Alberta Politics: Should we welcome Michelle Rempel Garner home with a festive serving of Oklahoma’s official state meal?

Did you know Oklahoma has an official state meal? The State Legislature in Oklahoma City designated the repast as an official state symbol in 1988. And, I must say, it sounds delicious: fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecued pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, black-eyed peas, chicken-fried steak, strawberries and

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: 10 Years of Blogging

Happy Trails Back when I first sat down to rant about politics on May 15th 2004, I never expected I’d still be doing this over 3,000 posts later. The blog has outlasted 3 Liberal leaders, been through 4 federal elections, and documented my involvement on a handful of losing leadership

Continue reading

Accidental Deliberations: New column day

Here, on how Michael Ignatieff’s empty vessel politics might become the norm if voters don’t respond with due skepticism to increasingly sophisticated vote-swaying tactics. For further reading…– The year’s two must-reads on the evolution of politics are Sasha Issenberg’s The Victory Lab (referenced in the column) and Susan Delacourt’s Shopping

Continue reading

Calgary Grit: Iggy Returns

Everywhere you go these days, there’s Michael Ignatieff. I’ve even seen him walking around Yorkville twice within the past month. For those who miss seeing Ignatieff’s face on every third commercial, you can read some juicy nuggets from his new book here, an excerpt on how he handled defeat here,

Continue reading

Northern Reflections: Bright and Blind

Michael Ignatieff still does not understand the part he played in his party’s worst defeat in history. Bob Hepburn writes that Ignatieff’s new book should be titled It Really Wasn’t My Fault: According to Ignatieff, the Liberals were trounced because they lacked money to buy television ads to counter Harper’s

Continue reading