https://www.stephentaylor.ca/ Canadian politics, policy, and commentary by Stephen Taylor. en-ca Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:35:18 GMT https://nm-images-8457234568729053244893255.s3.amazonaws.com/stephentaylor-ca/default-og.png https://www.stephentaylor.ca/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/04/02/non-binding-motions-the-end-run-around-parliament/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/04/02/non-binding-motions-the-end-run-around-parliament/ Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Non-binding parliamentary motions and UN declarations are expressions of values. They carry no force of law. But Canadian bureaucracies have treated them as signals to build programs, create offices, and spend billions — without enabling legislation or meaningful parliamentary oversight. Canadian Politics Parliament of Canada https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/31/stephen-lewis-dead-at-88/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/31/stephen-lewis-dead-at-88/ Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:00:00 GMT Stephen Lewis has died at 88. Three generations of the Lewis family have shaped the Canadian left. His passing, days after his son Avi won the NDP leadership, marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Canadian Politics New Democratic Party of Canada https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/31/carney-to-prorogue-parliament-after-by-elections/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/31/carney-to-prorogue-parliament-after-by-elections/ Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Is Mark Carney set to shutter Parliament after April's by-elections? With a backdoor majority in reach, prorogation would let him dodge accountability for a lackluster record on the economy. Canadian Politics Mark Carney https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/air-canada-ceo-caves-to-the-mob/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/air-canada-ceo-caves-to-the-mob/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:00:00 GMT Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is retiring after years of pressure over not speaking French. A week after a fatal crash at LaGuardia, no one is talking about airline safety. Canadian Politics Canadian Business https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/how-to-predict-a-leadership-race/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/how-to-predict-a-leadership-race/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:00:00 GMT Leadership races are a black box to outsiders. But there are ways to read the signals if you know where to look. Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/avi-lewis-is-the-new-leader-of-the-ndp/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/03/30/avi-lewis-is-the-new-leader-of-the-ndp/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Avi Lewis won the NDP leadership race on a decisive first ballot, taking 56 per cent of the vote. Federal Politics New Democratic Party of Canada Avi Lewis https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/02/19/can-i-blow-your-mind-with-some-economic-indicators/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/02/19/can-i-blow-your-mind-with-some-economic-indicators/ Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:50:36 GMT I spend a lot of time looking at economic data. I’m constantly pulling numbers from Statistics Canada, the OECD, FRED, the Bank of Canada trying to get a clear picture of how the Canadian economy is actually performing. The problem is that getting those numbers is usually very annoying. Do you want to know Canada’s … Side projects https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/01/26/are-canadian-political-polls-still-useful/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/01/26/are-canadian-political-polls-still-useful/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:49:49 GMT I’ve long viewed polling as a useful but imperfect tool for gauging Canadian sentiment. It helps parties like the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre create messaging that resonate with everyday Canadians frustrated by Liberal overreach on everything from taxes to immigration. But lately, I’ve been wondering: has polling on key issues reached a ceiling in its … Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/01/09/announcing-pdfpony-com/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2026/01/09/announcing-pdfpony-com/ Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:46:20 GMT I didn’t set out to build a PDF tool. It started with a simple thought: modern browsers can edit video, run serious WebAssembly apps, and render 3D worlds. So why is “merge two PDFs” still treated like something that needs to happen on a server somewhere? Around Black Friday I finally cancelled my Adobe subscription. … Uncategorized https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/12/19/announcing-gis-tools/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/12/19/announcing-gis-tools/ Fri, 19 Dec 2025 02:14:56 GMT I want to tell you about a new website I’ve made called GIS.tools. Many of you may know that I enjoy making maps. Online maps. Maps that show us about our world and the data that defines it. I know that puts me in a bit of a rare category of nerdism, but I do … Side projects https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/12/09/mapping-the-results-of-the-2025-federal-election/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/12/09/mapping-the-results-of-the-2025-federal-election/ Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:09:35 GMT Yes, it’s finally here. I’ve generated the maps for the 2025 federal election wherein Mark Carney’s Liberal Party elected enough MPs to form a