In my last reform post I touched on reforming the Liberal Party from a leadership perspective. Today, I’d like to touch on reforms from a party structure, procedure and philosophy perspective.Merger madnessBut first, let me touch on the elephant in the…
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A BCer in Toronto: Real change isn’t forced top-down
I’m working on a post in my ongoing Liberal Party reform series, and the theme today is how the mentality of the party is too top-down, instead of bottom-up. When I read this story though I had to pause and comment separately, because I’m fuming and it…
Continue readingThings fall apart, the centre cannot hold
My friends, there’s no denying the impact of the past couple of days. The way it stands now, we’re going to have to live with a Harper majority for the next four or five years. And while it’s nice to fantasize about the Conservatives doing themselv…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Renewing the Liberal Party: Leadership
I’m a Canadian first and foremost, and as a Canadian I’m nervous about what Stephen Harper’s Conservatives will do with majority government. That’s not fear-mongering because to do so would be pointless now; it’s how I honestly feel. But as a Liberal,…
Continue readingCalgaryLiberal: The wider spirit of Liberal reform
I think I may have struck a chord. In the last day or so I have receive 1,200 pageviews (this is a lot for me) on my blog posting and numerous outlets have broached the topic of reforming the Liberals, and with particular reference is the creation of a…
Continue readingConservatives win majority
NDP places second, which is the first time a Canadian government has had an opposition party other than the Liberals or Conservatives. It’s certainly a disappointing result, but hardly unanticipated. The Conservatives had been flirting with a majorit…
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Wrapping-up five weeks in Vancouver Island North
I’d hope to be more active blogging during this election than I was in 2008, when my role in the BC war room made blogging as openly as I like too a little difficult. This time as campaign manager in Vancouver Island North, my hometown riding in BC, I …
Continue readingMassive dual win for Harper—a majority and a Liberal Party in ruins
Stephen Harper has long had two goals, a short-term goal of winning a majority government and a long-term goal of destroying the Liberal Party. Last night he achieved the first and got a good start on the second, both in convincing fashion.
Of course …
Continue readingliberal catnip: Election – Post-Game Thoughts
So, there we have it: the Cons have a majority government. The NDP is the official opposition. Iggy led the Liberal party to a historic low in the house. The BQ is all but decimated and, at this point, Elizabeth May of the Greens might have won a seat for
Continue readingElection – Post-Game Thoughts
So, there we have it: the Cons have a majority government. The NDP is the official opposition. Iggy led the Liberal party to a historic low in the house. The BQ is all but decimated and, at this point, Elizabeth May of the Greens might have won a seat for
Continue readingliberal catnip: Election – Post-Game Thoughts
So, there we have it: the Cons have a majority government. The NDP is the official opposition. Iggy led the Liberal party to a historic low in the house. The BQ is all but decimated and, at this point, Elizabeth May of the Greens might have won a seat …
Continue readingA. Picazo: Sun News Network: Let The (Incredibly Lazy) Astroturfing Begin!
It has been fascinating to watch the Conservative campaign strategy evolve over the past two weeks; working in tandem with Sun TV in a quest to secure a Harper majority, and to destroy the opposition leaders. Aside from the standard issued talking points submitted by the Conservative war room and
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber Pushing for Two Party System
It started with Ignatieff joining Harper’s anti-coalition bandwagon, the common message being that the big boys don’t share power with the little guys and it’s extended to the push for a debate between just Harper and Ignatieff because they think that …
Continue reading264MHz: The Conservatives are bad for democracy, but how much better are the Liberals?
The Conservatives have done many things to undermine our democracy over the years. The Liberals have opposed many of them, some of the most important ones have met with only a half-hearted response from the Liberals. The Liberals have given credence to Harper’s lies about the legitimacy of the coalition by following his claims (even […]
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Coalition is Dead – Someone Tell Stephen Harper
The idea of a coalition government is dead for the simple reason that it is not in Michael Ignatieff’s political interest to enter into a coalition that would require him to share power. Although it is in his political interest not to contradict Stephe…
Continue reading264MHz: If Ignatieff doesn’t accept coalition, then a vote for the Liberals is a vote for the Conservatives
Rejected a coalition means that, more then likely, the Liberals will have to continue to support the Conservative government after the election. If the balance of power in the House is the same (as the polls currently suggest) there will be only three options for the opposition parties after the election: supporting the Conservatives, forcing […]
Continue readingPop The Stack: BC Throws Down the Crazy Vote Gauntlet
When it comes to politics and crazy in Canada, you just can’t beat British Columbia Tomorrow I will voting in a provincial election with no more than 90,000 other people. The votes will be ranked. I can must rank at least two choices and can choose to rank all four candidates. The votes will be […]
That Sinking Feeling?
I don’t know if it’s just my old age, the fact that I’ve been involved in politics since I was 18 or the fact that I’ve gone from radical Marxist to more of a realist, but I just don’t see Jack Layton’s capitulation on the corporate tax cuts as the bla…
Continue readingPop The Stack: Census is too intrusive, says Idiot.
Oh my God, I can’t believe Warren Kinsella is such an idiot. I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? I didn’t mean to read this story, it just happened, and now it can’t unhappen and I’m very upset. Call me crazy, call me anal, call me “someone who understands statistical methods” or “someone who […]
Runesmith's Canadian Content: Canada 150 in Halton
In the few years since I’ve been engaged in party politics, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such a stunning clash between hope and cynicism as I have this weekend.From the beginning, just getting our own local riding to support the idea of doing ou…
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