Party Lines

They did it — just like that, Health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine before even the U.S. did, becoming the third country to give it the green light. But this is hardly the end of the road. Now comes the transportation, the distribution, the getting needles into arms… and while the feds got to announce the good news this week, it’s the provinces who’ll be taking on a lot of the work from here....

The holidays, like everything else, are going to be different this year. Many will be coping with the loss of a loved one. Others who've lost their jobs will be struggling to put food on the table. And in just a few weeks, about two dozen federal aid programs are set to expire. Experts are predicting widespread hardship in the U.S., unless something is done. This is the context in which the Democr...

Larger deficit? Check. Some stimulus funding, down the line? You bet. A fully fleshed-out plan to support more women through the “she-cession”? Not exactly. Rosie and Elamin map out where expectations didn’t quite match up with reality in this week’s federal economic update, billed as a glimpse into the government’s plans to shape a post-pandemic recovery. Perhaps what’s most apparent following th...

Things have been moving quickly since Joe Biden’s transition team got the long-awaited access they need to reboot the U.S. Government. The President-Elect has already formally announced some of his cabinet picks. And now we have a pretty good idea of what his foreign policy and national security team is going to look like. There are also some names trickling out on the domestic front. John Kerry....

If you’re feeling a little déjà vu, you’re not alone. Rosie and Elamin feel it, too. The Prime Minister has returned to the front steps of his home to deliver regular addresses to Canadians… just like he did, back in March. Has his message changed? Are people listening? The two take stock of Trudeau’s move as more provinces enact stronger public health measures. They also look ahead to next week’s...

President-Elect Joe Biden can now formally begin the transition process, but that doesn’t mean Trump is giving up the fight. Trump’s legal team is forging ahead with a string of court battles, despite a growing number of both legal losses and high-profile Republicans coming out in support of the handover. This is far from the end of the story. Biden-Harris and their transition team face the diffic...

It’s a question at the top of Elamin’s mind, and it’s even the Last Call question for the week: who do you look to for public health advice, as you figure out how to go about your day during the pandemic? Do you tune into local guidance? Or are you more often paying attention to what your province or territory has to say — whether it’s coming from a premier, or a top doctor? And what if their mess...

It has now been a week since U.S. media networks called the election for Joe Biden. At this point, Biden’s powering ahead with the transition as much as he can. But Donald Trump still has not conceded. And he's still saying, without evidence, that the election was stolen from him. And not only is he talking (and tweeting) about it, he's also fighting the outcome in court and purging top officials....

“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” the Prime Minister said with cautious optimism this week. As news broke of Pfizer’s promising preliminary results with its COVID-19 vaccine — of which Canada has already secured millions of doses — even Elamin and Rosie have been feeling a little relief, these last few days. But what plans might the federal government have for the eventual rollout of a...

It’s the first episode in which we can say it: Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Yes, there will be challenges to come — including legal challenges from a defiant incumbent — but for now we’d like to focus on the significance of this historic moment. Today Elamin calls up Baratunde Thurston, the Emmy award-winning host of ‘How to Citizen with Baratunde’ and ‘We’re Having A...

Rosie and Elamin are running on little sleep after a late Tuesday night watching ballots trickle in south of the border — so they’ve recruited Bloomberg White House reporter Josh Wingrove to help make sense of what’s (still) unfolding in the U.S. election. When will we know who wins the presidency? What can initial results tell us about how our next-door neighbour is really feeling? And is Canada...

At time of recording, we still don't know who will be the next president of the United States. But honestly, there's enough to discuss while we wait for the numbers — from Trump's premature declaration of victory, to his preemptive legal strikes, to duelling demonstrations happening all across the country. Elamin calls up CBC’s Steven D'Souza, reporting from the lightning-rod state of Pennsylvania...

The odds of a clear result on voting day are slim to none, and that's going to prove a great challenge for news organizations, especially cable news networks who are so used to building a narrative out of the numbers as they come in and then presenting a conclusive result. All signs—not the least of which is that Trump has said he won't concede, even if he appears to be losing—point to a long draw...

Sure, the U.S. election is on November 3 — but that doesn’t mean that we’ll know who won the presidency by November 4. Between the lag time for mail-in ballots to Trump’s constant foreboding about voter fraud, there’s a great deal of tension building up to voting day. Add to that concerns over armed rightwing militias, voter suppression tactics, the threat of foreign interference and the ongoing g...

Four elections in under four days — whew. Voters in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and two federal Toronto ridings all headed to the polls this past week, and incumbents were largely rewarded across the board. B.C. Premier John Horgan and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe were handed majorities, while the federal Liberals held onto those two Toronto seats. But is there more to glean from these somewh...

Here we are in the final stretch. In just seven days, millions of Americans will head to the polls and elect the next president of the United States. Elamin calls up Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Toluse Olorunnipa, who covers the White House for the Washington Post. They go through the biggest stories of the past week, including Thursday night’s presi...

Yesterday marked exactly one year since the last federal election… and yesterday, Canadians were nearly sent to the polls once again. After the Conservatives put forward a motion in the House calling for a special committee to examine the WE Charity controversy, Liberals said they would make the vote on that motion a matter of confidence, meaning the minority government could have fallen. Okay, ye...

If it feels like the U.S. election has been going on for two to twenty years, take this in: we're now just two weeks out. This week Elamin calls up Hayes Brown, host of BuzzFeed’s Daily News podcast News O'Clock, and Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui. They talk through the top stories in the last week, from the push to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the competing town halls that replaced...

“This is something which we shall never forget.” Those were just some of the strong words Canada’s new ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, shared last week in reference to China’s treatment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The two Canadians have been detained in Chinese prison for well over 600 days, and just last weekend received their first consular visit since January. On a week that also marks...

It's been a quiet week in the U.S. presidential race, relatively speaking, considering the dizzying drama of the last few. But even still, there have been plenty of news stories that under normal circumstances would dominate headlines for weeks — the Senate confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett for a seat on the Supreme Court, the cancellation of a second debate between Donald Trump and Joe B...

Elamin Abdelmahmoud and the Pop Chat round-table invite you in to the group chat to help make sense of the cultural drama blowing up the internet. Bringing their hottest takes to the table, join them every week as they debate, discuss and work through the pop culture discourse. The Pop Chat panel consists of: Shireen Ahmed, Angelina Chapin, Kevin Fallon, Sarah Hagi, Hussein Kesvani, Stacy Lee Kong...

The Prime Minister revealed this week that he tested negative for COVID-19 last month. Should the public have known that he was concerned? As U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization continues to dominate the news cycle, Rosie and Elamin wonder when a politician's health becomes a matter of public concern. Plus: a look at the Green Party’s brand new leader, Annam...

We are less than 30 days away from the election and the President of the United States would have you believe that he’s got it all under control. His positive COVID-19 diagnosis? He feels “better than I did 20 years ago!” A growing threat from white supremacist militia groups? “Not a right-wing problem.” America itself? “MAKING IT GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Following a whirlwind few days in the he...

Breaking at the tail end of one of the strangest and most unpredictable election years in recent memory, news that Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 — after months of downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic — has turned out to be the ultimate October surprise. As questions swirl around Trump’s condition, and he remains in hospital, an already fragile election’s been thrown into even mo...

The second wave of the pandemic has begun, according to the prime minister and the premier of Ontario. That doesn’t cover the whole country, of course — hat tip to the Atlantic bubble — but it does turn up feelings of apprehension in Canada’s hardest-hit areas. Are tighter restrictions around the corner? And if so: is there enough political will to lock things down again, or will it be too tough a...