It's Political with Althia Raj

In this episode of "It's Political," the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau reporter Ryan Tumilty and deputy bureau chief Alex Ballingall join host Althia to discuss the year in Canadian politics and what to look ahead to in 2026. What to make of Prime Minister Mark Carney's first year in office and how long can his minority government survive? This episode of "It's Political" was produced by Althia Raj...

The federal government signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta yesterday, pledging support to build a new pipeline and make changes to environmental regulations. Prime Minister Mark Carney celebrated a "big day" for Alberta and Canada, but opposition to the deal was vast, including from environmental groups, B.C's Premier, Coastal First Nations, and even within the Liberal Caucus. After...

Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont's decision to cross the floor to the Grits handed them a crucial vote to pass their budget and triggered a chain of events that left Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre struggling to maintain his grip on his caucus. In this episode of "It's Political," the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau reporters — Raisa Patel, Mark Ramzy, Ryan Tumilty and deputy bureau chief Alex B...

U.S. President Donald Trump is clear and consistent: he wants Canadian auto sector jobs on his side of the border. He's refused to craft a side deal on autos and has plainly said he'll increase tariffs until it makes no economic sense for Canada to build cars. This week on "It's Political" we look at whether the auto industry is worth saving, and how it could be propped up – despite the uncertaint...

Pierre Poilievre's Conservative Party says Canada's justice system is broken, and that overly lax bail laws are leading to preventable violent crime. Prime Minister Mark Carney seems to agree. But are they misdiagnosing the problem? In this episode, we take a look at the state of our corrections system, what's not working, and what can be done about it. Althia is joined by Tom Stamatakis, presiden...

Things might look dire for the NDP, with the loss of official party status and its seven members not always seeing eye to eye. But at least three individuals — Edmonton MP   Heather McPherson, former broadcaster Avi Lewis, and union leader Rob Ashton —   have stepped up offering to lead New Democrats to greener pastures.  In this episode of "It's Political," the Althia Raj sits down with Toronto S...

Newly minted Liberal Leader Mark Carney ran on an ambitious platform. He promised quick and bold action. But six months into his tenure as prime minister, what have Canadians witnessed? This week on "It's Political" we'll get a variety of viewpoints on how Carney is dealing with Trump, the economy, the environment, among other issues. Then, the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau will discuss the challen...

Join Althia Raj and the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau as they get ready to cover a busy and unpredictable fall in Canadian politics.

Canada's Minister of National Defence David McGuinty joins Althia to discuss increases to the country's defense budget and what   the   relationship looks like with the U.S. going forward. Their conversation follows    Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement this week that Canada will greatly increase military spending to 2 per cent of GDP just as NATO allies get together later this month to dis...

MPs returned to the House of Commons this week with three leaders missing   from   the chamber: Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh. But that wasn't the only difference on Parliament Hill. His Majesty, King Charles III, came to Canada to read Prime Minister Mark Carney's first throne speech — widely seen as a message to U.S. President Donald Trump and to Canadians about this country...

What are Conservative MPs and candidates thinking as the party regroups after their election loss and charts a path forward? On this week's show, we ask some of them.  But first, Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel   gets us caught up on what happened at the Conservatives' caucus meeting Tuesday. In this episode: Toronto Star politics reporter Raisa Patel; Greg McLean, MP for Calgary Centre; Bernard...

The federal election results are in. The Liberals have won a fourth term with Mark Carney at the helm, besting Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives but falling just shy of a majority government.  While the Tories have much to celebrate, Poilievre's seat loss in Carleton is a major wrinkle that will impact his party for the next few months and possibly years.  The NDP also saw its leader Jagmeet Singh...

In this episode: Toronto Star Ottawa deputy bureau chief Alex Ballingall and Ottawa bureau reporters Ryan Tumilty, Raisa Patel and Mark Ramzy. Hosted by Althia Raj. Mark Carney will remain prime minister. On Monday, he led the Liberals to a fourth consecutive term. It was a close two-way race that saw the Liberals underperform their own expectations. The NDP lost official party status and their le...

The federal election campaign is in the final stretch with just a few days   to go.  The party leaders are crisscrossing the country, trying to shore up support in new ridings and protect turf they've long considered their own. With the platforms finally released — most with large deficits and some creative accounting — what is really on the voters' mind? Our panel of recovering partisans will off...

Canada's political parties have now released their election platforms and put a price tag on their plans. Some of their costing is a little suspect, some uses   creative accounting,   it all fails    to go far enough to   address the problem economists say political leaders should be grappling with: increasing the country's productivity.  This week, on "It's Political," we look at productivity. Wh...

With less than two weeks left until election day, the leaders' debates were a crucial time   for   the parties to make a pitch to voters and take their opponents down a peg. Our panel of 'recovering   partisans'   weighs in on the highlights of the debates and the Leaders' Debate Commission's decision to exclude the Green Party and   accredit right-wing "media" to the debates. In this episode: Kar...

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed this week that if elected prime minister, his government would invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure mass murderers serve consecutive sentences without a chance for parole. "They should only come out in a box," the Tory leader said Monday.  In this episode of "It's Political," we look at the impact of Poilievre's decision and what the main parti...

Pierre Poilievre held massive rallies in Alberta this week and received an endorsement from former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But why is he spending precious campaign time in a province with solid Conservative support?  We've also seen members of the media increasingly speaking out against the Conservative campaign for exerting too much control over the press. Our "recovering partisans" compar...

Halfway through this five-week federal election   campaign, no major party has yet released its platform and there have been no big climate change announcements either. With U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and affordability concerns top of voters' minds, addressing our heating planet seems to be taking a back seat to other considerations, namely how to build up Canada's economy through energ...

Canada was spared    Wednesday when the U.S. President Donald Trump announced new punishing tariffs on the rest of the world. But many Canadian   industries are already feeling the pinch from tariffs Trump   had imposed earlier, and big job losses are on the horizon.  This week, Liberal Leader Mark Carney headed to Ottawa and put on his prime minister's hat to respond to the crisis, just as Conser...

Conservative party infighting! Candidate removals! U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs! There's been a lot of issues flying around this election campaign but one thing might be flying below the radar: the parties' actual policy proposals. Today, we offer the first in a series examining policy offerings. We'll unpack issues that matter to you, and matter to the politicians hoping to represent you...

U.S. President Donald Trump injected himself into the Canadian election campaign this week but he was already a central figure. This week on "It's Political" our panel of recovering partisans break down the campaign's first week. Join David Christopherson, the former NDP Hamilton Centre MP;  Sen. Rodger Cuzner, the former Liberal MP for Cape Breton—Canso; Kristina Michaud, the outgoing Bloc Quebec...

The election has kicked off, leaders have hit the trail, rallies were had, press conferences were held and photo ops were taken. It's been a busy 24 hours. In this episode of "It's Political," join Toronto Star reporters Raisa Patel and Ryan Tumilty as they break down Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's and Liberal Leader Mark Carney's first foray into their campaigns. In this episode: Toronto...

Liberal Leader Mark Carney spent his 10th day as prime minister asking Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament, and then asking Canadians for a mandate to keep his current job for longer.  She agreed and Canadians will now go to the polls on April 28. There is a lot at stake with U.S. President Donald Trump looming over this Canadian election like no other.  On this episode of "It's Pol...

The federal parties are putting the final touches on their election campaigns. What just recently seemed like an easy victory for the Conservatives is no longer so certain. This week, several public opinion polls had the Liberal ahead and in majority territory.  Canada's 45th general election will be an unexpectedly tight race. This week on "It's Political," Toronto Star Ottawa bureau reporters un...