On The Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast

It's DAY 15 for John Wright and me on our daily #cdnpoli podcast - The WRIT Race. A few things you'll learn from today's show. 1) Writs don't get "dropped". 2) John give us a master class on how polls work 3) Justin Trudeau is emerging as a Ballot Question in this campaign. Take 20 minutes. Let us know what you think! You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subsc...

Mere hours after a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport, Conservative leader Erin O'Toole seemed to be heeding John Wright's advice on how to respond to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Liberal campaign insiders are telling the Toronto Star there is no plan to shift direction or hit the reset button on the campaign plan. But Keith Leslie suggested the Trudeau campai...

John Wright says the bombings and ISIS attacked near the Kabul airport Thursday afternoon have squarely centred "Afghanistan" as the ballot question that will define the Canadian federal election campaign. And that raises a critical question for the Liberal team. How does Justin Trudeau answer the Afghanistan question? Is this Erin O'Toole's time to breakthrough, not only as the Conservative leade...

We engage in an unvarnished discussion with Amanda Galbraith about the state of the federal election campaign. (NOTE: Feminism is her second favourite F-word:) Amanda says we're into the "meh" phase but don't think for a minute that what happens in week's two and three aren't going to affect the outcome. She points to Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef referring to the Taliban as "br...

Sussex Strategy co-founder, Brett James joins John Wright and Dave Trafford in the DAY 9 edition of The WRIT Race. In this episode we talk about everything from Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole's efforts to ingratiate himself to Canadian voters, even if that risks criticism from the right-leaning element of the party's core to the effect of digital campaigns. And we close by remembering Roll...

ICYMI: John Wright and Dave Trafford did the LIVE STREAM video version of the WRIT Race on Monday afternoon. Here's the audio from the show, if that suits you better. Otherwise, we'd encourage you to check out the YouTube show here. We're also broadcasting on Dave's Facebook page. We plan to do the video version every Monday over the course of the campaign and on Election Night. On Day 8, the Libe...

David Skok is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Logic. He joins us in this edition of the WRIT Race to discuss the media's role in covering the federal election campaign in Canada. And asks whether we're focused on the things that really matter. "This will be an election campaign framed as a referendum on Canada’s response to a global pandemic, with parties jockeying for position on how the gover...

In this weekend edition of The WRIT Race, Tony Chapman, host and producer of Chatter That Matters, says the election of Tim Houston's Progressive Conservative in Nova Scotia should signal a shift in how major parties approach election campaigns. Bob Pickard, at Signal Leadership Communications, says the O'Toole Conservatives and Singh New Democrats won the communications battle over Justin Trudeau...

Today on The WRIT Race - the daily #cndpoli #podcast, John Wright and Dave Trafford are joined by Keith Leslie and Erin Trafford, who offer up insights into what happened in the #NovaScotia election. Also, will the federal Liberal party be able to resist running against Doug Ford @fordnation in Ontario? And we highlight a Master Class by Sean O'Shea at Global News Toronto on how-to-hold -political...

Today on The WRIT Race daily #podcast, John Wright and Dave Trafford ponder whether there can be such a thing as a national election platform when the needs of Canadians in Atlanta Canada are different from the issues faced in the prairies and the territories. Also, how will mail-in voting/voter turnout affect the outcome in some key ridings on election day? You can watch OR listen to this episode...

Yes, it's early in the federal election campaign in Canada, but there are already indications that the traditional Liberal issues aren't top of mind as priorities for most Canadians. John Wright SVP at Maru Public Opinion says the NDP and Conservatives continue to frame this campaign in terms of affordability. John says external events like Afghanistan and the Progressive Conservative provincial e...

Day 2 of the federal election campaign in Canada and the agenda has been overtaken by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. The Taliban's lighting like win over Afghan forces that put up no defence of the capital Kabul has dominated the domestic political debate and has the Liberal leader on his back foot. Justin Trudeau is being forced to display leadership, to govern and to develop p...

Hey there!  I know you come here for your dose of Ontario politics and we usually focus our attention on Queen's Park. But for the next 36 days, federal politics will be Ontario politics.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it official yesterday, we are going to the polls on September 20th. So, John Wright and I have decided to return to the daily podcast during the writ period. (That's the way th...

