After dancing around the issue for several years, it appears the NDP finally has a clear position on the Clarity Act: On Monday, the NDP introduced legislation to allow Quebec to secede with a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one. The party also wants to impose a tougher
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Calgary Grit: Convention Math
On Saturday, Maple Leaf Gardens was a cauldron of emotions. There were tears, broken promises, dashed dreams, and shrieks of pure unadulterated joy. That’s to be expected when you bring 2,000 people with very different motivations and beliefs together, and ask them to figure out who will govern a province
Continue readingCalgary Grit: #Wynning
I’ll post a recap of the weekend that was and thoughts on the road ahead tomorrow, but for now let me take a moment to congratulate Kathleen Wynne on her well deserved victory. She’s a likable candidate with an impressive record who ran a great campaign, and I was proud
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Case For Kennedy
This weekend, Liberals from across Ontario will gather at Maple Leaf Gardens for what is likely to be one of the last grand old leadership conventions in Canada. Having 2,000 delegates decide who governs a province of 13 million doesn’t scream “grassroots”, but it makes for one heck of a
Continue readingCalgary Grit: SunTV Applies for Welfare
Sun TV’s lone “success” story of the past year, was the role they played in launching Justin Trudeau’s leadership campaign Things are not looking bright over at Sun TV: OTTAWA, Ont. — Quebecor says its television network Sun News is projected to have lost $17 million in 2012 and will
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Cast Your Vote
The always insightful Pundits Guide reviews the federal Liberal Leadership rules and deadlines here, and suggests someone take it upon themselves to set up a sample ballot for the people of the Internet to stuff. So, here you go. Cast your vote.
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Down to the Wire
We’re now down to the stretch drive in the OLP leadership sprint, with the following (still unofficial) delegate count after this weekend’s round of voting: Pupatello 506 Wynne 468 Kennedy 259 Takhar 244 Sousa 204 Hoskins 104 Independent 67 It’s a fractured field, and that becomes even more apparent when
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Cauchon is in
Considering how long people have talked about Martin Cauchon running for leadership and how long Martin Cauchon has resisted the urge to run for leadership, it was surprising to see him jump into the LPC race mere hours before the deadline to declare. It will be interesting to see how
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Getting Dumped
He may have baked you lasagna, but Glen has moved on and found someone new. Today, Glen Murray bowed out of the Ontario Liberal leadership race and David Merner took a pass at the federal job. The reaction to both announcements has ranged from a shrug to an in-depth analysis
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Rumeur Du Jour
I’m hearing that signature sheets are being circulated for a Martin Cauchon Liberal leadership run. If this is true, he’s cutting it close – the deadline to enter is this Sunday. To date, 7 candidates have officially declared. Rumour has it David Bertschi will become an official candidate today, and
Continue readingCalgary Grit: How They Stand
It’s been hard to get any kind of quantitative read on how the candidates stack up in the Ontario Liberal Party leadership race to date. Gerard Kennedy may be leading the polls among Ontarians, Sandra Pupatello may be winning the endorsement race, and Kathleen Wynne may have raised more money
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Leadership for Change
Yesterday, Steve V blogged about why he’s running as a delegate for Gerard Kennedy in the OLP leadership race, and the point he circled back to was that, for better or worse, Gerard is more genuinely committed to changing the way politics is done in this country than any politician
Continue readingCalgary Grit: 2013 A Make It Or Break It Year For The Liberal Party
Making predictions in a sport as unpredictable as politics is very much a fool’s errand. I don’t think anyone saw Dalton McGuinty’s retirement or Justin Trudeau’s left hook coming in 2012. Hell, even something as routine as an Alberta PC election victory turned into a whirlwind thriller. What we do
Continue readingCalgary Grit: 2012 in Pictures
Mitt Romney tries to humanize himself by going shopping. I think most people feel the same way when they hear Paul Ryan speak Stephen Harper signs a deal with China, expressly to try and win the “cutest photo op of the year” award. Danielle Smith sees your cute animal and
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Guest Post: The State of the Alberta Liberal Party
As one might imagine, the Alberta Liberal Party has been doing some soul searching in the wake of a difficult election earlier this year. In the past month, controversy has swirled around MLA Kent Hehr over his efforts to reach out to the NDP and discuss merger. This prompted a
Continue readingCalgary Grit: 2012 Woman of the Year
Every December, I like to name a “Person of the Year” – the individual who left their mark on Canadian politics over the past year. The only rules are that the PM is too obvious a choice, and that lame picks (“You!”) are strictly verboten. The Person of the Year
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Opto Civilitas
Martin then jabbed the button into Peter Van Loan’s eyeball. Some of you may recall Pat Martin’s noble quest to bring civility to Parliament: “This is my new policy,” Martin said, holding up a handful of party-coloured buttons he had made reading “Opto Civitas.” “I choose civility. That’s the new
Continue readingCalgary Grit: OLP News Roundup
Bits and pieces of news from the Ontario Liberal Party leadership race, in advance of tonight’s debate in Ottawa. The Policy Candidate: Glen Murray has released the most detailled policy proposals and routinely peppers his speeches with more facts and figures than you’ll see in a fourth year economics class.
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Do you think it is easy to write history books?
As if the lock-out wasn’t enough for hockey fans, it looks like one long-anticipated stocking stuffer won’t be ready this year. We haven’t heard a peep from Harper since this story last Christmas: PM Harper’s hockey book to drop next year OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper — the hockey
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