One of the reasons I keep blogging is that the comments section here tends to breed meaningful discussion rather than the “no you’re Hitler” type of debate you see on most mainstream news sites. And as pointed out here, I found this comment by regular hosertohoosier quite thought provoking: Paul
Continue readingAuthor: calgarygrit
Calgary Grit: Happy Birthday
A year ago Alison Redford triumphed thanks to a lot of hard work, a little luck, and $430,000 from Daryl Katz For a government which has been in power 42 years, celebrating a one-year anniversary seems somewhat trite, but it was one year ago today that Allison Redford bested Danielle
Continue readingCalgary Grit: A Brief History of Stephen Harper Supporting Our Troops
“In 2006, after the Liberal ‘decade of darkness,’ we took action to rebuild Canada’s Armed Forces.” –Stephen Harper October 2010: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is scrambling to contain an ever-widening scandal in which officials deliberately tried to ruin the reputation of outspoken military veterans“ October 2011: Veterans Ombudsman Questions
Continue readingCalgary Grit: This Just In: Voters Feel Negative Ads Are “Negative”
Respondents describe the ads as “unfair”, “negative”…and “hawt!“. Trudeau’s predictable win, followed by predictable attack ads, has been followed by an all-too predictable poll: In an EKOS Research Associates survey, 70 per cent found the ads “unfair” while 74 per cent said the ads were “unhelpful.” Asked to describe the
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Justin Trudeau: Too Sexy For His Shirt, Too Sexy For Canada?
The only thing more predictable than Justin Trudeau’s win in the Liberal leadership race was that it would be followed by Conservative attack ads. For those curious what the sequel to “Not a Leader” and “Just Visiting” would look like, the wait is over: It should come as no surprise
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Trudeau’s Win by the Numbers
Over the past year, there have been thousands of articles written about Justin Trudeau, his father, and his leadership campaign. Since it hasn’t been a big secret he was going to come out on top, we’ve also seen thousands of articles about what his win means. So rather than rehash
Continue readingCalgary Grit: How I’m Voting
Unlike past leadership contests where I’ve been fighting on the front lines for my candidate, I’ve watched the federal race largely as a spectator. Being away from a campaign offers a different vantage point, and I’ve enjoyed blogging my opinions candidly, as I slowly made up my mind who to
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Final Power Rankings
There isn’t a lot of suspense surrounding Sunday’s Liberal leadership vote. Pick the metric of your choice – fundraising, endorsements, hair volume – and Trudeau leads his nearest challenger by at least a 4:1 ratio. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in Twitter support, but Justin has 10 times
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Provincial Unrest
Alison Redford’s approval ratings have fallen to “Stelmachian” levels Angus Reid has released their quarterly Premier approval ratings. As per usual, Brad Wall is more popular than God, and everyone else is a little more human: Wall (SK): 64% approve, 28% disapprove Alward (NB): 41% approve, 50% disapprove Selinger (MB):
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Rae’s Day
Every political commentator loves to say “timing is everything in politics”, and every Canadian political commentator loves to say that Bob Rae never had good timing. He had the misfortune of becoming Premier before he was ready to govern, and had the misfortune of governing during a recession. His “second
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Showcase Showdown
It doesn’t compare to the high stakes floor crossings and backroom deals that define delegated conventions, but yesterday’s Liberal Showcase still offered the speeches, signs, buttons, and hospitality suites politicos have come to expect at these gatherings. Justin Trudeau had cowbells. Martin Cauchon made swag history, handing out Liberal-red socks.
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Robocon
The first charges in the Robocon Scandal have been laid against Michael Sona. Most interesting in this, is that Sona’s lawyer has signalled they intend to shift the blame to the Conservative Party: Neither Mr. Sona or I will be making any public statements beyond the following statement at this
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Ralph’s World
After the passing of Peter Lougheed last year, another Alberta PC titan is gone, with Ralph Klein passing away at the age of 70. Although it is customary to offer tributes and praise at times like this, many of my motivations for getting involved in politics grew from a strong
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Updated Power Rankings Show Trudeau in Control
Karen McCrimmon recognizes the odds she’s facing When I released my first set of LPC Power Rankings in early February, I was a bit surprised to see Justin Trudeau up at 66%. These rankings aren’t intended to be a first ballot predictor, but they came pretty close to the mark
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Power Rankings
Justin Trudeau is head and shoulders ahead of his closest competitors During the NDP leadership race, I got into the habit of tabulating “Power Rankings” of how the different candidates fared on fundraising, Facebook, Twitter, polls, and any other shred of quantitative data I could claw my hands onto. The
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberals One-on-One
The moderator failed to ask the tough questions, such as “Mr. Bertschi, why on earth are you wearing that scarf?“ My mind has been on the Ontario Liberal leadership race the past few months, so I’ll admit to not having paid close attention to the federal contest. Not wanting to
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Wisdom of the Masses
The UBC Election Stock Market proved to be a lot of fun during the 2008 election, as Canadians could bet up to $1000 on the outcome they expected. For some of us, it proved to be expensive fun, but fun nevertheless. The good news is, the market is back, just
Continue readingCalgary Grit: You Be The Finance Minister
If Doug Horner can’t get Alberta’s finances under control, he can always look forward to a long career as a Ricky Gervais impersonator. Alberta is facing a bit of a budget crisis, with a deficit which, on a per capita basis, could be as big as Ontario’s. This has forced
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Lessons Learned
Goodbye Minister of Finance Takhar. Hello Minister Responsible for Seniors Takhar. You win some, you lose some. Or so I hear. Regardless, win or lose, we can all take home valuable lessons from the OLP leadership race – and with no fewer than 5 other Liberal leadership races ongoing in
Continue readingCalgary Grit: As Good as Being There
The mainstream media coverage of this weekend’s OLP leadership convention has focused on backroom deals and electoral implications – but this misses the very human element of leadership conventions, which is where blogs still hold a certain degree of relevance. I therefore encourage everyone to read the following accounts –
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