Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Chantal Hebert theorizes that Canada’s political scene has taken every turn Jack Layton might have hoped for since his passing last summer, while Gerald Caplan discusses what the NDP needs to do next: As the Liberals flounder their way through the next year,
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Calgary Grit: Issue Management
I spy with my little eye, someone running for leadership In her Star column today, Chantal Hebert supposes that the Quebec Nation resolution might resurface as a divisive issue during the Liberal Leadership race, as it did in 2006. While I don’t think there’s any appetite to revisit that specific
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – I’ll very much hope Chantal Hebert is wrong in her conclusion that Canadians are getting ever more doubtful as to whether change is possible through the ballot box. But one can’t much argue with her take on why that perception might be
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Powerful Stench Of Obsequiousness At The CBC
With the polls revealing that the NDP, under leader Thomas Mulcair, is enjoying 34% of popular support while the Harper Conservatives languish at 30%, it is probably no surprise that the CBC is once again polishing up its apples in yet another desperate and misplaced effort at appeasing its political
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Sad Saga Of Our Declining Democracy Continues
During the past year I have written many posts on the sad spectacle of a Canadian democracy in decline, citizen cynicism and apathy rather than vigorous engagement becoming the default position of more and more Canadians. I have also offered the opinion that this is in large part the result
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Spring Signs of A Thaw In Our Political Passivity?
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen in print the term ‘Red Tory’, used to describe an economic conservationism balanced by a social progressiveness. Yet it is included in columns today by The Star’s Thomas Walkom and Chantal Hebert as both reflect upon the significance of Alison Redford’s Progressive
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor report that the Council of Canadians is leading the charge in challenging election results which may have been influenced by Robocon. And perhaps the most noteworthy point as to how the move may shine a spotlight on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
I didn’t think much could come along at this point in the NDP’s leadership campaign to significantly change my voting considerations [edit: other than the type of organizational problem discussed here]. But the CROP poll published in Le Soleil may well do just that. No, it isn’t a surprise to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Followup commentary from the final NDP leadership on Sunday, as well as a couple more days worth of developments in the campaign. – Most of the post–debate coverage focused on a Thomas Mulcair-vs-the field contrast, while Quinn and Adventures in Socialism offered a few more interesting observations. – Niki Ashton
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On case studies
Chantal Hebert draws pretty much the exact opposite conclusion as I do from the opportunities raised by a close leadership race. But yesterday’s debate offered us a neat reminder as to whether we should buy into the theory that the NDP will continue its success in Quebec if and only
Continue readingA Different Point of View....: The big robo-calling question: will anyone go to jail?
Two important questions arise concerning the robo-calling scandal: Good investigative journalism could break this affair wide open, but will the owners of the Harper-friendly corporate media allow their journalists to go beyond normal reporting and do the hard work necessary to get to the very bottom of this dark story?
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – In the last couple of days’ worth of developments on Robocon, the Cons defaulted to their standard setting of admitting nothing and misleading about everything – though it’s hard to see that strategy working out well given the amount of information that’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A quick survey of what’s happened in the NDP leadership campaign over the past couple of days… – Niki Ashton has rightly criticized other candidates’ operatives who seem to be working to push her out of the race. But the behind-the-scenes maneuvering may only backfire it if gives Ashton and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
News and notes from the last few days as the deadline to sign up looms just a week away in advance of a convention that’s set to far exceed the turnout the NDP expected. – Niki Ashton responded to questions about whether she’d stay in the race with a strong
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Carol Goar notes that the Cons’ decision to mess with retirement security may be just the type of issue to rouse voters who had been lulled to sleep by promises of stability – which seems more plausible than Chantal Hebert’s theory that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
It’s been another busy week in the NDP leadership race, with policies, events and endorsements galore. So let’s jump right in… – Niki Ashton released both a statement on multiculturalism and a health-care plan, with one familiar idea featuring prominently in the media’s coverage in Saskatoon – and will be
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Mia Rabson comments on the dangers of eliminating any public debate over Canada’s future direction – as the Cons are trying to do: This is one of the most important committees in Parliament. It looks at all government operations and examines spending estimates
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On building blocks
I left Chantal Hebert’s take on the NDP’s leadership race out of this morning’s roundup since it seems worth addressing in a separate post. And in some other contexts, I’ve been one of the first to push substantial policy discussion as a plus in a leadership race. But let’s note
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Chantal Hebert misstates Nathan Cullens electoral cooperation idea
In today’s Toronto Star Chantal Hebert writes about Nathan Cullen’s idea for electoral cooperation between the LPCC, NDP and Green Party. She is of the opinion that the idea is doomed because it ignores human nature, really amounts to a quasi-merger pr…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- David Climenhaga responds to the Cons’ union-bashing in the guise of accountability by pointing out who actually exerts disproportionate influence under a cloak of secrecy:(M)aybe the bright light of a freshly c…
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