parental permission.

Thus far, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has refused to go down that road, but she is under substantial pressure from her own base to do so.

And that base will be very active at the convention.

Journalists have pointed out that there are no abortion resolutions under discussion.

And some observers wisely explain that away as “The smell of power.”

In a pre-convention interview, Dmitri Soudas, the former communications director for then-prime minister Stephen Harper, put it perfectly: “When the polls are good, Members (of Parliament) have nothing but good things to say.”

Those who work for the current leader are hoping for the same serenity.

But the convention wild card is the volunteer base. Many who are not job-dependent on Conservative success at the polls are motivated by religious beliefs that transcend politics.

Some may do their darndest to get touchy issues like abortion and gender reassignment back on the agenda.

The one elephant in the room that convention-goers have not been able to avoid is a convention resolution on defunding the public broadcaster in French and English.

The current resolution calls for an end to funding the CBC and Radio-Canada. That caught the attention of journalists in the heartland of Quebec as Radio-Canada is seen as the lifeblood of Quebec culture and history.

Any party proposing to shut the place down would do so at their peril.

And the second element to the story is the Conservatives need to gain seats in Quebec to have any chance of forming the government.

A promise to abolish Radio-Canada would make Pierre-Karl Péladeau happy, but would not curry much favour with anyone else.

The billionaire owner of Vidéotron has been campaigning for years to abolish federal funding for the public news channel that rivals his own, but no one has yet been convinced.

Politically speaking, it is hard to get positive media from a news outlet that you are planning to put out of business.

One possibility could be a convention resolution to defund the English—but not the French—CBC.

But that would likely face significant backlash as well as a charter challenge.

Poilievre may believe he has managed to build his popularity through social media, and does not really need to care about conventional news services.

But his constant attacks on multiple news platforms, including The Canadian Press, make him vulnerable to a journalistic backlash.

Before elections, the mainstream messaging is most important on Parliament Hill.

But once the writ drops, the focus of the so-called “legacy media” will make or break the outcome.

A happy weekend in Québec City could set the stage for a march toward a Conservative government.

But if that march trashes the voices of journalists at organizations like Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press, Poilievre’s efforts could be stymied.

When then-Progressive Conservative leader Kim Campbell called the election back in 1993, she was sailing to a clear majority.

A few ill-chosen words turned victory into defeat.

Poilievre needs to take a history lesson before he declares victory.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on June 19, 2023.

OTTAWA—A Conservative private member’s attempt to revive the abortion debate by conferring unique legal status on pregnant women was clobbered in the House last week.

The governing Liberals united with New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois to defeat Bill C-311 by almost a two-to-one margin.

Opponents of the bill introduced by Saskatchewan Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall numbered 205. Supporters mustered only 113 votes.

Under most circumstances, that should be the end of the story. But with the Conservatives leading in national public opinion polls, and their strong support for the bill, it will only be a matter of time before the question of the legal status of fetuses ends up being litigated when a future Wagantall bill is passed.

Witness the debate concerning the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act in Parliament to understand why this legislation could represent a threat to legal abortions in the country.

The United States is already experiencing a wave of anti-women and anti-gay legislation as a result of a Supreme Court ruling that put legal abortions at risk in parts of their country.

Canadian pundits said this could not happen here, but another item in the news last week paints a different picture.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her cabinet, including a health minister with a strong bias against legal abortions. Adriana LaGrange served as education minister in the United Conservative Party government of former premier Jason Kenney. In that role, she presided over one of the largest public sector cuts in Alberta history, firing 20,000 educational assistants, substitute teachers, bus drivers and maintenance staff.

With LaGrange at the helm and Smith’s well-documented ruminations on private medicine, it likely won’t be too long before the new government moves to start charging for more health services.

Even more concerning is the minister’s opposition to legal abortion in the province. Her maiden speech in the Alberta legislature four years ago was entitled, “The lord leads me where he needs me.”

While she was a school trustee, LaGrange served on the provincial board of Alberta Pro-Life. In her first provincial election, she was backed by RightNow, an activist anti-abortion organization.

As education minister, LaGrange introduced a controversial piece of legislation requiring parental notification when any student joined a gay-straight alliance club. The original protection from parental notification was designed to protect those students who could face danger if their parents became aware of their sexual orientation. Students were also denied the right to use the word ‘gay’ or ‘queer’ in describing after-school clubs, and administrators were permitted to keep their inclusivity policies secret.

