Here we go again. And somehow, the latest round of hysteria includes the Cons learning nothing from the failure of their attacks on coalitions or other forms of inter-party cooperation in the past, while the defence of a principle which has always enjoyed strong public support is getting weaker with
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Accidental Deliberations: On echoes
Plenty of commentators have pointed out the symmetry between this year’s election and that of 2008 in terms of low voter turnout and general dissatisfaction with the outcome on the part of all parties. But it’s worth noting the similarities between the two campaigns and their aftermath on the part
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On narrow targets
At this stage of the federal election campaign, the seemingly wide range of outcomes is entirely an artifice of a first-part-the-post system with multiple parties contending for seats. Barring a drastic change in the last week of the campaign (which will likely need to overcome votes already locked in as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #Elxn44 Roundup
The latest from Canada’s federal election campaign. – PressProgress takes a look at the housing plans on offer – finding the NDP’s plan to be the best of the major parties, but still falling short of ensuring the right to housing is met. Jonas Goldman, Anna Jessop and Aline Coutinho
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On history repeating
With the Libs floundering in an election campaign where they considered themselves entitled to waltz into power and the NDP making a push toward the top of the party standings, commentators haven’t been able to avoid some comparison to 2011. But that’s always come with a caveat – that Justin
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #Elxn44 Roundup
News, notes and commentary from Canada’s federal election. – Heather Scoffield comments that there’s reason for hope in this election based on the options available to voters. Jaime Watt concludes that Jagmeet Singh is ideally positioned to provide aspirational leadership in an election where voters are more interested in future plans than a referendum
Continue readingAlberta Politics: On the 10th anniversary of his death, from the vantage of Election 2021, happy memories of Jack Layton and the campaign of 2011
Don’t mourn! Organize! — Joe Hill, Swedish-American union organizer Canadians still mourn the loss of Jack Layton, Joe Hill’s wise strategic counsel to social activists notwithstanding. Mr. Layton on one of his last visits to Edmonton during that campaign (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). I first made that observation on this
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t blame Singh.
If there was ever a guy on the wrong side of the parliamentary ledger, it is Jagmeet Singh of the new democrats. While the rest of the opposition thought they were driving more nails into liberal coffins, this week, there was Jagmeet and the NDP caucus keeping their word and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Forever chaste? Or just chased? Former Reform MP and Kenney comrade Rob Anders faces new challenges
Rob Anders’ recent trouble with the law reminds us of the former Reform Party and Conservative MP’s past thoughts about the laws of nature. Twenty-one years ago, Mr. Anders made up half of the party’s much-remarked-upon Parliamentary chastity caucus, of which Jason Kenney was the other half, or the only
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The federal Conservative leadership race takes a turn both sinister and juvenile
Probably the last thing the Conservative Party of Canada needs right now is a side battle over allegations of dirty tricks and data theft between the campaigns of the two leading candidates in an already uninspiring leadership race. I mean, it’s not as if frontrunners Peter MacKay or Erin O’Toole
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is the Conservative Opposition a national government in waiting or a separatist bloc? Andrew Scheer must decide
Who said, “At time of global economic instability, Canada’s government must stand unequivocally for keeping the country together”? I won’t tease you. It was Stephen Harper, on Dec. 3, 2008. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Prime Minister of Greece). Prime minister Harper, desperate to avoid a non-confidence vote
Continue readingAlberta Politics: N.B.’s Blaine Higgs showed the proper path to power after a close vote, but don’t expect Albertans to believe it
If the Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer should win the most seats in the House of Commons tonight but Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to hand over power on the perfectly reasonable Parliamentary grounds he thinks he can command the confidence of the House, much of Alberta will go
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Which is more distressing, the idiocy of our PM or the hypocrisy of our Opposition leader?
Which is more distressing, the immaturity and sheer idiocy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or the nauseating hypocrisy of Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer? One of them, sad to say, is still the most likely person to emerge as prime minister of Canada after Oct. 21. The former dressed up in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Blue-Ribbon Panel’ report sets stage for full-blown austerity, private health care, soaring tuition and much more
The recommendations of the Kenney Government’s “blue-ribbon panel” on Alberta’s finances yesterday went further over the top than you’d even have expected from a report ginned up by a couple of Fraser Institute ringers, a former bank president, and a few additional followers of the government’s low-tax, market-fundamentalist ideology. As
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Calling Peter MacKay! Could you remind us what we were fighting for in Afghanistan again?
Peter MacKay, former Harper Government defence minister and one of the dimmer candles to cast his flickering light Canadian affairs, turns out to have been a prophet after all! Who would have guessed? Back in 2008, when Canada’s role in the long war in Afghanistan had grown considerably in its
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On clear positions
What should have been considered an entirely uncontroversial bit of news – that, like his predecessors, Jagmeet Singh has publicly stated that he’s not interested in putting a Con government in power – has instead given rise to a truly impressive display of projection and selective amnesia. So let’s set
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Singh sings a survival song.
You have to admit, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the new democrats, is a hard worker. His main objective in the run-up to the October 21 election is to try to ensure that the new democratic party elects the 12 members of parliament needed to be recognized as a party in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
Some parties and leaders recognize the stakes in determining how to manage a minority Parliament: I asked Mr. Duceppe what he thought would happen if the prime minister refused to accept such an ultimatum. He replied that a government defeat so soon after a general election meant the Governor General
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Stephen Harper’s proposed restrictions on bitumen exports caused no uproar – so why the fury at Justin Trudeau?
Late last week, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer was once again accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Government of wanting to phase out the oilsands, as he put it, and passing laws to put that putative plan into action. Notwithstanding a lack of persuasive evidence, the popularity of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy Canada Day! In a troubled world, Canada stands out as a genuine triumph of bureaucracy
Happy Canada Day! One way or another, our Canada always seems to end up on every list of the world’s Top Ten economies. Granted, we are almost inevitably No. 10 of 10, which may leave the intensely competitive dissatisfied. But, realistically, this also means we’re No. 10 of 193, if
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