The Writ

Is the way we choose our party leaders broken? With Danielle Smith becoming Alberta’s premier without the backing of caucus (or voters) and the B.C. NDP disqualifying Anjali Appadurai from its leadership race, thereby giving the contest to caucus favourite David Eby by default, there’s reason to think that it might be.

Ballots were cast in municipal elections in Ontario and Manitoba this week, but could these campaigns have been better served with political parties? Big cities like Vancouver and Montreal have them while voters in most of the rest of the country do not. Do these voters need a little help making their choices?

Meanwhile in Ottawa, the inquiry into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invoking of the Emergencies Act continues and the Bloc Québécois raises the thorny issue of Canada’s attachment to the monarchy.

Joining me to discuss all of this on this week’s episode of The Writ Podcast is Aaron Wherry, senior writer with the CBC.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

The B.C. New Democrats were expecting a coronation. Instead, they got a controversy.

Shortly after B.C. Premier John Horgan announced his impending resignation, it appeared that cabinet minister David Eby would be acclaimed as his replacement. Nearly the entire NDP caucus had lined-up behind Eby and no one else had come forward.

That changed when climate activist Anjali Appadurai, who had run as a candidate for the federal NDP in the 2021 election, threw her hat in the ring. Eby’s sleepy campaign was quickly overrun by Appadurai, who had the backing of influential environmentalist groups in the province.

That backing, though, led to allegations that Appadurai was getting improper assistance by third-party groups. On Wednesday, the B.C. New Democrats decided to disqualify her from the contest, leaving Eby as the sole heir to Horgan’s throne.

Richard Zussman, politics reporter for Global News in B.C., joins me on this episode of The Writ Podcast to explain this week’s dramatic events.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

After a raucous campaign, Danielle Smith won the United Conservative Party leadership last Thursday and was sworn in as the new premier of Alberta on Tuesday.

That was the easy part.

Now, Smith faces keeping together a caucus that has not always lived up to the “united” in the party name, following through on some of her controversial leadership campaign promises and preparing for a general election scheduled to be held in less than eight months.

On this episode of The Writ Podcast I’m joined by Elise von Scheel, politics reporter with the CBC in Calgary, to break down these latest developments in Alberta.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

As expected, the Coalition Avenir Québec won a big majority government in Monday’s provincial election. But it was only expected because of the polls — because the polls turned out to be right.

The polling firm that has one of the best track records over the last few years has been Léger, with near-perfect calls not only in the Quebec election but in the Ontario election in June and the last two federal campaigns, too.

To explain how Léger conducts its polls, I’m joined on The Writ Podcast by Christian Bourque, executive vice-president at Léger.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

François Legault and the Coalition Avenir Québec started the 2022 Quebec election campaign with a big lead in the polls.

And that’s where they are ending it — despite themselves.

But while another CAQ majority looks very likely, the campaign hasn’t answered perhaps the biggest question we had when it began — are Quebec’s politics in the midst of a re-alignment as the Conservatives and Québec Solidaire rise and the Liberals and the Parti Québécois fade away?

To discuss what each of the parties can expect on Monday night, I’m joined again by Philippe J. Fournier of 338Canada.com on The Writ Podcast.

On Monday night, you can catch me on CBC Radio One in Quebec and online. I’ll be analyzing the results as they come in. The show starts at 7:30 PM ET and I hope you’ll tune in!

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

The 2021 federal election is one the Greens would like to forget, as the party failed to run a full slate of candidates and captured only two seats and 2.3% of the vote. It was a disastrous showing that followed months of internal turmoil.

Now the Greens are trying to find a replacement for former leader Annamie Paul — and haven’t seemed to put their internal divisions behind them. The low-key leadership race features a lot of new faces, one familiar face in former leader Elizabeth May and a concept borrowed from Green parties overseas: co-leaders.

To discuss how the contest is shaping up, on this week’s episode of The Writ Podcast I’m joined by the CBC’s David Thurton, who has been following this race closely.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

Pierre Poilievre won the Conservative leadership race with more support on the first ballot than any previous leadership candidate for the Conservative Party or its predecessors. It was a big win.

His first week, though, did not go so smoothly after one Quebec MP, Alain Rayes, quit caucus, citing Poilievre’s tone and style of politics as the reason. That the party had to subsequently apologize for text messages sent to party members in Rayes’s riding asking them to call his office to voice their displeasure made Rayes’s point for him.

Meanwhile, at a Liberal caucus retreat in New Brunswick, Justin Trudeau announced new measures meant to provide relief from inflation — an issue Poilievre has been hammering the government over for months. Jagmeet Singh of the NDP was quick to claim credit.

So it’s been a bit of a week.

To discuss it all, I’m joined this week by the CBC’s Aaron Wherry, Shannon Proudfoot, reporter with The Globe and Mail and Supriya Dwivedi, Director of Policy and Engagement at the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, and Senior Counsel for Enterprise Canada. Supriya is also the co-host of the Seriously Podcast.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

The Conservative leadership race will be finally coming to a close on Saturday when the winner will be announced in Ottawa.

The safe bet is that Pierre Poilievre will win — perhaps even on the first ballot. But what will the results mean not only for the consensus front runner, but for Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber and Scott Aitchison?

Does it matter if Poilievre wins on the first ballot? What’s next for Charest should he lose? What will the results mean for Lewis and the social conservative wing of the party? And did Baber and Aitchison succeed in what they set out to do by launching their long-shot candidacies?

To answer these questions and lots more, I’m joined this week by Tim Powers of Summa Strategies, Chad Rogers of Crestview Strategy and Stephanie Levitz of the Toronto Star.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

On Sunday, François Legault officially kicked off his re-election campaign in Quebec. Voters will be going to the polls on October 3 in an election that is Legault’s to lose.

But despite his party’s big lead in the polls, there’s still a lot at stake in this election campaign. The Coalition Avenir Québec needs to avoid any mistakes that could get in the way of a victory while the old governing parties, the Liberals and Parti Québécois, need to avoid catastrophe.

Québec Solidaire and the Conservatives, meanwhile, are looking to make a lasting impression.

Joining me this week, and for every week for the rest of the campaign, is Philippe J. Fournier of 338Canada.com. Starting next week, Philippe will join me for subscriber-only bonus episodes, but he’s here this week to break down the first days of this campaign.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe

The next few weeks are going to be pretty important ones for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.

The Conservative Party is about to name a new leader in (probably) Pierre Poilievre, who could turn out to be the most formidable political opponent Trudeau has faced since Stephen Harper.

Parliament is about to return to work in the House of Commons as the Liberals continue their balancing act of keeping their minority government afloat with the support of Jagmeet Singh and the New Democrats.

And, if the Coalition Avenir Québec is re-elected in early October, Trudeau’s on-again/off-again relationship with Premier François Legault looks set to endure.

To give us his take on what challenges — and opportunities — the Trudeau Liberals face this fall, I’m joined this week by Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara and former director of research and advertising in the Prime Minister's Office. He's also polled for the Trudeau Liberals in each of the last three election campaigns.

As always, in addition to listening to the episode in your inbox, at TheWrit.ca or on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, you can also watch this discussion on YouTube.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thewrit.ca/subscribe