News of Bob Rae’s decision not to contest the permanent leadership overshadowed what would otherwise have been the major story in Liberal circles Wednesday: the much-awaited meeting of the Liberal Party of Canada’s national executive to make decisions on leadership matters. A short e-mail did go out in the evening
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A BCer in Toronto: A good decision for Bob Rae and for the Liberal Party
I was out and about all day yesterday so I haven’t had a chance to weigh-in yet on Bob Rae’s announcement that he won’t seek the permanent leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. There’s not too much to say that hasn’t been said already, and I largely agree with
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Borys Wrzesnewskyj: This election is about fixing the system
On Tuesday evening I attended the nomination meeting for Borys Wrzesnewskyj as the Liberal candidate in Etobicoke-Centre where, if an Ontario Superior Court ruling holds, a by-election will be held due to irregularities uncovered in the voting in 2011 that, given the small margin of victory of Conservative Ted Opitz,
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Question for Liberals isn’t should we merge, it’s should we exist
An Ipsospoll released over the weekend claiming a majority of Liberal and NDP supporters (voters, not necessarily activists) favour merging the parties has re-ignited the debate about whether or not a merger of the parties makes sense. Well, at least online, as I can count on one hand the number
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Don’t do it, Bob
A minor kerfuffle erupted in the political twittersphere yesterday evening following aCBC Power and Politics report claiming sources had told it the Liberal Party of Canada’s national executive had decided it would “allow” interim leader Bob Rae to run for the permanent leadership, and that Rae had decided to go
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Cons vs. NDP on Dutch Disease shows marginalization of Liberal Party
I remarked last week on Twitter about how NDP leader Tom Mulcair has been dominating my daily news clip package lately, as his comments about an alleged Canadian case of “Dutch Disease” and subsequent trip to the Alberta oil sands spark a heated debate about the Canadian resource sector and
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Great event with Stephane Dion in Toronto on Saturday
If you’re in Toronto on Saturday (May 26th) this is where you should be, as the Edward Blake Society presents a pub night and discussion on Canadian democracy and reform with former Liberal leader (and still number one in my heart) Stephane Dion. It begins at 6pm at Pauper’s Pub,
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: If the Liberals want to stand up for reproductive rights, they should stop pretending and whip the dammed vote
Today Parliament will debate a “private members” motion from Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth that would effectively re-open the abortion debatein Canada, and put the reproductive rights of women at risk. In the last 24 hours I’ve received two e-mails from the Liberal Party of Canada on this topic, both eager
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Some positive messaging from Christy Clark in BC – but that name change…
I wrote earlier this week about some lessons I hoped BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark would take from the experience of Alberta PCPremier Alison Redford, who was able to win election and beat back a threat on her right by moving to the centre and appealing to progressive voters. And
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: My latest aggravating interaction with Rogers
It seems every few months I have an aggravating experience with Rogers. A few months ago, I got a letter saying this was my final bill and my cable/Internet service was being disconnected “as requested.” Only problem was, I had made no such request. And my account was up to
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Can Christy Clark learn any lessons from Allison Redford?
It’s a staple of punditry to take events in one region and try to connect them to another. And far be it from me to break with tradition. But I think the parallels between Alberta and British Columbia are interesting, and I think there are definitely lessons that Christy Clark
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Liberals need to rethink their Quebec approach
Since the election of former Quebec cabinet minister Thomas “Tom” Mulcair as leader of the NDP last month, much attention has been paid to the political situation in Quebec and the consensus seems to be the Liberals are screwed in the province. Consolidating NDP gains in Quebec is certainly a
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Why is Julian Fantino hiding his campaign donors?
Blogger The Sixth Estate has written a post drawing attention to the campaign finance filing of Vaughan Conservative MP Julian Fantino from last year’s election, noting two campaign contributions of “Dinner” and “Donation” that are rather odd names you don’t hear every day. And if they are names, at $117,600
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Mackay, Conservatives should wear F-35 boondoggle
The auditor general’s report Tuesday on the mismanagement by DND and the government of the F-35 is drawing major attention, and rightly so. But the fact is these revelations have largely been known for some time and all these objections raised previously — the Conservatives simply elected to ignore them.
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Budget 2012 shows Harper plans to stick around awhile
A week or so later, I’ve finally had a chance to take a gander through the Budget 2012 documents. I like to look through the source documents on things like this rather than rely on media and punditry analysis to form my opinions. And having done so, I have to
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Rae’s budget town hall: From gas prices to gas taxes, and other stuff too
This morning I randomly heard that interim Liberal leader Bob Rae and members of the Liberal caucus were holding a post-budget town hall at the Armenian Community Centre in Toronto. After debating it for a bit, I decided to drop my previous Saturday plan of re-runs of Holmes Inspection, followed
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Jobs plan, jobs plan, anyone got a jobs plan?
Or know what a jobs plan is, exactly? We’ll save that one for another day. But with both the Ontario Liberals and Federal Conservatives releasing budgets this week, it offered an interesting opportunity to watch the reaction of their respective opposition parties to the plans. And it looks like they
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Lessons for the Liberals from the NDP leadership and showcase weekend
With the NDP leadership race and showcase weekend in the books, there are some lessons the Liberal Party should draw from the experience as we prepare for our own leadership vote, scheduled for some time next spring. I think the first lesson is that you need a strong field of
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Post-#ndpldr, with Mulcair change will be more personality than politics
Leadership contests tend to create the appearance of stark differences where none really exist – it’s in the interests of both candidates looking to differentiate themselves and media looking for a meaningful race to cover. In reality, these differences are usually exaggerated, and governing tends to be a moderating influence
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: #ndpldr pics, video and a few thoughts
It was a very long Saturday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre — about 12 hours for me, longer for others — for the NDP to arrive at what, for many, was an inevitable result: the election of Thomas Mulcair as their new leader. With Mulcair set to take his
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