Canadians will forever be indebted because of Jim Flaherty. Regardless of what one thinks of the recently deceased man on a personal level, if one uses objective, non-emotional criteria, it is clear that he was probably the worst finance minister in Canadian history. Unfortunately for us, his replacement, Joe Oliver,
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Scott's DiaTribes: Conservative logic: Promoting high turnout/ensuring fair election is a conflict?
That’s what Conservative Senator Linda Frum seems to think: (for lack of a better term). Some twitter tweets give her position quite clearly: “Elections Canada role is to administer fair elections. Not to motivate. Not to induce. More integrity when mission is clear cut.” and this, as a reply to
Continue readingIn This Corner: PQ found there is no future in living in the past
The political obituary of the separatist movement has been written many times before. No less an expert than Pierre Trudeau once proclaimed separatism to be dead and buried, only to see it rise up and nearly ruin the country not once, but twice. It’s very risky to read the last
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A victory for federalism and tolerance in Quebec..
…and 2 free dinners won from political bets for me from political colleagues (one on a majority, the 2nd on the number of seats won) All in all, a great night last night.
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Wynne suing Hudak is hardly going to help her
The de facto practice of being a politician is to not so subtly imply all manner of scandalous inanities about one’s opponents. When there is an actual underlying scandal, the shrill accusations from opponents tend to reach a fever pitch, and how an incumbent politician deals with the scandal breaking
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: You are reading the blog of a potentially disenfranchised voter….
…if Bill C23 passes in it’s current form. I may be one of those Canadians (potentially 4 million of us, according to Canadian election law experts) who may not be allowed to vote, if Bill C23 passes in its current unaltered form. Why is that?: Well, I don’t have a
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: “Instead, the official reiterated the government’s position that political parties and candidates, not Elections Canada, would be responsible for increasing voter turnout under Bill C-23.”
“Instead, the official reiterated the government’s position that political parties and candidates, not Elections Canada, would be responsible for increasing voter turnout under Bill C-23.” That’s the altogether revealing comment that might have slipped past you in a Hill Times article last month which showed that a 2008 Elections Canada
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: “Instead, the official reiterated the government’s position that political parties and candidates, not Elections Canada, would be responsible for increasing voter turnout under Bill C-23.”
“Instead, the official reiterated the government’s position that political parties and candidates, not Elections Canada, would be responsible for increasing voter turnout under Bill C-23.” That’s the altogether revealing comment that might have slipped past you in a Hill Times article last month which showed that a 2008 Elections Canada
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: I have faith in Quebec voters….
… to recognize the dog-whistles coming out of the PQ for what they are.. and not allow wedge politics and narrow-mindedness to rule the day. The PQ has fallen into out and out panic mode, accusing the Liberal leader Couillard of more or less abandoning Quebecois, merely because he supports
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A Pool/Poll On Number Of “Fair Elections Act” amendments/changes
If you’ve followed the reaction to the “Fair Elections Act”, you’ll note there’s not a lot of support for this act as it stands. It’s getting rightly lambasted by newspaper editorials and columnists across this country, as well as academics and so forth. That said, I’d be willing to bet
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Thomas Mulcair reminds me of Stephen Harper
TweetMore than 500 people packed into the lobby of the Winspear Centre yesterday to watch the New Democratic Party of Canada officially nominate Edmonton-Centre‘s Lewis Cardinal as the first candidate for 2015 federal election. The selection of Edmonton-Centre as the NDP’s first nomination demonstrates that party’s desire to turn Edmonton into a
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Rob Ford Crushes the First Toronto Mayoral Debate
Sorry, fellow progressives, but it’s true. The first debate was, somewhat mercifully, fairly policy focused with large sections devoted to debating various transit plans (such as LRT vs subways in Scarborough), finances, the Billy Bishop Airport expansion, and so on. In this context, and with a format that had a
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Quebec’s Highly Questionable Voting Eligibility Rules
Students who come to Quebec to study at universities like McGill – as my brother has done – are in a rather uncomfortable position when it comes to voting in the upcoming provincial election. Whether they will be able to vote at all is not easily determined. There is anecdotal
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Good luck to Dan Fox running for TO City Council (Ward 24) in Willowdale.
I don’t often do links to municipal candidates, particularly City of Toronto ones, despite the amusing circus that occasionally provides, but I’m making an exception for Dan Fox, who is an active Liberal in federal politics, but has decided to go a different route and will try to get elected
Continue readingIn This Corner: City transit ads stealing a page from Stephen Harper playbook
The Stephen Harper government has spent hundreds of millions of public dollars on a propaganda campaign aimed at bolstering the Stephen Harper brand. Apparently, someone from the city of Edmonton has been paying attention, because we are now seeing a peculiar propaganda campaign using city tax dollars. Exactly what they’re
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Harper endorses Rob Anders and more nomination updates
TweetWith Dave Hancock being sworn-in as the 15th Premier of Alberta and speculation running rampant about who will replace him in four to six months, I thought now would be a good opportunity to provide a quick update about nominations for federal election candidates in Alberta. Calgary-Signal Hill In what could be
Continue readingBryan Crockett: The aftermath of a week of resignations
Yesterday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty resigned. I speculated on which political players that the Mr. Harper might appoint to replace him, and I was flat-out wrong. Stephen Harper’s choice for Finance was former Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. No offence to Joe Oliver, but this was ultimately a boring choice on Mr. Harper’s
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A neat site to track Liberal nominees in ridings across Canada: LiberalReboot.ca
LiberalReboot.ca is a pretty neat, fairly new site I was made aware of, and it’s very ambitious: This website is intended to be a database for Liberals and Liberal supporters to find the aspiring candidates in their ridings, and for aspiring candidates to contact and work together in building this
Continue readingBryan Crockett: Who will replace Deficit, err, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty?
Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced that he’s resigning from Cabinet, and leaving politics to work in the private sector. Considering Flaherty has been in politics for nearly two decades, it would be fairly reasonable that he’d want to leave. However, it is peculiar, considering how strongly he lobbied
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: The only progressive in the TO Mayor race is Olivia Chow
Municipal politics are an interesting political arena. You have much more of a political ideological mix here, which you don’t necessarily have for the federal or provincial arenas. So it is for the Toronto Mayor race. All the political candidates lean right-of-centre, with the exception of one candidate; that would
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