The Liberal Scarf: "Willing to bring it … hard", "stoke[ing]…frustration and anger" – What the expect from NDP campaigns in the upcoming by-elections

That’s what Pundits’ Guide and David Akin wrote about new Mulcair candidate Linda McQuaig’s approach to politics in their (both very good) summaries of the Toronto Centre nominations. I was happy to spend the day pulling vote for Chrystia Freeland, who McQuaig wasted no time in attacking. Those who read

Continue reading

Accidental Deliberations: On test cases

Not surprisingly, Linda McQuaig‘s entry into the NDP’s Toronto Centre nomination contest against Jennifer Hollett has set off plenty of discussion this morning. And much of the focus has been on a possible by-election battle between McQuaig and Chrystia Freeland – the authors of the two most prominent recent books

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: Byelection Results Roll In

With most of the results in, it appears the Liberals have held Scarborough-Guildwood and Ottawa South, with the NDP winning Windsor-Tecumseh and London West, and Doug Holyday squeaking it out in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. On the surface, this is a disastrous result for Kathleen Wynne, losing three seats and seeing her party’s

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: Great Moments in Spin

The Onion Conservative Party reacts to their by-election defeat moral victory: As we know, majority governments do not usually win by-elections. In fact, Liberals have won the riding of Labrador in every election in history except for two, so we are not surprised with these results. What is surprising is

Continue reading

The Liberal Scarf: Labrador insta-analysis

I present to you some thoughts on the upcoming Labrador by-election. By the way, here is a link to donate to the Labrador FLA: https://action.liberal.ca/en/donate/Riding/10004 With the resignation of Conservative Minister Peter Penashue after he admitted his campaign took illegal donations, Labrador faces a fascinating by-election. Penashue is taking the rare

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: Old Habits Die Hard

In all my years blogging about Calgary politics, I never thought “Liberals blow by-election” is a story I’d have to write. “Liberals lose” is a common headline for a party that hasn’t won a seat in Calgary since 1968, during the height of Trudeaumania (the first round of Trudeaumania that is). But while some Liberals have come down with “candidate’s disease” over the years (symptoms include house hunting in Ottawa), the reality is the Liberal Party is never even in …

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: Battleground Calgary Centre

Voters in Durham, Victoria, and Calgary Centre head to the polls tonight in what were originally pegged as three “safe” by-elections. The story appears to be following the script in Durham and Victoria but, unexpectedly, Calgary Centre has become the riding to watch. When Lee Richardson resigned from Parliament last spring, no one could have fathomed the type of bizarro world we’d find ourselves in, with the Tories on the ropes, the Greens attacking the Liberals, and two-year old comments …

Continue reading