Last week’s cabinet shuffle and some of the awkward stories about ministers unaware that they would no longer be ministers are a stark reminder of the absolute authority the Prime Minister has over who he appoints and how he does it, and the often hamfisted way changes can be made.
Continue readingAuthor: David Graham
A View From the Back Bench: On A Mostly Harmless Birthday
Today, I turn 42. In my family, this number holds special significance. I learned in my teen years that 42 is the central number to the cult classic the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and is the single most important number to far more nerds than it should be. It
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: The Trouble With Political Communications
If a politician or a government succeeds at everything they set out to achieve, nobody will ever know. If they then say something phenomenally stupid at a private party and someone recorded it, their career may come to a dramatic and unceremonious end. In order to mitigate this and avoid
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: Politics: War By Other Means
Politics, it is said, is the art of war by other means. It could also be seen as a professional sports game in which the results matter – and one in which the winning team sets the rules for the next round. It has always fascinated me, and I started
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: On the function of Social media
With the recent and continued controversy over Bill C-18 and the growing spat between the federal government and the world’s social media giants, it’s important to explore what social media companies actually are. Fundamentally, social media companies track who you are and what you do, like, and want, in order
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: C-18 is an existential threat, not a benefit, to democracy
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Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: On missing a little more than a sub
Last week’s sinking of the Titan, a deep-diving tourist submarine charging $250,000 US a shot to view the wreck of the Titanic out a 20-inch window for a few minutes, captured the imagination of the world’s media in a way that exposes some of the deep rifts of our society.
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: The realpolitik of open nomination
The realpolitik definition of an open nomination is not that it is a fair fight, but that if you beat the party establishment, your victory will be accepted. As the summer of 2014 wore on, my membership sales improved and we passed 200 membership forms awaiting submission. While credit card
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: What is an open nomination, really?
The realpolitik definition of an open federal nomination in Canada is not that anyone interested in running has a fair shot at becoming the candidate; it is that anyone who beats the party will then be accepted as the party’s candidate. With recent calls for Elections Canada oversight of nomination
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: Alberta election about identity, not policy
Danielle Smith winning re-election last week is a reminder that elections are more about confirmation bias and reaffirming our own prejudices than about working together to find solutions to collective problems. Our elections have become a lot like passengers on a plane electing the pilot: One candidate has years of
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: The trouble with electoral reform
The question of electoral reform is one I have been passionate about since the 2007 referendum in Ontario, and a file I have been active on for the entire period. I won’t dive into it too deeply unless there is an appetite to discuss it further, as my experience in
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: Mr. Bains goes to Rogers
Earlier this month, Navdeep Bains, who was Justin Trudeau’s minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development from 2015 to 2021, announced he had taken on a new position as chief corporate affairs officer at Rogers Communications. As Bains had been the federal minister responsible for regulating much of what Rogers
Continue readingA View From the Back Bench: Question Period
Question Period has become a parody of itself. Sitting four years on the government side back bench, it was baffling. But question period is a symptom of, or an expression of, wider social problems, not the cause of them. We would have fascinating, in-depth debates from time to time, under
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