The Slow Burn

And burn it does:

As premier-designate Doug Ford forges ahead with his plans even before formally taking power, his victorious Progressive Conservative candidates arrive at Queen's Park Tuesday for their first caucus meeting since the election. 

The 76-strong PC caucus is the largest of any Ontario party since the Mike Harris PCs won their landslide back in 1995. They will gather Tuesday morning for a speech from Ford in front of the cameras, then hold their closed-door meeting in the largest committee room at the Legislature. 

The incoming premier has already slapped a hiring freeze on the provincial public service and given notice that he will withdraw Ontario from its cap and trade program for reducing carbon emissions. 

The NDP, now the Official Opposition, is already gearing up to fight Ford on the hiring matter.

But not for nurses or teachers, despite what the opposition vociferously claimed. 

Elsewhere:

The Conservatives have stolen a Quebec riding away from Justin Trudeau's ruling Liberals, in the first test of Andrew Scheer's effort to recreate the nationalist-conservative coalition that helped federal Tories dominate the province in the 1980s.

Conservative candidate Richard Martel captured 52.7 per cent of the vote in a federal byelection held in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord — more than 5,000 votes ahead of Liberal Lina Boivin, who took 29.5 per cent.

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois candidates were not in contention, capturing just 8.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, while the Green candidate brought up the rear with just 3.1 per cent of the vote.

(Sidebar: stolen? More like the Liberals were crushed.) 

This election: 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a byelection for the Quebec riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, only days after pledging $60 million in federal funding for an aluminum-smelting project in the area.

Damn! Not even a bribe helped! 

In the mean time:

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s reviewing his tour schedule and his party’s policies in the wake of a federal byelection Monday in Quebec, in which the New Democrats’ vote collapsed.

The NDP finished a distant third Monday in a byelection held in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, taking just 8.7 per cent of the vote in a riding where the NDP won in 2011 and finished a close second in 2015.

The collapse of the NDP, along with an equally disastrous showing for the Bloc Quebecois, worked to the benefit of the Conservatives, who wound up snagging the seat from the ruling Liberals. ...

“It’s clear we’re very disappointed with the results and the results show that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Singh said Tuesday.

“It’s a priority for me.”

Yeah, I'll bet it is, Jag.




Again with the burn:

Geoff knows who he works for:

The official Opposition’s is calling for an emergency debate in the House of Commons over the future of the Canada-U.S. trade — but Speaker Geoff Regan is having none of it.

Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole says Canadians need to see their elected representatives addressing what is the biggest economic crisis in their lifetime.

On July 1, Canada is set to impose retaliatory tariffs of $16.6 billion on U.S. products after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on aluminum and steel, and has threatened more to come on automobiles.

Regan, however, has rejected O’Toole’s plea.

It's just a little thing like the economy. I'm sure it will works itself out, right?