minority Parliament defeating Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in a stunning upset that was precipitated by Trump tariffs and the sudden departure of Justin Trudeau from Liberal leadership and the Prime Minister’s Office. … Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/30/commissioner-of-canada-elections-is-flooded-with-complaints/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/30/commissioner-of-canada-elections-is-flooded-with-complaints/ Mon, 30 Jun 2025 11:49:02 GMT The Commissioner of Canada Elections has released statistics about complaints received during the 45th general election, which saw Mark Carney’s Liberal party elected as to a minority government. The office responsible for ensuring compliance with and enforcement of the Canada Elections Act received 700% more complaints than in the previous election. That’s 650 complaints per … Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/30/elbows-down-for-mark-carney-on-the-digital-services-tax/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/30/elbows-down-for-mark-carney-on-the-digital-services-tax/ Mon, 30 Jun 2025 08:24:32 GMT A late-night, long-weekend post from the GC Newsroom X account indicates that the Government of Canada is backing down on the Digital Services Tax, following an explicit threat from U.S. President Donald Trump. The US President threatened to immediately cease all trade negotiations with Canada until the tax issue was resolved. During this year’s general … Canadian Politics Mark Carney https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/25/yikes-patrick-brazeau-faints-in-the-senate/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/25/yikes-patrick-brazeau-faints-in-the-senate/ Wed, 25 Jun 2025 23:30:32 GMT It appears that Former Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau fainted in the Senate today as he rose to debate Prime Minister Mark Carney’s fast-tracked major projects bill. It’s been a scorcher of a week in Ontario with temperatures with “dangerously hot” weather in Ottawa peaking at 35°C on Monday. The bill being debated in the Senate … Canadian Politics Parliament of Canada https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/17/damien-kurek-resigns-so-pierre-poilievre-can-lead/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/17/damien-kurek-resigns-so-pierre-poilievre-can-lead/ Tue, 17 Jun 2025 23:28:44 GMT Battle River–Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek officially resigned from Parliament today. The move will trigger a by-election for the riding where Pierre Poilievre will throw his hat into the ring in order to secure a seat in the the House of Commons. Despite growing the Conservative seat count and the party’s popular vote, the Conservative leader … By-elections Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/17/doug-ford-slams-weak-kneed-judges/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/17/doug-ford-slams-weak-kneed-judges/ Tue, 17 Jun 2025 20:48:13 GMT Some of Toronto’s brightest criminals tried to steal Ontario Premier Doug Ford‘s car out of his driveway this morning. Two police cruisers gave chase and officers arrested four suspects including a 16 year old and a 17 year old. While giving credit to the police, Ford went on what he described as a rant, slamming … Ontario Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/11/wikisplash-is-for-trending-people-and-topics/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2025/06/11/wikisplash-is-for-trending-people-and-topics/ Wed, 11 Jun 2025 19:29:55 GMT I’m excited to share a new project I’ve just released: Wikisplash.com. It’s a web-based tool that uses Wikipedia data as a proxy for public attention – at both the global and national level. Wikisplash is like Google Trends for who’s looking at Wikipedia pages. Some of you know that, alongside my interest in politics, I’m … Side projects https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/09/15/mapping-the-results-of-the-2022-ontario-provincial-election/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/09/15/mapping-the-results-of-the-2022-ontario-provincial-election/ Fri, 15 Sep 2023 20:30:25 GMT I just finished mapping out Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative election win from 2022. On June 2 of that year, the voters of Ontario returned the PC leader with a majority government with 83 seats. The Progressive Conservatives defeated the Ontario Liberals led by Steven Del Duca and the Ontario NDP which was helmed by Andrea … Ontario Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/03/17/intelligence-whistleblower-publishes-op-ed-on-election-interference/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/03/17/intelligence-whistleblower-publishes-op-ed-on-election-interference/ Fri, 17 Mar 2023 21:48:31 GMT In case you’ve been living under a rock – or locked up in a re-education centre – the Canadian political establishment has been rocked by revelations from both the Globe and Mail and Global News regarding interference in Canadian elections by the Communist Party of China. This afternoon in the Globe, the whistleblower that formed … Canadian Politics https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/03/09/liberal-mp-ruby-sahota-complains-about-potential-cost-of-public-inquiry/ https://www.stephentaylor.ca/2023/03/09/liberal-mp-ruby-sahota-complains-about-potential-cost-of-public-inquiry/ Thu, 09 Mar 2023 23:45:14 GMT Today at the PROC committee, Liberal MP Ruby Sahota (Brampton North) complained about the hypothetical costs of a full public inquiry into the allegations of Chinese state interference in Canadian elections. It is alleged that Beijing wanted to see the re-election of Justin Trudeau in 2021 to a minority government. It is alleged the CCP … Canadian Politics Liberal Party of Canada