B.C. Conservative leader John CumminsBritish Columbia is living up to it's reputation of being the wild west of Canadian politics — this time, literally.

Since the beginning of the election campaign two weeks ago, the fledgling B.C. Conservative Party has fired three candidates after discovering some 'bozo' remarks they made both on social and traditional media.

[ Related: Turfed B.C. Conservative candidate Ian Tootill ran afoul of Internet law ]

One of those fired was Mischa Popoff, the Tory candidate for Boundary Similkameen.

Popoff, according to the Vancouver Sun, wrote controversial opinion pieces that sometimes appeared in Kelowna newspapers.

In March 2012, he wrote: “No one can blame a woman who experiences divorce or abandonment after having kids. The issue is with women who enter parenthood with their eyes wide open without a man by their side, either by using a man to get pregnant or through a sperm bank.”

On the Missing Women Inquiry, he wrote: “No one wants prostitutes to go missing. But guess what? They do, and no

Read More »from Ousted B.C. Conservative candidate says he won’t be ‘bull’-ied

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Human Resources Minister Diane Finley are expected to announce changes about the Temporary Foreign Workers program

Incessant media reports and a very public backlash: Those are invariably the two impetuses for any government to act quickly.

That seems to be the case with regard to the temporary foreign worker program.

On Monday afternoon, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney held a press conference to announce new rules with regard to the controversial program meant to help Canadian companies withstand short term labour shortages.

Here are some of the changes as explained by Minister Finley.

First, we will require that employers using the Program pay temporary foreign workers the prevailing wage for a job.

Let me clarify that change.

In the past, employers had the flexibility to pay temporary foreign worker wages up to 15% below the prevailing wage for a higher-skilled occupation, and 5% below the prevailing wage for a lower-skilled occupation.

Provided they could demonstrate that the wage being paid to a temporary foreign worker was the same as that being paid to

Read More »from Ottawa announces changes to the temporary foreign worker program

The Harper Conservatives are faced with a significant and real challenge: how do you counter the popularity of Justin Trudeau?

As we all know, they've chosen attack ads.

But how about something like this?

The video was created for the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner which took place on Saturday night.

These types of 'productions' are exactly what the Conservatives in Canada should be using to buoy the image and popularity of Stephen Harper.

[ Related: Are political attack ads the same as bullying? ]

Recent polls suggest that the Justin Trudeau Liberals could win the 2015 federal election.

A new poll — conducted by Harris/Decima for the Canadian Press — suggests that 57 per cent of Canadians have a "favourable view" of the new Liberal leader compared to favourability ratings of 42 per cent and 40 per cent for NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, respectively.

Canadians believe that Trudeau "cares" about them and "shares" their values. In other words, they like

Read More »from Instead of launching attack ads, Stephen Harper should be like Barack Obama

We've all done it. At least once, late at night when no one was watching?

We've all ran a red light, right?

Well, so has B.C. Premier Christy Clark.

On Saturday, the Vancouver Sun published an excellent 4,000 word essay — if you will — by journalist Jonathan Fowlie about Christy Clark, her background, her relationship with her son Hamish and about the upcoming May 14th election. You should read it here — it is really very well written.

[ Related: B.C. Premier Christy Clark criticized for joke about her ex-husband ]

At one point in the artilce, Fowlie recounts a morning where he traveled with Clark and Hamish — in their Acura SUV — as mother took son to school.

At times, [Clark and Hamish] seem more like sidekicks — siblings even — than they do mother and son. And especially so the morning when the two were on their way to Hamish’s goalie clinic.

“Let’s see you go through this red light,” Hamish challenged as they pulled up that morning, at 5:15 a.m., to an abandoned Vancouver intersection.

“I

Read More »from B.C. Premier Christy Clark slammed for running a red light

Denis CoderreThe cat — as they say — is out of the bag.

After months of speculation, it appears that Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Denis Coderre will indeed run for the mayoralty of Montreal.

Earlier this week, a source told La Presse that Coderre intends to make an official announcement on May 16th and that he will resign his seat in the House of Commons at the end of the current Parliamentary session in June. The election takes place on November 13, 2013.

The Gazette is reporting that Coderre has already registered a political party name with the Quebec elections watchdog: the name of the party will be 'Denis Coderre Team For Montreal.'

Yahoo! Canada News caught up with political scientist Bruce Hicks, a Fellow at Carleton University and an expert on Quebec politics, to get an understanding of what Coderre's candidacy means especially in light of the scandals that have plagued Montreal's City Hall for years.

[ Related: Quebec’s anti-corruption forces raid offices at Montreal’s City Hall ]

Here

Read More »from Liberal MP Denis Coderre to run for mayor in Montreal: reports

Ten days into a provincial election campaign there's finally some good news for Christy Clark's B.C. Liberals.

A new Angus Reid poll released on Friday suggests that the governing party is gaining in popularity. In fact, since the beginning of the campaign the Liberals have gained 3 percentage points, while the opposition NDP have remained stagnant.

Voting intention of decided voters:

- BC NDP 45 per cent (=),
- BC Liberals 31 per cent (+3),
- BC Conservatives 11 per cent (-1)
- BC Greens 10 per cent (-3)

It's not great news — the Liberals still have a long, uphill battle — but at this point, I'm sure they'll take the positive numbers.

[ Related: B.C. Liberals launch ‘Spend-o-Meter’ to tally cost of NDP campaign promises ]

"The opposition party remains at 45 per cent, with the highest rated leader and the best performer when respondents are asked who should lead the government in Victoria. The NDP keeps comfortable leads in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and maintains a good retention

Read More »from B.C. Liberals move up in the polls, but still way behind NDP

It looks like the Tories are about to get a taste of their own medicine, so to speak.

An anti-Harper organization has produced a clever attack ad against the prime minister and his government.

[ Related: Tories undaunted by criticisms about Trudeau attack ads ]

Sh#% Harper did — a cadre of young political activists who have created several witty anti-Conservative YouTube videos — are now raising money to have one of their ads broadcast on television.

(Warning: Video contains coarse language)

Interestingly, one of the group's leaders is Brigette DePape.

We all remember DePape, right?

She was the young lady who stole headlines in June 2011 when, as a Senate page during the Harper government's throne speech, she held up a "Stop Harper" sign in protest.

Since then, she's become quite the political activist, taking her 'act' to protests across the country and online.

[ Related: Economic Action Plan ads cost taxpayers $21 million: report ]

To date, the group has raised $19,600.

If you want to see this

Read More »from Anti-Stephen Harper group poised to launch new television commercial

Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories (Courtesy of Yahoo! Maps)Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories could soon become the hub of Canada's economic prosperity.

Last year, when NWT Premier Bob McLeod mused about building an oil pipeline through his territory — and thereby giving Alberta oil companies access to Asian markets — the media dismissed it as a pie-in-the-sky idea.

It looks like the Alberta government didn't. According to Financial Post, they've now hired an energy consultant to assess the feasibility of the project.

The Alberta government says it is in “serious talks” with the Northwest Territories to build an oil pipeline connecting the oil sands to the northern hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, near the Beaufort Sea.

“We have been approached by the government of the Northwest Territories and we are engaged in a conversation with them because they have immense resources as well and are about to take responsibility for their own resources,” Ken Hughes, Alberta’s Minister of Energy told the National Post.

You can't blame the Alberta oil industry — and by

Read More »from Alberta investigating feasibility of oil pipeline through Northwest Territories