If LaGrange was controversial in education, there is no reason to think she won’t repeat that history in health. Those who think that access to abortion is safe across the country need to face facts.

Wagantall in Saskatchewan and LaGrange in Alberta are only the tip of the iceberg. When the bill on pregnant women was introduced, the Conservative party was pretty much unanimous in support, starting with the leader.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he will not introduce legislation on abortion, but he has also stated that other members of his caucus are free to do so.

He is the only leader ambivalent about his support for the LGBTQ2S+ communities, refusing to attend Pride parades or showing visible support for those struggling with a wave of homophobia across the country.

With a raucous parliamentary session coming to close, Poilievre’s popularity continues to outstrip that of the governing Liberals.

Abacus Data released a poll last week in which 35 per cent of the respondents said they would vote Tory if an election were held today. That number had increased three percentage points since the previous month, while the Liberals were down two points at 28 per cent.

The appetite for electoral change is there and the Conservatives are the beneficiaries. Approximately 80 per cent of those polled said it is time for a change in government.

Polls move, and most would agree that both Poilievre and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are stellar campaigners. The fight may come right down to the wire in a tight election in 2025 (or whenever it happens).

If there is a Conservative majority win, do not be surprised if limitations on women’s reproductive rights and rights for those in the gay community resurface.

Premier Smith did not hide her intention to move toward health privatization.

Her party has many abortion opponents sitting in the legislature. A key one is now occupying the health minister’s chair.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on May 22, 2023.

OTTAWA–As northern Alberta is engulfed in flames, Premier Danielle Smith must be breathing a sigh of relief.

The forest fires have taken the spotlight away from an election in which her own gaffes would have played a major role. Some have suggested that the election should be postponed because the fires have necessitated the evacuation of more than 25,000 residents in multiple communities.

What could have been a daily discussion of Smith’s multiple positions on private medicine and interference in the judicial system has taken a back seat to evacuation and safety briefings on the status of the fires.

Smith has also joined hands with New Democratic Party Leader Rachel Notley in getting updates on the emergencies facing residents in northern Alberta.

As the flames abate, all eyes might have been on the May 18 leaders’ debate. But the choice of timing ensured that the audience would not be huge. For some reason, broadcasters aired the debate at 6 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, which meant that most Albertans would be busy getting supper ready or driving from work to home.

Polling shows more than 40 per cent of voters say they could be affected by the debate, so a major “aha” moment could prove to be a turning point for victory by the United Conservative Party or a defeat by the New Democrats.

Before the fires, the debate would have focussed almost exclusively on Smith’s plans to privatize the health care system. Before Smith returned to politics, running for the leadership of the UCP, she hosted a radio show that yielded plenty of election fodder for her opposition.

Some of the most shocking statements focused on her minority position against vaccinations. She confessed at one point that she was so disgusted with vaccine mandates that she refused to wear a poppy in honour of Remembrance Day. In videos from the pandemic period, Smith compared the 75 per cent of vaccinated Albertans to those who followed Adolf Hitler into tyranny.

She also claimed that doctors are not capable of managing the pandemic, and instead, it should be managed by soldiers, saying: “the problem with putting doctors in charge is that they seem hardwired against criticism. We seem to have a medical system that was almost like a military command structure that the person at the top cannot be argued with, cannot be contradicted, otherwise it’s some crime that’s worthy of punishment. If that’s the way the medical system operates, then I don’t think we can have them in charge again in a future pandemic.”

Now Smith says she wants citizens to forget about those comments and to focus on current issues.

But current issues should include how a premier would manage a future pandemic, and more importantly, how a premier would finance the health-care system. With such disdain for doctors, it is hard to see how she would support a public health-care system.

In a paper written two years ago, Smith said the healthcare system should change “to shift the burden of payment away from taxpayers and toward private individuals, their employers and their insurance companies.”

While seeking the UCP leadership, Smith proposed health-care spending accounts of $375 per Albertan to cover services and get people used to paying for out-of-pocket expenses.

She also claimed in a YouTube video discussion with a naturopathic doctor that it was within a person’s control to avoid stage four cancer.

On the morning of the debate, Alberta’s ethics commissioner upped the tension by issuing a report that found the premier in a conflict of interest for her interactions with the minister of justice and attorney general, trying to influence criminal charges faced by street preacher Artur Pawlowski.

