Forget Mark Carney. We need “electable” candidates like Jim Karygiannis in this race! Now that we know who can run for Liberal leader (namely, anyone with $75,000 and 300 signatures), the question becomes who should run: “We have to be careful not to think that somebody who wants to raise
Continue readingTag: Federal Politics
Calgary Grit: Charest’s Loss May Be Harper’s Gain
It was hard for Harper to say no to “the most federalist Premier in my lifetime”…and the one man who laughed at his jokes. Although the federal leaders executed Cirque Du Soleil worthy backflips to stay out of the Quebec election, the repercussions of this vote will be far reaching.
Continue readingCalgary Grit: “Adorable! Cute as a button. A good left hook, you really gotta love him”
The most Twitter followers AND a theme song? John Ivison is right – this race is over. It’s no “Ted Morton is the Man“, but The Justin Trudeau Song is kind of catchy.
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Race Is On
Justin Trudeau and Martha Hall Findlay appear ready to roll The Liberal Party has released the rules for its leadership race, effectively sounding the starting pistol. The finish line will be April 14th in Ottawa, when the leader is announced. There’s still no word on exactly how that vote will
Continue readingCalgary Grit: After Sleepy Summer, Liberal Leadership Race Should Heat Up
Bob Rae’s fateful decision to sit out the Liberal Leadership Race was expected to sound the starting pistol for a busy summer of campaigning from a crowded field of candidates. I don’t want to discount the dozens of Liberals who have spent August feeling the effects of Merner-mania, but it’s
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Dog Days of Summer
Pauline Marois will make Quebecers long for the tolerant Premiership of Jacques Parizeau With politicians away from Ottawa and politics the last thing on the minds of Canadians, the summer news cycle usually slows to a crawl. Short of extraordinary events – war, disaster, or the great Census crisis of
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Stephen Harper Finds Science on the Road the Damascus
Here’s Stephen Harper doing his best to stay out of the Enbridge pipeline debate – the biggest (non-soccer) controversy in Canada these days: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is defending the independence of the environmental review process underway for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, telling reporters in Vancouver the project will be
Continue readingBuried in partisan dreck from local MP
It seems those wily Conservatives are at it again. Last week, I received two — TWO — of those odious tenpercenters at the villa from Simcoe-Grey MP Dr. Kellie Leitch; one on Thursday, and one on Friday. And, just to make sure I got the message, they were exactly the
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Round-Up
Who has two thumbs, a vintage belt buckle, and might be running for Liberal leader? The “will he or won’t he” dance of Justin Trudeau continues, with reports that Gerald Butts will be heading up his leadership team – should Justin run, of course. Trudeau’s trip to the Stampede did
Continue readingCalgary Grit: 100 Years of Bad Photo Ops
As you have probably heard a hundred times over the past month, the Calgary Stampede turns 100 this year. Calgary has changed a lot over this time. A seat at the 1912 rodeo cost 50 cents. Calgary’s population was 70,000. And, oh yeah, back then Alberta was a Liberal bastion,
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Riding Talk
The electoral commission could have saved us a lot of time by painting this map blue The new riding maps are out! The new riding maps are out! It’s Christmas in July for political geeks! As you may be aware, new riding boundaries will be in place for the 2015
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Right-leaning British magazine rips Stephen Harper
Since coming to power in 2006, the Canadian prime minister “has acquired a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules.” Harper plays to his social conservative base. He and his Conservative majority government tolerate neither criticism nor dissent. But these “bullying” ways are set to boost the opposition’s
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Oda Out
Newspapers across the country must now retire the most unflattering stock photo ever While most will toast Bev Oda’s departure with a $16 glass of orange juice, to me, she’ll always be the Cabinet Minister who doctored government files and got away with it. In some respects Harper oews his
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Wednesdays: Coyne4Leader
Future CPC attack ad: “Deborah Coyne climbed Mount Kilimanjaro – were the Rockies not good enough for her?” It’s worth noting that at this stage in the Liberal Leadership Race, the line between a “declared” and “undeclared” candidate is a thin one. Until the rules and entry fees are set,
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper Conservatives’ Attack Ad Betrays Fear of Mulcair Victory in 2015 (VIDEO)
Stephen Harper’s Tories are proof that when a dictatorial regime is threatened by the force a democratic insurgency, and the specter of losing power, it becomes dangerous. Threatened by the prospect of NDP leader Thomas Mulcair becoming Prime Minister in 2015, the Conservative Party of Canada released a new dirty-politics
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper v. Canada: News Headlines On June 25 2012
Make no mistake about it. Canada’s progressive and democratic forces are converging around Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his burgeoning elected dictatorship. And Harper and his merry bunch of Conservative praise-fingers are feeling the heat. At least according to the headlines in the last couple of days: Election result challenge
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Who had June 25th in the pool?
The much-anticipated Thomas Mulcair attack ads have arrived: Other than changing the off-grey colours from red to orange, this doesn’t look to be much more than a recycled anti-Liberal TV spot – torqued policy positions, lots of talk about “risks”, and a cameo by the scary carbon tax. But while
Continue readingCalgary Grit: The Name Game
Despite all quantitative evidence to the contrary, trust me when I say Quebecers hate these two men more than the Boston Bruins In today’s Globe & Mail, Lysianne Gagnon takes aim at Justin Trudeau: Is Justin Trudeau really the Liberals’ best option? If the Toronto Liberal intelligentsia believe that Justin
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canadian Political Satire: Obert Report Episode 1: Harper’s NDP Hitler Comment
Welcome to Episode 1 of the Obert Report, a future online talk show program in the making. The episode is a satirical commentary on a recent outrageous comment made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who recently said during a debate in Parliament: “The leader of the NDP, in 1939,
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Jason Kenney’s Tell-Tale Conservative Apology
Apparently, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has apologized for labeling Thomas Lukaszuk, the deputy premier of Alberta, “a complete and utter a-hole.” And Lukaszuk’s boss, premier Alison Redford wants us to believe that Kenney’s insult amounts to: “there are people who have personalities that do and don’t get along.” And that “there
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