Who will cross the finish line first? While a Justin Trudeau cakewalk in the Liberal leadership race doesn’t seem quite as inevitable as it did two weeks ago, most pundits still regard his win as inevitable. However, while discussing the relative strengths of the Coyne and Takach campaigns over drinks
Continue readingAuthor: calgarygrit
Calgary Grit: Interview with David Bertschi
After brunch with David Merner and my trip to the George Takach launch, my tour of lesser known Liberal leadership candidates lands on David Bertschi today. While not an “official” candidate yet, Bertschi has been campaigning longer than most. He was the first candidate to launch a website, and even
Continue readingCalgary Grit: George Takach Joins the Field
Last Thursday, George Takach became the…I dunno…54th? 55th? person you’ve never heard of to declare for the federal Liberal leadership race. Takach launched at Toronto’s MaRS Discovery Centre, before flying to Calgary (as all Liberal leadership candidates are constitutionally mandated to do). On paper, Takach is likely the least exciting candidate in the race. He has never run for office, and it’s not like Toronto lawyers are crying out for their voice to be heard in the Liberal Party. However, … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Air War Begins
The Ontario Liberal Party’s leadership race has been largely fought on the ground until now. With such a tight timeline, the campaigns were forced to focus almost exclusively on signing up new members until November 23rd. There have been polls, endorsements, and a few policies rushed out the door, but most of the race has taken place outside of the public eye. Heck, Harinder Takhar didn’t even declare until after the membership deadline. With that deadline passed, today’s debate in … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Smoking Gun
Fresh off the Daryl Katz scandal, Alison Redford is again in hot water: The issue centres on a giant lawsuit launched by the province against the tobacco industry. The province is seeking $10 billion from tobacco manufacturers for the healthcare costs caused by smoking. The suit was announced in May, and was to be handled by a group of local legal firms that stood to gain $2 billion in contingency fees, according to Wildrose. One of the firms includes Redford’s … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Old Habits Die Hard
In all my years blogging about Calgary politics, I never thought “Liberals blow by-election” is a story I’d have to write. “Liberals lose” is a common headline for a party that hasn’t won a seat in Calgary since 1968, during the height of Trudeaumania (the first round of Trudeaumania that is). But while some Liberals have come down with “candidate’s disease” over the years (symptoms include house hunting in Ottawa), the reality is the Liberal Party is never even in … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Goodbye
Rob Ford is removed as Mayor of Toronto, and Mark Carney is flying across the pond to become Governor of the Bank of England.
If any politician is looking to unload some bad news, today would be the perfect “take out the trash day“.
Calgary Grit: Bring on the Astronaut Puns
The moment headline writers have been waiting for all summer has finally arrived, with Marc Garneau set to formally launch his Liberal leadership candidacy this week. Despite having a lengthy string of post-nominal letters after his name, and the most impressive CV of any Member of Parliament, Garneau enters this leadership race as a heavy underdog. Ironically, the astronaut simply lacks the star power to compete with Justin Trudeau. Despite being a genuine Canadian hero and an experienced parliamentarian, Garneau … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Battleground Calgary Centre
Voters in Durham, Victoria, and Calgary Centre head to the polls tonight in what were originally pegged as three “safe” by-elections. The story appears to be following the script in Durham and Victoria but, unexpectedly, Calgary Centre has become the riding to watch. When Lee Richardson resigned from Parliament last spring, no one could have fathomed the type of bizarro world we’d find ourselves in, with the Tories on the ropes, the Greens attacking the Liberals, and two-year old comments … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Canada’s Greatest Losers
Last week, Martha Hall Findlay and Karen McCrimmon declared their candidacies for the Liberal leadership race. This week, George Takach has taken the plunge. I’ve posted one blog interview with David Merner, and will have others with David Bertschi and Alex Burton next week. Deborah Coyne, meanwhile, has already released more fresh ideas than we’ve seen from Stephen Harper during his entire tenure as Prime Minister. These are seven very different candidates with seven very different messages, but the one … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Role Reversal
