I will be attending the NDP leadership convention as an accredited blogger in my capacity as a moderator for Progressive Bloggers. You can follow my coverage here, on Twitter (@progright), and on Google+. I’d like to thank the NDP for accrediting bloggers to their convention. It’s a sign that they
Continue readingTag: NDP
Accidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A couple more days’ worth of developments in the NDP’s leadership campaign… – Niki Ashton argued that Canada’s grain supply should be considered a strategic resource in evaluating takeover bids for Viterra, and earned a glowing profile from Carol Goar. – Nathan Cullen unveiled another caucus endorsement from Bruce Hyer
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau believes the centre-left will cooperate in 2015 to replace Harper’s Tories
Trudeau speaking about cooperation in 2015 Hat tip to Kinsella for flagging this! We can place Justin Trudeau in the ranks of the politically astute. He shares with Nathan Cullen a clearsighted view of the realities of a divided opposition facing a tightly controlled, highly disciplined Stephen Harper ruling it
Continue readingTerahertz: NDP fights for secularism
With the recent robocall scandal, upcoming budget, and NDP leadership race, it’s easy to forget some of the other controversies that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have thrown us over the past year. Luckily, we have representatives like NDP foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière, who continue to work to uncover answers. Specifically,
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Conservatives Know Protests Don’t Depend On Attendance
Conservatives should know better than anyone that it isn’t the number of people who protest that is important, what matters is why they’re doing it. Many have attacked the turnout of protests against the government in recent years, from the anti-prorogation rallies to protests over the recent robocall scandal. Conservative
Continue readingTerahertz: Who’s winning Google? #ndpldr
Despite the random number of polls and media speculation, there’s really only one way to know who’s doing the best in a race like the NDP leadership race – the final ballot. But until then we can make up all kinds of metrics to see how well everyone is doing.
Continue readingBlunt Objects: PCs Still Dominate Alberta – For Now
Continuing with 2011’s incumbent-friendly trend, 2012 seems to be pretty incumbent-friendly as well – so far. Nowhere is this more exemplified than Alberta, which will need to go to the polls before May 31st, where the Progressive Conservative’s still dominate the scene and look set for another majority government, at
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Followup commentary from the final NDP leadership on Sunday, as well as a couple more days worth of developments in the campaign. – Most of the post–debate coverage focused on a Thomas Mulcair-vs-the field contrast, while Quinn and Adventures in Socialism offered a few more interesting observations. – Niki Ashton
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Opposing Labour & Other Bad Driving Habits
Nowadays people oppose strikes like they drive a car. It’s not about the all the people going forward anymore, it’s only about one person getting where they want to go. Decades ago when unions went on strike the average joes not only put up with it, they supported it; today
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why Thomas Mulcair is not good for Canada
Mulcar: Not good for Canada at this time I have liked Mulcair’s energy, his fighting spirit, his presentation of his arguments, and his willingness to mix it with those who oppose him. However, I do not believe that having Mulcair as the next leader of the NDP is in the
Continue readingFor Stephane Dion, a Quick Math Lesson/Thoughts on Separation
I only like democracy when the numbers are in my favor. Stephane Dion penned an op-ed for the National Post. (there’s an odd combination) detailing how the NDP’s position on Quebec separation, detailed in the Sherbrooke Declaration, threatens national unity. There is one quote I want to draw specific attention to,
Continue readingTerahertz: New #ndpldr rankings
After my initial NDP leadership race rankings I was looking for an excuse to move Mulcair up my ballot. While I had some worries about the potential for his leadership, I still somewhat agreed with the general consensus that he looked the most prime ministerial and would be one of
Continue readingTerahertz: Mulcair will lose Quebec #ndpldr
In a race where each candidate sounded very similar and were in “violent agreement” at the beginning, clear differences have definitely emerged to differentiate them. Take Thomas Mulcair versus Nathan Cullen. Cullen was initially very low on my ballot for his joint nomination proposal, his overall focus on cooperation has
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Liberal Post
The Liberal Party is like a newspaper, regardless of whether there is news or not, it has to keep coming out claiming something important has happened because if it doesn’t it will go under. Just like newspapers have to print every morning, regardless of whether there is any real news,
Continue readingMulcair the best choice for NDP leader
Seeing the extreme positions taken by Republican candidates in the U.S. gives us a clue as to the typical dynamic of leadership races –- first, having to win over a party’s base who are more dogmatic and than the electorate as a whole, then, to appeal to the broader electorate,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On shifting alliances
Having pointed out the effect of Peggy Nash’s willingness to consider cross-party cooperation in my rankings post, I’ll double back to one of the other noteworthy developments today – as Thomas Mulcair may have utterly reshaped the expected movement of down-ballot support. Since the start of the campaign, plenty of
Continue readingTerahertz: Mulcair’s latest video #ndpldr
As the ballots start to get marked, each candidate for the leadership of the federal NDP is making their closing arguments. With that, Thomas Mulcair has released a new YouTube video to declare “why we need a strong opposition.” This is tragically disappointing. Nearly everything in the video is the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – March 11, 2012
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen what look to be a couple of noteworthy efforts among the NDP’s leadership candidates to reach out to other campaigns’ supporters in order to win over the down-ballot support that will likely decide the outcome of the campaign. So how have those
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Assorted news and notes from the NDP’s leadership campaign as we approach today’s final debate… – Niki Ashton pointed out how the NDP should be able to tap into the desire for democratic decision-making that once motivated the Reform Party before it was turned into a top-down organization under the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On risky business
Michael Den Tandt suggests that the Cons’ budget later this month will be “revolutionary” – which fits the conventional wisdom that a majority government will try to get its most controversial moves out of the way at the earliest opportunity in order to seem less dangerous by the time the
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