The media love a good narrative, and once they decide on a narrative they’ll do anything to force events into their box, whether the events fit inside that box. Right now, one of their favourite narratives is that the Liberal Party is dying. Sadly for them, we refuse to go.
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A BCer in Toronto: Travelling BC & The Yukon with Deborah Coyne
As a BCer I’m always happiest in BC, and that’s where I am right now. I’m with Liberal leadership candidate Deborah Coyne on a 23-day tour of the province. After a great kick-off with the North Shore Womens Liberal Commission affiliate in North Vancouver and a few days off for
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: The Liberal Party needs a competitive race
With the rules that will govern the race now in place and more candidates about to put their names forward, the race for the Liberal Party of Canada is about to move from the quiet summer exploratory phase to a season of coast-to-coast fall campaigning. Officially, the starting gun will
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberal leadership procedure and process update from Mike Crawley
Today was the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario)’s Toronto region day, where Liberals from the ridings of greater Toronto gathered to talk organization, policy and rebuilding. A few items of interest to share, particularly on the leadership front. Speaking of leadership, as I believe in full disclosure I’ll say that
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberal Party needs time to do supporter vote right
To paraphrase an old proverb, beware newspaper columnists bearing advice. That certainly applies to John Ibbitson’s column in the Globe this morning, where he takes the Liberal Party to task for setting a 41 day cutoff for supporter (and member) sign-ups to be eligible to vote in the leadership race
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: James Moore should give Peter MacKay history lessons
Late last year, as the federal government launched plans to celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, Heritage Minister James Moore was heard to lament the fact that Canada’s high schools are doing a very poor job of teaching students about history. Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, who announced Tuesday that
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: How does Canada fare in The Newsroom’s “greatest country” rant?
One of the best moments of television I’ve seen in awhile is the rant fictional news anchor Will McAvoy gives early in the pilot episode of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, when he’s asked by a student to discuss why he thinks the United States is the greatest country in the
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: 10,000 Liberal supporters a very real number: Certosimo
Following-up on my post earlier this week about some of my concerns around the Liberal Party of Canada’s supporter sign-up process, I spoke today with Liberal membership secretary Matthew Certosimo about the process and the philosophy behind how it’s set up. In summary, he feels the 10,000 supporters signed-up in
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Michaëlle Jean and memories of prorogations past
An interesting story came out this week offering some insight into former Governor General Michaëlle Jean’s decision to grant Stephen Harper’s Conservative government a prorogation of Parliament in 2008 when he was facing defeat at the hands of the Liberal/NDP coalition. Constitutional scholar Peter Russell told OntarioNewsWatch.com this week that
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: A Coyne (not that one) enters the race and a BCer (not me) comes close
With summer underway the Liberal Party of Canada leadership race is starting to heat up (yes, I do feel horrible for writing that) with a few recent developments to report. For one, a Coyne has declared (no, not Andrew). It’s Deborah Coyne, who will have to remind the media that
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberals should reconsider supporter opt-in process
While I didn’t support the creation of the Liberal “supporter”category that allows anyone that’s not a member of another party to vote for the party’s next leader without buying a membership, now that we have the system I do want it to be a success. And the integrity of the
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Ethics committee talks social media without Del Mastro
I had a few committee meetings to choose from while I was in Ottawa last week, and attending the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics meeting on Tuesday made sense. And not just because it was hearing witnesses on a study of the privacy issues around social media. I was hoping
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Video: Scrum shopping on Parliament Hill
Every day that the House of Commons is sitting, just before the end of question period members of the press gallery begin to gather in the foyer outside the chamber for the scrums. It’s usually the best opportunity to grab an MP and get a few quick questions answered or
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Video: Peter MacKay hears the word plane and runs up the stairs
I was in Ottawa earlier this week and spent some time on Parliament Hill with a media pass, attending a few question periods, a few scrums, and a meeting of the ethics committee. Over the next few days I’ll share a few observations and stories from those events, as well
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberals mustn’t have any sacred cows, dairy or otherwise
I confess to knowing practically nothing about supply management. I know that people that support it say it’s necessary to keep Canadian farmers competitive and alive, and those that oppose it say it forces Canadians to massively overpay for milk, cheese and other products compared to people in other countries.
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: It’s so hard to find good help these days…
You know, I’m starting to feel sorry for Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro. I’m sure he wants to do good, but he just keeps being foiled by those around him. I mean, it is so hard to find good help these days, isn’t it? Take these allegations of campaign overspending
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Will Joe Volpe follow in Borys Wrzesnewskyj’s footsteps in Eglington-Lawrence?
Former Etobocoke-Centre Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj has won headlines for his legal challenge to force a by-election due to election irregularities, and it appears another former Liberal MP, Joe Volpe, may be considering following suit. Wrzesnewskyj won an Ontario Superior Court ruling ordering a new election in the riding after
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Quoted on affairs Liberal
Postmedia’s Lee Berthiaume filed the obligatory Justin Trudeau and the Liberal leadership story yesterday, and I’m quoted. First, in defence of charisma: “Charisma can be seen as superficial, but it is important,” said Liberal blogger Jeff Jedras. “I’m looking for someone who can go into small groups in small towns
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Canada isn’t a polarized country (yet), but the Liberals need to earn relevance
I wrote a few weeks ago how an increasing and deliberate polarization of the political debate in Canada by the Conservatives and the NDP was having the effect of both simplifying and dumbing-down the quality of policy discussion and decision-making, as well as squeezing out the Liberal Party of Canada in a
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: The case for Justin Trudeau and a two-election strategy
There are a number of interesting names floating around as possible contenders for the Liberal Party of Canada leadership, and many more less than interesting names. While I may or may not support him were he to run, I think there’s a good case to be made for Justin Trudeau.
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