Good news: the Conservative Party has refused to debate the other opposition leaders before the traditional news broadcasters, and have suggested a dramatically different – and very welcome – change of format. But this decision by Harper’s election brains trust might prove to be the first major blunder in their
Continue readingTag: 2015 election
Blevkog: A simple question, unanswered
If the Trans Pacific Partnership is really the biggest game on the planet, why really is it okay to negotiate it in complete secrecy? Secrecy to the point that our elected representatives, who theoretically should have our best interests at heart (heh) can’t even see the thing? Why is it
Continue readingBlevkog: Pride, vanity, and puerile BS
Anyone wanna guess how much noise would be made by the Whinging Right if the Libs or NDP ever did something like this? Are the Conservatives trying to remind the electorate of Tony Clement’s gold unilingual business cards of a few years back? Are they trying to create easy-to-use election
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Latest in the Drip-Drip-Duffy saga: Going Squirrelly
Here’s the latest revelations in the Drip-Drip-Duffy saga: Plan to prevent Duffy ‘from going squirrelly’ During the course of the interviews, the RCMP also cited a February 2013 email from Wright that said he had been on the phone with Duffy, Tkachuk and Senator Marjory LeBreton, the former government leader in the Senate. According to
Continue readingBlevkog: Alberta, oh Alberta, what on earth have you done?
Last night’s NDP victory in Alberta changes the discussion a little to the place at which there is a real discussion of NDP in positions of leadership. Not that many years ago, the NDP was either ignored federally or viewed as promoting ideas that were maybe good, but in the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NEXT!
Stephen Harper NEXT!!!!
Continue readingBlevkog: Careful words
Note the careful words, words that are worthy of a former Prime Ministerial spokesweasel: “I deeply regret the ordeal this has been for my family,” he said. “There’s been no way to shield or protect them.” The ordeal, of course, is Dean Del Maestro’s trial on charges of intentionally mis-representing
Continue readingBlevkog: One would think…
One would think that the question “How many jobs will be created by the federal budget?” when asked of the bloody finance minister who had just delivered the thing would get a better worded response than “dunno“. If jobs were the teeniest tiniest concern for this government, one would think that
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 election: Harper on road to minority government?
The problem? The latest compendium of polls by 308 have good news and bad news. Good news for Harper who – based on these results – would form a minority government after the 2015 election. Bad news for the Liberals, whose support is slipping. And good news for the besieged
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Duffy Trial, or Why we will have an election called within a month
Here’s to me… The Duffy trial is beginning to lurch out of control, if you are a member of the Conservative government of Canada. In just a few days, voters have been exposed to a cascade of visual and sound bites that have snapped necks and focused attention as seldom
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 Election: Quebec holds, Ontario rises for Liberals says Abacus poll
On guard Hat tip to BigCityLibfor pointing the way to the latest Abacus poll. The devil is in the regional breakdown, because national poll numbers are relatively useless in Canada. There are 4 big battlegrounds, with only 3 really in contention: the prairies are Tory blue; BC is a nightmare
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Legacy of Ottawa: The Gutting of Canada
When Stephen Harper’s spinners start pontificating about his steady hand on the tiller over the past decade or so, think on this: Is Canada’s economy really that much better off under his watch? Or has he presided over a country whose financial and economic muscles had continued to waste away.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 election: Liberals, put money into the 14 Birddog Seats!
Wise money chases low margins After the last election, I wrote a post that pointed out that these 14 seats were won by the Conservatives by the slim average of 443 votes per seat. With the Tories ahead of the Liberal Party in fundraising so far, the Liberals could be
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Michael Den Tandt is wrong: Mulcair knows what a mess of pottage is
Den Tandt: Muclair cannot count So, what will our next federal government look like? Today is the last day of the year 2014, and most commentators have hidden their heads in the sand rather than venture a public guess. Michael Den Tandt is one of the braver ones. In an
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 & Santa Claus: Fluid electorate gives all parties a chance
Pollster Nick Nanos has just released a Christmas goodie for the party leaders of the three parties vying to form the next government of Canada. Based on just one question – how fluid the electorate is – either one of these three parties could form a majority government come the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Mulcair leads the way to a more democratic Canada
Mulcair: The man who would bring democracy to Canada Thomas Mulcair, that very capable MP who is leader of the NDP, has publicly committed himself to remedy our democratic deficit, as this post indicates. Mulcair is to be commended for two things. First, for signing the Fair Vote Canada declaration
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Mr. Trudeau: Coalitions are what you make them
Let’s talk coalition … The recent poll showing that most Liberal and NDP supporters would rather have a new government than have a Harper one after the 2015 election, even if this means some form of a coalition, has sparked renewed talk about the possibility of a coalition. One problem
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 election: Coalition gains favour
Which one, or two, of these men will lead Canada? The end of the Harper government is clear from this latest poll, which shows that the Harper scare tactics of the past have run their course: Liberal and NDP supporters, meanwhile, have expressed a tepid willingness to consider each other,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Pipelines and Ottawa’s dropping of the ball: Gordon Gibson nails it
Gordon Gibson: The Nailer If you are a politician, or work with any political party –federal or provincial or municipal – you should definitely read the succinct, well-written and politically significant articleby Gordon Gibson in the Globe & Mail, entitled Enough with pipelines. Refine it. Gibson summarizes, in one short
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Will Canada have a snap election over new anti-terrorist laws and ISIS?
Big Brother is watching … There is a clear fault line between the two opposition parties, and PM Stephen Harper’s policies with regard to how to combat ISIS. The Conservatives favour actual fighting (planes dropping bombs etc.), while the opposition parties are against this. The NDP is further from the
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