Author: Cam Holmstrom

In this day and age, we tend to parse every single new piece of information and what we hear to see if there is more in there than meets the naked eye. It’s a feature of our political environment too, which means sometimes we get stories in the media that

Last week I wrote a piece laying out more of the cuts made by Conservatives in Ontario and Alberta and put forth the thought about how this could be a preview of what we might see under a Scheer Conservative government in Ottawa. I didn’t plan on it to be

These are hard days to be a New Democrat on the Federal scene, without a doubt, and as the Fall election gets closer, it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. An EKOS poll came out today that had the Orange Team in 4th place nationally, well behind the Greens

A while back I wrote about the importance of the Parliamentary watchdogs that we have in Canada and why they need to be defended. These officers of Parliament do very important work, work that Canadians depend on. For my money, the officer that probably rises to the top of that

It was way back at the beginning of May I wrote a piece talking about the state of the Liberal Party, but specifically about the number of Liberal MPs who were decided not to run again. The resignation of Andrew Leslie in particular stood out, not just because of his

This week marks the final official sitting week of the 42nd Parliament of Canada, the end of four years of Liberal governance. And while the House may come back for what amounts to Parliamentary overtime in a couple of weeks to tie up some loose ends, this week still marks

Last week I wrote about the galling and tone deaf move that came from the city council in Victoria, British Columbia on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasions. The moves by councillor Ben Isitt just blew my mind, not just because of what he did, but because he doubled-down

Over the past year we’ve seen a bit of a blue wave wash over parts of Canada, as conservative governments have gotten elected in various places. This has made Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer very happy, as he feels this will help him in the Fall. Mind you, he’s been

It was just yesterday that I was happy to be able to report about some good news from the Senate on Romeo Saganash’s Bill C-262; after much delay and attempted skullduggery from the Senate Conservatives to hold up the Bill, it finally got out of the Senate’s Aboriginal Peoples committee.

In the Education field there are always certain debates that are always on going and that never seem to go away. And now in Ontario as we face more and more cuts from the Ford Conservatives, some of these conversations are coming up, but in a different context. It was

Today is a day that many in Ottawa have been looking forwards now for many months, partially because of the importance of the announcement coming but also partially because of its possibility to affect the Fall election. Today was the day that Dr. Eric Hoskins released the report from his

Across Canada many people and groups have been concerned about the rise of Conservative parties in certain parts of the country. A lot of that concern is well founded, as many of these conservative parties have promised to roll back and eliminate a lot of progressive policy that’s helped to

With only two weeks left in the scheduled sitting of the House of Commons, there are many pieces of proposed legislation that are still in limbo for many reasons. For one piece in particular, Bill C-262, it has been held up in the Senate by Conservatives who have wanted to

Way back in April, which seems like ages ago right now, the Ford Conservatives brought forward their controversial budget. That budget included many controversial items, but there was one that not only seemed very out of bounds but has also raised the ire of many in Ford’s own usual supports.

Sometimes being involved in politics in 2019 can be quite surreal. Stories come out and you can’t help but wonder that if in a bygone era if that particular story would have never been reported upon, or if it wouldn’t be seen across the whole country and beyond. We now

With June now in full swing, we’re starting to see more and more third party groups, and of course the parties, ramp up their activities. And with the amazing deep run in the NBA Playoffs by the Toronto Raptors, that’s pushed some of these groups to purchase some prime TV

For many of us who follow politics closely and get involved, we all have our heroes and people that we look up to. We all have our reasons for revering this figure or that one, but for the most part that individual has made a serious impact on our lives

The month of June is one that is going to be full of all kinds of political announcements. Being that last month that the House of Commons is scheduled to sit and with all of the parties starting to role out policy that will be a part of the Fall

One axiom that I’ve always lived by in politics is that campaigns almost never go totally form. It never fails that some surprises and curveballs come out, things that we didn’t expect to see that while not making a huge impact, hurt none the less. These things can sting and

After a bit of a hiatus, today I took the time to record and post the newest episode of the Magpie Brûlé podcast. In this newest episode, I review what’s left to be done in the rest of the 42nd Parliament and discuss how it all might actually happen, I