On Saturday we saw British Columbians finish their 42nd General Election, which resulted in the re-election of John Horgan’s New Democrats to a good-sized majority government. It was a campaign that was called during this pandemic, joining New Brunswick in holding votes during this public health crisis that didn’t have
Continue readingAuthor: Cam Holmstrom
Magpie Brûlé: The Morning After: The 42nd British Columbia General Election
Yesterday may have been a Saturday but we saw something out in British Columbia that we rarely see on a weekend in this country; an election day. It marked the end of voting in the 42nd general election in British Columbia, a campaign that had its own controversies given the
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the Second Trump/Biden Debate with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I joined Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Anthony Koch. We talked about Thursday nights second and final American Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, how this debate compared to the debacle that was the first one, how the new “mute button” feature affected the
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: The Morning After: The Second Trump-Biden Debate
In any general election campaign televised leaders’ debates offer a rare chance to make a big impact, especially in these days of diffuse media consumption. It’s very rare that you get so many eyes watching the same thing at the same time these days, and American Presidential election debates are
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: The Adults in the Room
All of Canadian politics has spent the past 48 hours spinning, twirling and losing its collective mind over the potential of a snap general election during the start of the second wave of this global pandemic. It’s been something to see how this all blew up out of nowhere, against
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Overplaying the Red and Blue Hands
Having worked in politics for a decade, I always find it interesting to see when and how parties manage to get far out over their skies. While many professional political operatives have good political judgement and senses, sometimes those senses can be completely off the mark and off base. It’s
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the Attacks on Mi’kmaw Fishers in Mi’kma’ki and Halloween or Not with COVID-19 with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I joined Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Kate Harrison & Lindsay Maskell. We talked about the attacks on Mi’kmaw fishers in Nova Scotia, the reaction (or lack there of) by the RCMP, what’s needed to be done to move forward, the continued mixed messages around COVID-19
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: New Blue Who?
I’ve always found it interesting to see what becomes of failed, long shot leadership candidates, it’s been a poli-geeky interest of mine. There are many people who run (or try to run) for the leadership of many parties who, frankly, have no business being in such a race. They aren’t
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the Attacks on Mi’kmaw Fishers in Mi’kma’ki on “The Arlene Bynon Show”
This morning I joined Arlene Bynon on “The Arlene Bynon Show” on Sirius XM’s Canada Talks 167, along with Alise Mills. We discussed the latest from Nova Scotia and the attacks against Mi’kmaw fishers, the effects of this tense moment on Indigenous rights, why the Federal government needs to step
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Big Messages Sent by Small Acts
It’s amazing how it can be the little things that can make some of the biggest impacts in our political life. That’s something that has proved to be true over and over again when it comes to various issues, scandals and how the small things can really drive home the
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Filibusted Tactics
I’ve had the good fortune in my live of getting to learn many great lessons about politics and how to go about it. My near decade on Parliament Hill taught me many of those lessons, as has my 15 years or so doing political campaigns on all levels. But there
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the Provinces Response to COVID-19 on “The Arlene Bynon Show”
This morning I joined Arlene Bynon on “The Arlene Bynon Show” on Sirius XM’s Canada Talks 167, along with Bob Richardson. We discussed the state of the different provinces responses to COVID-19, the importance of actions vs. words, the blame game around budget shortfalls of the Public Health Agency of
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Reconciliation Failing in Nova Scotia: WTF?!?!?!
It was just a few weeks ago on this site that I wrote about what has been happening in Nova Scotia regarding threats being leveled at Mi’kmaw fishers who are simply exercising their constitutional rights. It’s been extremely disturbing to witness, especially when time after time we Indigenous peoples are
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the Tensions from COVID-19 with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I joined Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Kate Harrison & Lindsay Maskell for a rare Thursday appearance. We talked about the growing tensions from COVID-19 on society, the effect that it’s having on people and our behaviours and the need for transparency regarding the data used
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Shame on the Shameless
We’re living in stressed times and that is starting to show in some of our discourse more so than usual. That is extending onto social media, a place where things are usually pretty bad when it comes to respectful discussion as it gets really worse. We’re all used to trolls
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Daylight Savings Debacle
In these days of COVID it’s interesting to see what legislation different elected people decide to continue to pursue. There are always different kinds of hobby horse bills floating around, on niche issues that some really want to see happen. They’re issues that always seem to stick around but never
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Virtual Insanity
In 2020 things seemed to have moved at the speed of light, making it so hard to keep up. Days have felt like hours, as big event after big event has kept coming at us. But if for most of 2020 days have felt like hours, the past two weeks
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking COVID-19 in the White House & the Second Wave of COVID in Canada on “The Arlene Bynon Show”
This morning I joined Arlene Bynon on “The Arlene Bynon Show” on Sirius XM’s Canada Talks 167, along with Alise Mills. We discussed the COVID-19 diagnosis of American President Donald Trump, the spread of the disease in the White House, what it says about the current state of politics in
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Attacks on American Democracy Under the Radar
2020 has been a crazy year and more so than usual, it’s felt like life have serious come at us fast. It feels almost like the further we’ve gotten into the pandemic, the faster things have started to move with huge events happening one after the another in quick succession.
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking the First Trump-Biden Debate with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I joined Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Zoe Knowles for a rare Wednesday appearance. We talked about the first Trump-Biden Presidential Debate, the dumpster fire of a night that it was, just how far things have degenerated & the dangers in where this all could lead.
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