Let’s double back to Karl Nerenberg’s take on the opposition parties’ messages in Canada’s federal election and point out how it relates to a classic decision-making hypothetical, the prisoner’s dilemma. In the case of the federal election, here’s how the dilemma plays out for anybody whose primary goal is to
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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Jennifer Wells writes about the drastic difference in pay between CEOs and everybody else. And Henry Farrell interviews Lauren Rivera about the advantage privileged children have in being able to rely on parents’ social networks and funding rather than needing to learn
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Readiness!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada: Sitting in his riding office in Montreal, Cotler says he didn’t like C-51, despite ultimately voting for it. The Liberals, he says, supported C-51 largely out of political considerations. “The party voted against the multilateral mission [against ISIS]. Then
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, expanding on this post about the crucial difference between the types of change on offer from the NDP and the Libs. While there wasn’t room for this point in the column, I’ll also note another rather important distinction between the two parties. In the NDP’s case, Prime Minister Tom
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On partial answers
Having posted earlier on the message we should expect from our opposition leaders when it comes to ensuring change, let’s make clear exactly what Justin Trudeau has now said – and most notably, what he hasn’t said. “There are no circumstances” under which the Liberals would prop up Harper should
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On rigged outcomes
I’m not sure when “what would Michael Ignatieff do?” became the Libs’ operating mantra. But as long as the subject of fighter procurement is on the table, let’s highlight the real similarity between two parties on that front: both the Cons and the Libs seem bent on handing Lockheed Martin
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Roheena Saxena points out that personal privilege tends to correlate to selfishness in distributing scarce resources. And that in turn may explain in part why extreme top-end wealth isn’t even mentioned in a new inequality target under development by the UN. – Or,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On contrasting activities
Thomas Walkom rightly notes that this fall’s election has seen somewhat more discussion of government acting in the public interest than we’ve seen in some time. But it’s worth drawing a distinction between the varieties of intervention on offer from the NDP and the Libs respectively. As much as the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On changing standards
Paul MacLeod reports on the latest candidate to be summarily axed due to an even mildly controversial social media history uncovered by Robert Jago, while Robyn Urback suggests either a truce or a wholesale destruction of past posts. But it’s worth asking what comes next for Canada’s political parties –
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On wasted opportunities
Before the first federal leaders’ debate, I wrote about the factors worth watching for which we might not otherwise get to evaluate during the course of a campaign. But unfortunately, we didn’t get much chance at all meaningfully test the party leaders’ judgment due to some poor choices in the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On unclear pictures
David Akin may have been right to point out that Justin Trudeau’s response to the federal government’s latest fiscal update was based on an avoidable lack of knowledge. But it’s worth noting why it’s so difficult for anybody to have an accurate picture of what’s actually happened within the federal
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, summarizing these posts as to how the opposition parties can set the stage for a minority Parliament by telling us what they’ll do on the first set of confidence votes – and how we can make better voting choices if they fail to do so. For further reading…– Having
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Exchange highlights the World Economic Forum’s observation that countries can do far more to combat inequality. And Angus Reid finds that Canadian voters are far more receptive to Tom Mulcair’s progressive economic plan than to more of the same from either of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Climenhaga sees Jeremy Corbyn’s resounding victory in the Labour leadership race as compelling evidence that progressive hope can win over centre-right fearmongering, while Michael Laxer takes some lessons away for Canadian politics. And Paul Krugman notes that there’s a reason why
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On simplified procedures
Following up on this post, let’s also note how the right answer from Canada’s opposition parties could combine with the seeming agreement between the major party leaders as to the “most seats first” principle to take nearly all of the guesswork out of a post-election minority Parliament. Again, the range
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On basic questions
The National Post’s editorial board offers the latest reminder as to how confidence is won and lost in Canada’s Parliament. And it only highlights the need for our candidates – particularly those promising change – to offer a clear indication as to their post-election plans. But while it’s worth discussing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jordan Brennan details (and expands on) how corporate tax cuts have served solely to further enrich the people and businesses who already had the most: (F)ar from improving economic outcomes, there is evidence to suggest that corporate income tax reductions depressed Canadian GDP
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On historical connections
Needless to say, we have ample reason to laugh at Justin Trudeau’s attempt to cast himself as bearing any similarity to Tommy Douglas when it comes to social justice and economic management. But it may not be long before one significant link develops between the two. Based on a quick
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
On the one hand, there’s what Canadian voters actually want… (N)early 60 per cent of respondents support the idea of two or more parties forming a coalition government, if no party gains a majority of seats in October’s election. And this: By a margin of almost two-to-one, the voters of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On settled issues
As Dan Gardner points out, Stephen Harper is continuing to misrepresent the nature of Canada’s system of government. But he’s nonetheless made a noteworthy concession in doing so: PM: HERE’S THE QUESTION THOUGH. UM IS IT A CORRECT ASSUMPTION TO MAKE THAT WHICHEVER PARTY ENDS UP, IF WE’RE IN A
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