Others have already batted about some theories about the Cons’ first set of attack ads against Tom Mulcair. But it’s worth noting that there are a couple of important differences between the first salvo against Mulcair, and the previous saturation campaigns against Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. While it’s been
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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that to occupy your Canada Day. – Tim Harford discusses why randomized trials as part of a genuine evidence-gathering process are a must in developing public policy. – Mike de Souza reports that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans was already short on resources to do its
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Insider tradeoffs
Postmedia and CTV have both reported on how this weekend’s #skndp12 convention may shape the Saskatchewan NDP’s 2013 leadership race. But it’s worth noting how the major split among prospective candidates may affect the party in the months to come. Here’s CTV’s juxtaposition of a couple of the putative candidates’
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
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,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Plenty of commentators are rightly speaking out against the Cons’ anti-democratic omnibus bill, including Tim Harper and the Star-Phoenix and Vancouver Sun editorial boards. And even John Ivison can’t muster much more than “but the Libs did it too!” in defence of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Thomas Walkom makes the point that the hysterical response from Brad Wall and others can’t mask the fact that Thomas Mulcair is right in his analysis of the effect of a high, resource-driven dollar: Mulcair’s solution is hardly radical. He argues that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: No tough choice
Back here, I discussed how ridiculous the Cons’ “tough on crime” model would look if applied to any other area of policy – and used that comparison to question why we’d handle criminal justice any differently. But after a minority government period where the Cons mostly limited their shows of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jim Stanford neatly sums up how the Cons’ obsession with selling off both natural resources and natural resource producers affects other industries: There is no doubting the statistical correlation between oil prices and the loonie. Econometric analysis indicates that since the turn of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A Healthy Society – Chapter 9 Discussion
In his conclusion to A Healthy Society, Ryan Meili sums up his overall message about how health can serve as the central theme for political organization, and notes that the message holds plenty of public appeal already (with further room to grow as people learn about the impact of policy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Dr. Dawg responds to Andrew Coyne’s suggestion about cracking down on advocacy by charities with an entirely reasonable suggestion as to how to allocate our resources: Given that charities do essential work that the government does not fund—feeding and clothing the poor, defending
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frances Russell comments on the Canada which the Harper Cons are determined to destroy. But the more important point looks to me to be less any theory of constitutionalism than the desire to have governments be as ineffective as possible at all levels:
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Setting the agenda
Quick, spot what’s different in the NDP’s response to the federal budget compared to any other official opposition ever: NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair today slammed Stephen Harper’s Conservatives for introducing a budget that recklessly cuts the vital services that Canadians rely on—such as Old Age Security and health care. “Stephen
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On standards of disproof
In keeping with my own admonition, I won’t spend too much time amplifying the messages the Cons want to send in attacking NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. But I do think it’s worth pointing out how the main theme could prove to be self-defeating. One of the points which worked well
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Tabatha Southey speculates as to the inevitable results when the Cons try to summon the entire Internet to answer for its political activity. – David Olive points out that for anybody who wants to buy into “tax freedom day” messaging, the corporate sector
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your pre-debate reading. – Dave connects a few more dots as to who’s behind Robocon. Guy Giorno helpfully acknowledges that the Cons were supposed to have business-style processes to avoid the exact kind of electoral fraud that’s been discovered across Canada – signalling both that they’re indeed
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: December 9, 2011
Friday, December 9 saw the final day of debate at second reading on the Cons’ seat allocation bill. And as usual, plenty of valid questions went entirely unanswered. The Big Issue Marc-Andre Morin rightly questioned the Cons’ trumped-up sense of urgency in dealing with seat allocations while they do nothing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The New Democrat comments on the need to develop the NDP as a movement as well as a party. And a national movement to protect pensions looks like a great place to start. – I’m generally in agreement with Trish Hennessy on the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Stephen Maher reminds us that the Harper government now lecturing us about the need to attack social programs because of a federal deficit is the same incompetent group that caused the deficit in the first place through reckless tax slashing and vote-buying
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On sure signs
I’d think Don Martin would have dealt with political actors enough to know when he’s being spun. But since his latest post suggests otherwise, let’s offer up what looks to be a sorely-needed hint. When partisan spinners declare that they can’t lose, it isn’t evidence of cleverness or insight. Instead,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On clear symbols
I’ve theorized before that one of the most important tests as to how Canadians view their country over the next few years figures to involve public perceptions of Tim Hortons and other brands which have managed to tap into anti-elitist sentiment for the benefit of their own developing upper class.
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