Andrew Thomson

Politics. Opinions. Baseball. Fmr Sask Finance Minister. @PnPCBC pundit person.

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: Positive trends on Ontario's job market.

Stats Canada says employment increased in May by 42,000. Ontario added 84,000 jobs over the last two months.

Unemployment still lingers at 7% - but it's the lowest since Pre-trump.

#onpoli

[CTV News @CTVNews]

Addressing homelessness should be considered nation-building project: big city mayors https://t.co/gBPhA5wTFo

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: A heated confrontation over the rollout of the MPP pension plan and Premier Doug Ford’sdecision to buy a government jet led to the effective firing of the Progressive Conservative caucus chair, Global News has learned.

https://t.co/6IwnaJHP7o
#onpoli

[Greg MacEachern @gmacofglebe]

Congratulations to David Cochrane and everyone at @PnPCBC
#CanadianScreenAwards

https://t.co/X6HhQ9okIP

[Global Calgary @GlobalCalgary]

Some Alberta companies say the unstable political climate in light of the separation referendum question is spooking investors and prompting them to consider moving operations elsewhere: "It’s not good for us."
#yyc
https://t.co/HOT44wBHsW

[Naheed Nenshi @nenshi]

A “fiercely loyal” Canadian would not have spent two years trying to burn down Canada.

A “fiercely loyal” Canadian would not have made a deal with separatists to give them everything they wanted.

A “fiercely loyal” Canadian would not ride the fence and only say she stood for Canada when it became politically convenient.

Danielle Smith is not an innocent bystander. She cannot blame 700,000 Albertans for this. She has been driving the separatist bus the entire time.

[SiriusXM Canada Talks @CanadaTalks167]

#PremierSmith makes a big move, #Separatists and #Reactions in #Canada, and #Colbert says goodbye on todays @ArleneBynonShow

@TashaKheiriddin
Professor Lori Williams - @MountRoyalU
@MegJamesLAT
@_scottreid
@zackcrawford3

For #PoliticalPunch we have @josiesabatino & @Thomson416

[Perrin Beatty @PerrinBeatty]

It’s not at all surprising that Washington is pressuring Canada to make a decision on the F-35 while the CUSMA negotiations are still in play. And it’s precisely why Canada should not be rushed.

[kyall glennie @kyall]

update:
both Horner and Jones are quitting cabinet now.

[Jen Gerson @jengerson]

I've been listening to a variation on this argument for 15 years. Manning's position on populism has always been that you have to tap the oil well at exactly the right depth. Vent it properly, and you get access to enormous energy that can be directed toward productive political ends. Go too deep, and the well explodes.

Sounds compelling, except...

There is no way to know when you're tapping too deep. Gentle venting is one thing: the problem is that once you go there successfully, the temptation is to continually return to that well, taking greater risks each time as you reach for a dwindling and increasingly volatile resource.

There's no science, here. No objective benchmark. No way to be certain that you've gone too far this time, found the moment when you've hit something too deep and dangerous to come back from. Some wells open to energy and outcomes you simply cannot control. Conservatives are the ones who are supposed to have an understanding of this -- of how terrible human beings can be to one another once you strip away rules, norms, intuitions, and values. And yet.

Alberta has always been run by people who think they're strategic geniuses because they keep getting elected as Conservatives in Alberta. This has given them a high degree of confidence that they know what they're doing; that the well won't blow this time.

[CityNews Montreal @CityNewsMTL]

Experts say celebrations during Canadiens goals on Saturday and Monday were so intense they registered seismic activity measuring approximately 0.5 on the Richter scale https://t.co/bsCZM6CLEy

[Scott Robertson @sarobertson_]

Lisa Raitt says the US pausing the Permanent Joint Board on Defence is a nothingburger : "Various agencies show up. They have one day of meetings. Then letters are written to the prime minister and the president talking about what they accomplished in that day. That's it."

[Robert Peston @Peston]

The very difficult decision being made by the prime minister at his Chequers retreat this weekend is whether he can re-assert his authority and re-energise his government, despite knowing that if Burnham wins in Makerfield he will be evicted - or whether he would bring more stability to government by announcing a timetable for a leadership election and his own departure.

That is what his ministers tell me, though they concede that on either course government will lose momentum, at least till it’s known whether Burnham is the new PM or not.

For what it’s worth, some of the cabinet believe it would be less chaotic if he sets the date for his exit, and he could use his time-limited period to shape a positive legacy for himself.

For this contingent, like trade union leaders, the die is already cast that he will have to resign in coming months, whether Burnham is elected an MP or not. And the PM should acknowledge that reality, they say.

Other ministers want him to stay, pointing out that there would be mayhem if Burnham were to lose and it would be preferable in those circumstances for the party to draw breath rather than charge headlong into a leadership election.

Many of those insisting he shouldn’t quit are also those who will be out of a job if Burnham or another candidate replaces him.

One minister insists the choice is not so binary and there are other options that could keep the government show on the road. This minister said however that whatever Starmer decides he will have to spell this out explicitly and in detail to all of us.

The big personal judgment for Starmer is whether he becomes more or less of a lame duck by taking control of the time and manner of his departure, rather than leaving it in the lap of the election gods.

His colleagues don’t know what he will decide.

[CityNews Toronto @CityNewsTO]

Two weeks after registration opened for this fall's municipal elections, a new survey finds Olivia Chow has a 13-point advantage over Coun. Brad Bradford in the mayor's race https://t.co/CBU9KwSZyy

[Polling Canada @CanadianPolling]

Toronto - Mayoral Polling:

Chow: 50%
Bradford: 37%
Others: 13%

Liaison / May 11, 2026

[Andrew Thomson @Thomson416]

@penottawa True, but Starmer has been weak on foreign relations. His instinctive coddling of Trump and inconsistent messaging has served the UK poorly and has also come at the expense of allies (namely 🇨🇦).

[Andrew Thomson @Thomson416]

Interesting data visualization of the UK local council results.

[Owen Winter @OwenWntr]

The local elections in one chart. Labour has been squeezed between the Greens in young wards and Reform in older working-class wards

[de Adder Canada @deAdderCanada]

The Hill Times

[Colin D'Mello | Global News @ColinDMello]

NEW: In Scarborough South West, Liberal MP and potential Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Nate Erskine-Smith has lost his bid for the party’s nomination in the upcoming byelection.

Ahsanul Hafiz received 718 votes, while Erskine-Smith got 699 (despite the endorsement from PM Mark Carney)

#onpoli