Author: Cam Holmstrom

As we talk about a lot at this blog, the next Federal election is just around the corner. Or at least it feels like it’s just around the corner, as everyday we start to feel the tension rise in the House of Commons and we see signs of what is

Every day that the House of Commons is in session we have Question Period. At it’s best, it’s a forum where MPs from around the country can ask questions of the government and bring attention to issues that need them. At it’s worst it’s….well…it’s bad; rhetorically torqued questions followed by

Timing can be quite the thing in politics; it can be a great boost to one’s fortunes, or it can be the biggest drain on them. It’s not always what exactly happens itself, but the timing of when it happens that can bring about questions, raise thoughts and create impressions.

In politics just about everywhere in the World, there are truisms that really apply just about anywhere you go. One of those truisms is while there are many good people in politics, there are some who are simply the opposite of good and decent. There are some people who you

We have reached the end of April and while Spring is coming bit by bit, it can’t get here soon enough for many of us. One group of people happy to see the end of the month are surely those who work in the PMO and sit on the government

Today the House of Commons returns for the last gasp of this Parliament before the Fall election. MPs will sit for seven of the next eight weeks with lots of unfinished business on the agenda, much legislation still needed to be passed and tension already rising. Normally in any parliamentary

In my time on Parliament Hill, I was blessed to get to see and experience many things. But along with the good and amazing came the rough, stressful, difficult and bad. I got to work for four amazing MPs in my time, but as the way thing is in life,

In the weeks since the first Ford Ontario Conservative budget, we’ve been seeing a steady drip of stories coming out about cut after cut after cut. These stories have brought out levels of frustration and consternation the likes of while Ontario hasn’t seen since the Harris years. A couple of

Now that the Alberta election has passed, the eyes of most of the Canadian political scene are looking towards this falls Federal Election as the next big political event to hit our country. And while there will be many issues that will be at play in that campaign, one of

The House of Commons is currently on it’s last big break before they rise for the Summer. After that, when the Fall comes, the writ will drop and the 43rd General Election will start. So many MPs are making good use of this time, getting to events and being out

Yesterdays election on Prince Edward Island ended up delivering on the drama that many of us expected, even if the result wasn’t what many had anticipated. The result of the 27-seat election took  much longer to decide then it did just the week before in the 87 seat Alberta election,

Tonight promises to be an interesting night in Canada’s smallest province, as Islanders go to the polls to elect their next government. Will the governing Liberals win another term? Will the Green make Canadian history and form Government or the Official Opposition for the first time ever? Will we see

I know it’s a bit of a cliché for some to say, but honestly it’s an amazing time that we live in. Thanks to the technologies at our fingertips and everything that’s flowed from them, it’s really changed how we life, how we share and how we go about just

Today I took the chance to record and post the next episode of the Magpie Brûlé podcast. In this episode I gets provincial. I talk about the results of the Alberta Election, the fallout and how it will affect the federal scene. I also go into the potentially historic vote

When polling firms do surveys every so often on who society trusts, there is a typical list of professions that finds itself at towards the bottom; politicians are usually one of them. It’s a reputation that while not fair to all politicians, is not one that hasn’t come unearned. There

Through out the whole SNC/PMO scandal, anonymous voices were coming out of the woodwork to smear former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould and over time, those attempts failed miserably. That failure didn’t stop them, and even after she was removed from the Liberal caucus, it continued. But for the past weeks

Spring is finally arriving in earnest; the weather has gotten nice and warm, the snow is melting away and it seems that our long winter is finally done (knock on wood). But it seems that spring 2019 could also be dubbed another thing: election season. With the Alberta Election now

Yesterday was a watershed day in our politics for this year, without a doubt. And now here we are, on the morning after, picking through the bones of the result, trying to divine what it all means for the country as we move ahead. But before I get to that,

Today is election day in Alberta, one of the biggest provincial elections that we’ve seen in a very long time. So tonight here at Magpie Brûlé, always with an eye towards trying new things, we’ve decided to run a live blog of the night. We’ll be starting at 9 pm

In last weeks Ontario budget, there were lots of things in there that poked and prodded at the perceived enemies of the Ford Conservatives. There were also lots of cuts and while assumed it would be worse, I say “just wait, that time will come”. But one of the measures