There’s no doubt that the trumped-up story about Nycole Turmel’s one-time Bloc membership reflects the inevitable first real pile-on against the NDP in its new role as Official Opposition. But it’s worth noting that the NDP also has an opportunity to t…
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Far and Wide: Under The Table Cloth
Rather than debate the details of the NDP Interim Leader Nycole Turmel story, I think the potential political importance is more a macro-level consideration. There is a wider narrative developing, with each successive “tension” the idea that the NDP ar…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Nycole Turmel & The Media’s B.S. Loyalty Test
This is a story that isn’t a story.
NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel has a long history as a union activist and progressive. She was president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada for a number of years and can point to a significant victory for …
Continue readingPample the Moose: Nycole Turmel, meet Jean Lapierre
Gosh, the Twitterverse is atweet today with spin and counter-spin on Daniel Leblanc’s article in the Globe and Mail about interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel’s very recent membership in the Bloc Quebecois. Some partisans are crying foul and alleging that…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Linda McQuaig notes that the same financial actors who caused the global economic meltdown that’s being used as an excuse for austerity measures around the world are themselves making out like bandits – even tho…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On incomplete pictures
One might think that an expose into Nycole Turmel’s political involvement would go back further than the past five years. But surely Daniel Leblanc wouldn’t have cut anything important out of the story…“I’ve been at this for decades,” Turmel sa…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Could Ontario NDP Pull A Layton?
This is interesting:
The Forum Research survey found Hudak’s Tories at 38 per cent — down from 41 per cent in June — to McGuinty’s Liberals at 28 per cent, up from 26 per cent. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath jumped to 24 per cent from 22 per cent an…
Accidental Deliberations: NDP Next Steps Roundup
Not surprisingly, plenty in the Canadian media have responded to the NDP’s first big news of the summer with all kinds of discussion as to where the party will go next. But let’s take a quick look at some of the particularly noteworthy coverage.Sheila …
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: A Little Bit of This
Politics in North America are not going too well in my opinion. I don’t know many people happy with how it’s turning out either, which makes the election(s) this Fall all the worse because few are optimistic about the results then too. It’s no wonder so many bail out of taking any responsibility for the […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On comparative advantages
Naturally, Jack Layton’s leave of absence has raised plenty of speculation as to what will happen on Canada’s opposition benches over the summer (and perhaps beyond). But Tim Powers hints at what may be the most interesting question to watch in the mon…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: June 22, 2011
The second-last day of debates in this spring’s session dealt mostly with Bruce Hyer’s motion on small business. But lest anybody think there would be agreement on the details of an issue where every party supported the motion itself (resulting in a ra…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On non-news
No, it isn’t news that the Cons tried unsuccessfully to recruit Thomas Mulcair around the time when he decided instead to run for the NDP. But for those looking for an actual topic worth discussing, what does it say that the Cons’ idea of a “gotcha” is…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Andrew Jackson attacks the myth of expansionary austerity, particularly from a Canadian perspective:(T)here is very rarely any such thing as expansionary austerity, according to IMF staff economists.In a carefu…
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Nycole Turmel – Dancing With Separatists
While I have the greatest respect for the current situation the NDP is in, what with their permanent leader Jack Layton taking a break to fight another occurrence of cancer (I wish all the best for his fight), one has to wonder what he and the NDP cauc…
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: What Jack Layton Sees In Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel
The intensifying scrutiny of Nycole Turmel, NDP leader Jack Layton’s choice to replace him while he’s away for cancer treatment is healthy for Canada’s democracy. But the negativity by the right-wing media misses the point. Self-rig…
Continue readingthe reeves report: GPO answers AMO’s call for a comprehensive waste strategy
On June 30th, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario issued a press release that challenged all political parties in Ontario “to demonstrate how they will support waste diversion strategies that ensure that industry cleans up after itself, property taxpayers aren’t left holding the tab for waste management costs, and fewer toxins are released into our … Continue reading »
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Pop quiz
To my recollection, exactly one Canadian political party has featured a candidate other than its leader in a recent ad campaign. Guess which one, and in which province.Then take the spin that the party’s leader served as its lone face in that province …
Continue readingthe reeves report: Are the NDP too dependent on Jack Layton?
I’ll be brief this time, because I know every pundit and their brother will be covering this story and making this speculation. But it’s worth asking – are the NDP too dependent on Jack Layton for their success? True, this success has been incredibly recent, and it is an exception in Canadian politics that the … Continue reading »
Continue readingFar and Wide: Give The NDP Some Credit
The NDP on the edge, their very survival now in question, according to the exaggerated, incredibly superficial “analysis” coming out in the wake of Layton’s announcement. I say BULLOCKS to all of it, and I say it as a Liberal. Why must we wildly overst…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On successorship strategies
Naturally, Jack Layton’s announcement that he’s taking a temporary leave from the NDP’s leadership has led to a wide assortment of speculation as to what might come next for the NDP, particularly if his absence does prove to be more than temporary. But…
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