35 h. ago Lorne Gunter: Stats, studies back Poilievre's call for tighter bail laws

Whenever someone like Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggests tightening up bail laws in Canada, someone else — a criminologist, prisoners’ rights advocate, Liberal cabinet minister — is quick to point out that crime fell 3.6 per cent across the country in 2024. For instance, last fall when Poilievre first suggested his “Jail, Not Bail” reforms […]

Events

59 h. ago Lorne Gunter: Who does Janz group want to take council back from? Themselves?

Coun. Michael Janz, the candidate in Ward papastew for the Working Families “collective” (don’t call it a party), put out a TikTok video recently breathlessly warning that “there are two conservative parties fighting for control of our city.” He was holding a brochure from PACE (the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton) and another from Tim […]

Events

3 d. ago Lorne Gunter: UCP pipeline proposal doomed to be blocked by feds, B.C.

The Alberta government is working on a proposal (to be submitted to Ottawa next year) for a new pipeline that checks almost all the boxes. Almost. The advisory group steering the project will bring together some of the best minds in the oil and gas industry, it will enlist Alberta’s impressive Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute […]

Events

4 d. ago Lorne Gunter: Feds' notwithstanding clause court application could harm the federation

The federal government is attempting to neuter the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause. They claim to be doing so to preserve Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms from callous provincial politicians. But, in effect, the Carney Liberals are looking to accomplish the biggest federal power grab since the Constitution was repatriated from Britain, and the Charter added […]

Events

5 d. ago Lorne Gunter: 'All current council must go': Protesters at north Edmonton rally get it right

The City Plan wants 50 per cent of all commuting and shopping trips in our city to be within 15 minutes walking distance from people’s homes.

Events

8 d. ago Lorne Gunter: Carney's frugality claims contradicted by bloated federal deficit projection

The day after the House of Commons resumed sitting early this month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre questioned Prime Minister Mark Carney on how large the federal deficit would be this year when the final figure is unveiled in November’s budget. Last year’s deficit turned out to be $61.9 billion when it was finally revealed last […]

Events

9 d. ago Lorne Gunter: Smith's pipeline efforts could force Carney government's hand

Of course you remember in 2022 when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau said there had “never been a strong business case” for building a pipeline to the East Coast so Canada could ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany, even though German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was standing right next to Trudeau when he said it. What […]

Politics

1 week ago Lorne Gunter: Liberal gun buyback a political ploy that won't impact crime

The federal government gun buyback was always a lousy idea. First, despite the label it isn’t really a buyback; it’s a ban followed by a confiscation. And it was never going to cut down on gun crime because it focuses on taking guns from law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to keep firearms out of the […]

Events

1 week ago 'Besieged': Mayors and councillors band together at UBCM to call for bail reform, involuntary care

Dozens of local officials said repeat and violent crime, as well as mental health and addiction issues, are wreaking havoc in their towns

Society

1 week ago Lorne Gunter: Carney's easiest target in federal spending cuts is bloated bonuses

The federal government’s payroll is now more than $71 billion a year and the Parliamentary Budget Office estimates it will over $76 billion by 2030. That means about one in every six dollars spent by Ottawa goes to paying the salaries of its legion of bureaucrats. Were Ottawa’s civil service payroll a separate line item […]

Politics

1 week ago WHERE CAN CARNEY CUT?: Crown corporation bonuses and civil service pay a good start

WATCH: Sun political columnist Lorne Gunter on where Prime Minister Mark Carney can find 7.5% in spending cuts for the budget coming out in November. What do YOU think? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below or send us a Letter to the Editor for possible publication to torsun.editor@sunmedia.ca.  Letters must be 250 […]

Politics

1 week ago Lorne Gunter: Understand differences between banners flown by Edmonton municipal election candidates

Working Families has better organization and what appears to be a better get-out-the-vote mechanism and the most complete platform of the three.

Politics

1 week ago Manitoba Crown attorneys facing high caseload, calls for changes to bail hearings

Crown attorneys in Manitoba are calling for changes, saying they are getting snowed under with needless paperwork in provincial court bail hearings.

Other

2 w. ago Lorne Gunter: Federal housing program reveals Carney government's magical thinking

Last weekend, Ana Bailão, a longtime member of Toronto city council, took up her job as the first CEO of Build Canada Homes (BCH), the Carney government’s new bureaucracy tasked with doubling the number of homes built annually across the country. Put aside for a minute the wisdom of appointing a longtime councillor from the […]

Politics

2 w. ago Lorne Gunter: Coalition report on infill spotlights city policy mistakes

Edmonton’s Coalition for Better Infill (CBI) spent the summer conducting in-depth research into the effect on housing prices of the city’s new development bylaw — the one that allows eight-plexes to be built on any 50-foot lot — and they came to a fascinating but not entirely surprising conclusion: Infill makes all housing more expensive. […]

Events

2 w. ago Lorne Gunter: City council on the hook for asinine Wellington Bridge demolition decision

Sometimes the city makes a decision that is so profoundly stupid you wonder if intelligent people were involved at all. Tearing down the Wellington Bridge on 102 Avenue near the old provincial museum before the west-end LRT project is finished is just such a decision. The Wellington Bridge has to come down, at some point […]

Events

2 w. ago Lorne Gunter: Mark Carney on hot seat now that Parliament is in session

Canadians are about to see what Prime Minister Mark Carney is really made of now that Parliament is back. Many voters may not have warm, fuzzy feelings about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre or think he would make a better prime minister than the Liberal leader. But Poilievre is a masterful performer in the House of […]

Events

2 w. ago Gunter: Threatened Alberta teacher strike about pay, no matter what ATA says

The province believes the Talking Points document is so rife with errors that the province has filed a complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board charging the union with bargaining in bad faith.

Events

3 w. ago Lorne Gunter: Fate of programs like CSC true a barometer of Carney's budget

I’m sure you’re all super impressed by the work being done in your communities by the legions of young volunteers working for the Canada Service Corps. What!? You say you’ve never heard of the Canada Service Corps (CSC)? Welcome to the club. Almost no Canadian has heard of it, even though the program has blown […]

Events

3 w. ago Lorne Gunter: Despite Smith's optimism, can't trust Carney on issues around oil 

The federal Liberals still hate Alberta oil. On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney released his list of five national-priority projects. There is no pipeline in the bunch. Carney also released a list of projects to be considered for the next round of approvals. Again, no pipeline. There is nothing wrong with any of the projects […]

Events