Author: Brian G. Rice

“Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don’t have brains enough to be honest.” – Benjamin Franklin Dirty tricks are a part of politics. Why do otherwise smart and responsible people suddenly think to themselves “Oh, I know what we can do…”? I guess part of it is

Before you were born, I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with having a daughter. I didn’t know anything about little girls, and I didn’t understand what I had to offer you as a parent. 

Five years ago today your Mother and I were about to host Isabeau’s first birthday party. But then – setting a precedent for the rest of your life – you decided that your sister couldn’t have all the fun, and you made your appearance. 

Chantal Hébert wrote an article in the Toronto Star this past week about the toxic culture of Ottawa and how it impacts the young staffers that work there.  She correctly points out that young people are drawn to the political world because they are likely to find a level of

The Hill Times has an article suggesting that Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s position on marijuana legalization has been a fundraising windfall for the Conservatives. While this may cause hand wringing within the chattering class and those in the Ottawa bubble, I personally think this is a sign the

Taking a quick look at the Team Trudeau site shows that as of the beginning of August, the Party has nominated 75 candidates. 23 of those nominated candidates are women. That is around 30%.  While I know that we still have a lot of nominations to go, the reality is

I was very proud of Andrea Reimer and the Vancouver City Council when they passed the motion recognizing that Vancouver sits on unceded indigenous land. While this is an entirely symbolic gesture, it is an important recognition of the unresolved issues facing Canada’s relationship with indigenous peoples – especially in BC.

It has been pretty obvious, I think, to anyone who takes an objective view of the Stephen Harper government that they don’t really have a great deal of respect for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the Supreme Court of Canada. They seem to pass laws and make appointments

I have spent the last few days watching the live tweets of the committee hearings into Bill C-36, the Conservative’s new prostitution legislation (thank you, Kady O’Malley). This was not a topic I intended on blogging on, but after the disgraceful comments by some Conservative MPs during the hearings, I

Jeff Jedras is one of the hardest working, conscientious and principled Liberals that I know. He thinks deeply about all aspects of our party, and has an impressive understanding of the many challenges facing the LPC as we head into 2015 and beyond. And he is one of the best

In his opinion piece in the Jacobin, Will Johnson claims that Michael Ignatieff is a “perennial loser” and that his new job at Harvard is “failing up”. He claims that between his political record in Canada and his stance on the Iraq war, Ignatieff is “a floundering politico” and “failure

And this is what happens when you politicize expenses. One MP goes to Fort McMurray for legitimate parliamentary business – and attends party functions while he is there. He expenses the trip – As he should. Another MP, there at the same time, is only there for party business, and

“Jim Flaherty was a dedicated public servant. Canada is poorer for his loss. RIP.”

I just posted this in response to a comment from a troll about Justin Trudeau being “dim” on an Andrew Coyne Facebook post about Justin’s appearance on Strombo.  I really have too much on my plate today to be troll baiting, but here it is.

I’m not going to bother spending a lot of time examining what happened during this election, at least not publicly. Mr. Igantieff, a leader I respect and admire, did the right thing by taking responsibility for this loss and resigning. Hopefully in…

I just participated in the following study from the Université Laval. As part of their request for me to participate, they also asked that I post the following invitation on my blog, which I am happy to do:
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
The Political Communi…