The Liberals managed to win all three by-elections last night—University–Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest were handy victories, but Terrebonne was more of a squeaker but the Liberals pulled out in the end. A number of TV outlets held by-election specials just so that they could declare a “majority government” for Mark Carney (even though that’s not a real thing—government is government, meaning Cabinet, and it doesn’t change based on the composition of parliament, so it would be a majority parliament). Things won’t change right away—it’ll be a few weeks before the results are certified and they can take their seats, but the writing is now on the wall, which I’ll write more about in a longer piece.
This is a time to come together so we can build a Canada strong for all.My statement on today's by-elections in University—Rosedale, Scarborough Southwest, and Terrebonne.
— Mark Carney (@mark-carney.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T04:29:06.436Z
Pierre Poilievre marked the occasion with a tantrum post, while his MPs are assuring journalists that no, they’re not planning on forcing him out, and they have all been making loud and obsequious declarations of loyalty over social media in the wake of those floor-crossings, just to drive home the point. He also has no intention of resigning, because that would require some introspection and he is clinically incapable of doing so.
He's totally not mad, you guys. So very not mad.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T03:42:21.056Z
Pierre Poilievre’s Personal Assistant Explains Why He’s Totally Not Mad About Carney’s Majorityyoutu.be/fkduTKAuLn8
— Clare Blackwood (@clareblackwood.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T01:49:05.787Z
Avi Lewis’ first day
On the first sitting day back since his leadership win, Avi Lewis was in Ottawa with a fresh demand for government in order to make it look like he’s springing into action—to force government to ban so-called surveillance pricing, even though it’s not really a thing in Canada, at least not in stores (online is a different story), but it was his demand. But in his first press conference, he got chippy with the journalists who wanted to ask about other issues of the day, and in particular to ask his foreign affairs critic, Heather McPherson, about the blockade in Iran, and he refused to let her answer. So that wasn’t good, and I’m amazed that there wasn’t an experienced comms person on hand to stop him from making such an ass of himself on his first time out. I also noted that Lewis said he would be in Ottawa “from time to time,” which is another mistake. Jagmeet Singh tried only showing up on Wednesdays for his first year, and it nearly buried him. So much for learning lessons from past failures.
Ukraine Dispatch
One person was killed in the Donetsk region on Sunday in spite of the supposed “Easter ceasefire.” Russian drones attacked the port of Izmail overnight, damaging a Panama-flagged vessel.
Good reads:
- Mark Carney sent his regards to incoming Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar.
- Finnish president Alexander Stubb will be in Ottawa today to meet with Carney.
- Patty Hajdu says more students need to enter the skilled trades if they want to achieve their goals in building Canada (though I’m not buying the bit about stigma).
- Evan Solomon plans to meet with digital asbestos provider Anthropic about the security concerns related to their new Mythos model.
- The government has named former Senator Brent Cotter to lead the newly reconstituted Civilian Complaints Commission for the RCMP and CBSA.
- After Marilyn Gladu insinuated that her riding wasn’t getting enough government dollars as an opposition MP, Global crunched the numbers, and it’s not really true.
- The Justice committee his looking at the coercive control bill, and there were warnings it could lead to backlashes, particularly if children are involved.
- Conservatives in the UK are looking to Poilievre about how to “unite the right,” and I can’t even. (They know that Reform took over, right?)
- Here is a longer look at Avi Lewis’ leadership win and where he needs to go next.
- Patrick Lennox assesses the threat of foreign interference in the upcoming Alberta referendums, and it’s not good news.
- Marty Patriquin suspects that the federal government is gearing up to put some guardrails around digital asbestos chatbots based on comments at the convention.
- Susan Delacourt makes the point that what Carney really gets from the by-election wins is more time, which is the most precious commodity in politics.
Odds and ends:
No #QP for the PM tomorrow, which is unusual for him on a Tuesday. #cdnpoli
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T04:16:03.727Z
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Why do you doubt Patty Hajdu’s remark about “stigma” around going into trades? Of course it’s true! I remember Harper’s government promoting trades over degrees, but I think just about everyone in his cabinet had a degree.
And recently Mark Carney didn’t say Parliament needed more electricians and carpenters as MPs, he said they need more engineers and doctors. If ever I saw a guy who wants to know what and where you got your education, that’s the one.
I happen to agree we need more people going into trades. But there’s a reason young people’s parents hope they’ll choose university. So I continue to find it a little rich to see very educated politicians singing the praises of a career in trades. At least Hajdu is candid about it.
I’m from Alberta. I went to a rural high school. There was far less stigma about trades than there was about being on track to go to university. So yes, I think there are places where university is more encouraged than others, it’s not universal.