Now I know how Conservative candidates running in tight Ontario races must feel whenever Rob Anders opens his mouth during a federal election campaign: Rae forced to apologize after David McGuinty says Alberta Tories should ‘go home’ Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae has apologized for a colleague who suggested Alberta Conservative MPs are shills for the oil industry and should “go home.” Rae says Ottawa MP David McGuinty’s comments were a mistake and certainly not helpful, coming less than a … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Let’s Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves
Lorne Bozinoff, discussing Forum’s latest poll, explains what “should be clear by now”: “It’s clear by now that the Trudeau phenomenon is no one-day wonder, and that a Liberal Party led by him would be the prohibitive favourite to beat in the next federal election,” Forum Research President Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said. This likely makes me a bad Liberal, but if Bozinoff thinks Justin Trudeau is the “prohibitive favourite” to win the next election, I’m willing to put $1,000 on … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Make a Difference
I recognize that most readers of this blog either: a) Don’t live in Ontario or b) Have pretty strong political beliefs So any pitch to join the Ontario Liberal Party is either a case of preaching to the choir, or preaching to atheists. However, if you are an unaffiliated Ontarian and want to make a difference, the deadline to sign up as an OLP member to vote for the next Premier of Ontario is midnight Friday. All Ontario residents 14 … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Not Just a Pretty Face
To date, Justin Trudeau has run a safe leadership campaign. He’s smiled, talked about how he loves Canada, and made helping the Middle Class his core theme. That’s a perfectly acceptable way for Justin to introduce himself to voters, but it’s still the most innocuous campaign theme imaginable – even a “pro-sunshine and pro-puppies” message would have forced Justin to answer tough questions about skin cancer and pit bulls. You won’t find anyone who disagrees with helping the middle class. … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Heartland Calgary
Wednesday was not a typical day for Calgary Grits. While leadership candidates must all fly into town, knowing the party’s weighted-by-riding leadership system makes a vote there far more valuable than a vote in Toronto, I have never seen a serious candidate launch their leadership campaign from the heart of Conservative country. But there was Martha Hall Findlay at the Stampede grounds, declaring her intentions to run for Liberal leader. It’s tempting to write off the Calgary launch as a … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Kennedy for Ontario
After some bleating about how no one wanted the “poisoned chalice”, an impressive field of six candidates has declared for the OLP leadership race: Glen Murray, Sandra Pupatello, Eric Hoskins, Kathleen Wynne, Charles Sousa, and Gerard Kennedy. All have Cabinet experience, and all are ready to step into the Premier’s chair. I have nothing negative to say about any of the six and will gladly campaign for whichever one of them scrambles across the finish line first in this race. … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Another Argument Against Legalizing Pot Goes Up In Smoke
In the midst of a largely status-quo election, several groundbreaking ballot initiatives passed last night. Puerto Rico voted to apply for statehood. Same sex marriage was legalized in Maine and Maryland, and was upheld in Washington State, snapping a 32 vote losing streak for equal marriage proponents. And both Washington State and Colorado voted for complete marijuana legalization and regulation. The implications of this in Canada could be far reaching, and I’m not just talking about a spike in “road … →
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Most Entertaining Moment of this Election
Watching Donald Trump’s head explode on Twitter:
My favourite part of this is that Donald appears to have deleted the following tweet out of shame for mixing up “one” and “won” – but has left up the ones calling for…
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Election Day in Ohio
While I may not be as overdosed on hope and change as I was four years ago, I’ll be rooting for Barack Obama tonight. I could write a lengthy treatise comparing policy positions and promises, but the short of it is I like the guy and I think he’d make a better President than Mitt Romney. I suspect that’s what it boils down to for most voters, so I’ll leave the deep analysis to those who follow US politics more … →
Continue reading