Charlene Johnson quit the legislature first. The chief electoral office has been plugging special ballot voting in the seat she vacated since the early part of October. For those who don’t know, you can vote in Newfoundland and Labrador up to 30 days before the writ drops in any election.
Continue readingTag: by-elections
Alberta Diary: Time for Tories to place a bet: Jim Prentice reaches a crucial moment in a high-stakes game
Prentice… James Prentice… Alberta’s premier eyes the opposition as the time grows near to decide whether to hold ’em, fold ’em, or just run. No way he can walk away now! Actual PC politicians dealt a lousy hand may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Prentice; Calgary-Nose
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Robert Reich discusses how a reasonable balance of economic and political power is necessary to any protection of meaningful personal freedom: In reality, corporate free speech drowns out the free speech of ordinary people who can’t flood the halls of Congress with campaign
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Stephen Hume writes about the importance of tax revenue in building a functional and compassionate Canada: My taxes provide our mostly peaceful, prosperous and safe society; a health care system that for all its flaws and glitches is pretty darn good compared to
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Where does Hudak Niagara Falls candidate Bart Maves stand on right to work?
We know Hudak has no tolerance for his own candidates standing up for local jobs in the face of his reckless right-to-work-for-less scheming and Bart Maves himself used to be opposed to the policy? So what does Bart Maves stand for now? It’s a question worth asking. In a debate this evening, Maves
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: PC candidates and MPPs flee from Hudak’s leadership
Hudak is down two candidates, with his candidates in Hamilton Mountain and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek resigning. This of course, comes hot on the heels of PC candidate Dave Brister getting the boot for standing up for his constituents and standing up to Hudak and his reckless “right to work for less” schemes,
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Doing politics differently? NDP break campaign laws in Niagara Falls by-election
Is breaking the law to try and win Andrea Horwath’s idea of “leadership”?
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Thornhill PC candidate supports subway taxes, undercuts Hudak’s policy
After trying and failing to land a star candidate, Tim Hudak has settled for former Conservative riding association president Gila Martow as his candidate in Thornhill to replace his Finance spokesperson Peter Shurman, who resigned after billing you $20 grand to pay for a second home while living 150 kilometers outside
Continue readingAlberta Diary: In four letters, Brian Jean, the Crossword King of Parliament Hill, has Q-U-I-T
How Brian Jean may have started to see himself after whiling away too many hours on Parliament Hill over the decade. Amateur psychologizing by blog authors is unlikely to resemble the actual mental state of real Parliamentarians. Below: The real Mr. Jean, who announced yesterday he is quitting his job
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how this week’s federal by-elections seem to confirm that another minority Parliament is a real possibility in 2015 – even as the main parties all rule out any discussion of what would happen under that scenario. For further reading…– I make reference in the column to John Ivison’s
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Margin of Error
They were up late counting the votes in Brandon-Souris Monday night. That, despite the fact that the final poll of the campaign showed the Liberals with a commanding 29-point lead. In the end, the Liberal vote was 16 points lower and the Tory vote was 14 points higher. It would
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Orange continues to be crushed in federal by-elections
I was happy to help the Freeland campaign in Toronto Centre over the last couple of months, and I’m glad to have her as my MP. I was a poll captain, and Freeland pulled 62% of the vote in my home poll, woot. With the results spinning game already going
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Wheat Kings
Trudeau was so confident in the wake of the Forum poll, that he started waving “Vote PC” signs on the campaign trail. On the surface, nothing really happened last night. The Liberals held two safe seats and the Conservatives held two safe seats. Yes, they were counting ballots until late
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Richard Seymour comments on more and more draconian anti-protest laws which are being applied to attack public activism: To understand why this is happening, it is necessary to grasp the relationship between neoliberal austerity and popular democracy. In a previous era, when
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Paul Wells and Dan Lett offer roundups of today’s federal by-elections, while Chantal Hebert offers some advice to the candidates (whether or not they’re elected to Parliament today). And Murray Dobbin explains why there’s only one true progressive choice in Toronto Centre in
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Tory Candidate In Provencher Talks Anti-Gay Bullying: Maybe They’re Faking It
Steinbach Regional Secondary School student Evan Wiens attracted national attention as he stepped forward, identifying himself as a gay student, and advocating for gay-straight alliances. In a television interview, as the debate over the bill grew, Wiens was interviewed in front of the high school as other students walked past
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Chris Dillow discusses how a shredded social safety net may turn into a vicious cycle – as voters are more prepared to cast ballots based on resentment when their own livelihood is less secure: Marko Pitesa and Stefan Thau first manipulated subjects’ perceptions
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – John Ivison makes the case for more discussion of government spending rather than corruption and scandal. But it’s PressProgress leading the way in actually reporting on that front – featuring revelations that multiple resource-related ministers’ office have received massive spending boosts, while program
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Today in meaningless polling
I really hate to post the results of a Forum poll. Especially for a by-election, where the stakes are low and turnout will be lower. But…wow. The fact that the Liberals are even in the game in a riding like Brandon is just stunning. No, they won’t win, but for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Dechene interviews Maude Barlow about the downside of privatizing public infrastructure: Somebody asked me to point blank explain the difference between private and public and I said, profit. That’s the difference. In a public system, it’s the same amount of money; you’re
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