Okay, it's been all but shuttered since 2012, so the redevelopment plans for Ontario Place on Toronto's waterfront are long overdue. But, it would appear that plan is getting some pretty good reviews. The back-to-school-plan - not so much. Premier Doug Ford had promised to present a comprehensive plan before the end of July. Well, they missed that deadline. We're told to expect details the first w...

In this week's edition of On the Ledge, Ontario Real Estate Association and past Progressive Conservative leader in Ontario, Tim Hudak joins the podcast. Tim talks about his recommendations to get the province's tourism industry back to business. Does that mean we need to embrace a vaccine "passport" to ensure travellers and workers feel comfortable and confident to make that happen? Meanwhile, On...

Do you suppose Ontario retailers, barbers and nail salons will simply ignore the rules and open up for business on Canada Day? Perhaps the better question is, how many businesses will move to Step 2 on July 2nd (as originally planned) because it makes little or no sense to open up on Wednesday only to have to close down for the July 1st stat? We also wonder whether Premier Doug Ford has misplayed...

This week on the podcast with John Wright, Keith Leslie and Dave Trafford, the province is on the verge of blowing through its vaccination targets, (will the Ford government accelerate plans to open the economy?), the NDP is the first out of the gate with campaign ads, the Tories have named their platform build team,   AND.. Oh ya, while we're recoding the show, Keith gets a text telling us we may...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was ready to use the Notwithstanding Clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to cut Toronto City Council by half, bu the Court of Appeal spoil his historic flirtation when a three judge panel said he could do just that. Now, he's ready to lob the constitutional nuke so he can restrict third party spending during an election campaign. And with few exceptions,...

The Ontario legislature is now in its summer break. MPP's will be back at Queen's Park in September. In the meantime, there is a good deal of speculation, if not expectation, that Premier Doug Ford will shuffle, maybe blow up, his front bench. The Toronto Star is reporting that Ford is considering a major cabinet shakeup as he prepares to present a team worthy of re-election a year from now.   You...

What is keeping Ontario Premier Doug Ford from deciding whether kids will be returning to school this spring? Public health authorities across the province, including Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, says there's no reason why students can't be in class as early as this week. The "Science Table" is offering the same advice.  Still, no decision from Queen's Park and Do...

By most accounts, the Ontario government's three phased plan to re-open the economy over the summer months of 2021 is welcomed relief and a glimmer of hope. But will it be enough to reverse Premier Ford's slide in the polls a year out from the next election? We're joined this week by CTV's Queen's Park Bureau Chief Colin D'Mello to talk about the prospects for the Tories, the NDP and the Liberals...

The Greater Toronto Area has been under a quasi-lockdown/stay-at-home order for nearly six months and Ontario Premier Doug Ford still finds it necessary to extend the order until June 2nd. It was a week of more flailing by the Ford government, engaging in a political slappy fight with the feds over who should shoulder the blame for their failures to manage the pandemic response. And so much for co...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford publicly supports his Minister of Long Term Care, despite Dr. Merrilee Fullerton's dumpster fire reaction to the Long Term Care Commission Report on the government's response to the COVID outbreaks that have killed thousands residents and staff at LTC facilities across the province. But that didn't quell calls for her to be fired. Minister Fullerton may be correct when sh...

As we recorded this session, it was the first time in months that we could say, "Premier Ford didn't meet the media this week." (NOTE: He did so a few hours after we wrapped our recording). All in all, it marked a relatively better week for the Ontario government. There are still plenty of critical voices, pointing to the Auditor General's report on LTC during the pandemic, too few "paid sick days...

Bad days have quickly turned into bad weeks for Premier Doug Ford and his Ontario government. Now, it's clear that the province's handling of the growing COVID crisis has shaken public confidence in Ford Nation.  Polling by Maru Opinion indicates 8 in 10 Ontarians believe the Ford government is "flying by the seat of its pants" and only 1 in 5 would commit to voting for the Progressive Conservativ...