The report could play a pivotal role in the election, as most polls claim the race is deadlocked. Notley is ahead in Edmonton while Smith leads in rural Alberta, so the election outcome will probably be decided by voters in the city of Calgary.

By all accounts, Smith has been premier-like in her handling of the fires. However, her party still refuses to accept the fact that carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, which prompts an increase in catastrophic fires and floods.

Mother Nature usually doesn’t play a direct role in an election, but a rainy voting day can depress the number of participants who get to the polls.

If Smith pulls off a victory, she can thank the province’s ongoing firefighting efforts for taking the focus off her health and vaccine pronouncements.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

If you compare the Trump triumph in the United States to the storm circling Alberta Premier Danielle Smith because of judicial interference allegations, it is a contrast worth reviewing.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on April 10, 2023.

OTTAWA—Donald Trump’s felonious behaviour has vaulted him to the front of the pack as the Republican choice for president.

The rest of the world is left shaking its collective head, but the circus surrounding Trump’s shenanigans simply seems to ignite his base and strike fear in the rest of his party.

As of the indictment last week, it appears possible that a convicted felon could become the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

What is truly bizarre is that the Republican Party is the one that claims it is on the side of law and order. Yet the majority of the leadership is lining up behind the first former president to be indicted.

It is painful to see Senator Lindsey Graham grovelling at the altar of Trump, asking people to send money for Trump’s legal defence fund.

Trump’s team said that it had raised $8-million in the wake of the indictment announcement. That does not include money that will be made flogging prison t-shirts, caps and memorabilia.

According to press reports, an initial $4-million came in within the first 24 hours after charges were filed.

Media also reported that Trump was using a fake, photo-shopped “mugshot” as part of his fundraising package, although Trump did not actually take a mug shot during his booking and arraignment.

It is hard to fathom how anyone would donate a hard-earned penny to the Trump circus.

His speech at Mar-a-Lago following the Manhattan booking was unbelievable. Replete with lies and accusations against anyone and everyone, the former president really looked as though he had lost his marbles.

He also ignored court admonitions to refrain from making comments that would put anyone in danger.

Trump’s Florida allocution was a no-holds-barred attack not only on the prosecutor, but also the judge and members of their families.

Even Trump’s lawyers admitted outside the courthouse that they were incapable of shutting the man up. He and his son, Donald Trump Jr., continued their disproven allegations in speeches, social media, and on multiple platforms.

None of the above seems to have dampened Trump’s appeal to his base. The allegations have cast him as a political victim and actually encouraged a bump in his numbers among Republicans, at least in the short term.

Most commentators think last week’s hike will lose steam if other charges are laid.

But in the meantime, Trump’s status as a potential criminal president has made him ever more popular with voters in his party.

What is wrong with American Republicans? It is simply inexplicable.

If you compare the Trump triumph in the United States to the storm circling Alberta Premier Danielle Smith because of judicial interference allegations, it is a contrast worth reviewing.

Smith is limping into an election next month, badly wounded because of her own admission that she tried to get charges dropped for an anti-vax pastor and supporter.

Smith has been dogged by allegations ever since she, herself, stated publicly in January that she was in touch with Crown prosecutors over charges related to COVID-19 violations.

Smith subsequently walked back her claim, but last week, the CBC reported on a leaked video where Smith had promised a defendant that she asked prosecutors almost weekly about the charges.

Smith is now stating she will pursue legal action against the public broadcaster and is refusing to comment further on the issue.

Her election challenges started long before the alleged judicial indiscretion. But that interference really seems to have hurt her politically with her base.

That stands in stark contrast to the Trump trajectory.

There is no doubt that the allegations have damaged Smith politically. A Leger poll published last week had the United Conservative Party locked in a dead heat with Rachel Notley’s New Democrats in Calgary.

The NDP enjoyed a strong lead in Edmonton with the provincial numbers at 47 per cent for the NDP and 44 per cent for the UCP.

The Leger online poll of 1,001 voters was conducted even before any reports of the secret tape of Smith’s conversations.

The numbers are no slam-dunk for the New Democrats because their huge lead in Edmonton is balanced by a gigantic UCP lead in rural Alberta.

The number of seats outside cities mean that a UCP victory in rural ridings could negate Edmonton wins for the NDP.

Therefore, the battleground for the May 29 election is Calgary, where the parties are locked in a dead heat.

The allegations swirling around Smith have handed the electoral momentum to Notley. Unlike Republicans, Calgarians are unlikely to reward such behaviour.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.