I’ve noted before that the main advantage for incumbents – and thus the main obstacle to substantial change – is the perception on the part of potential challengers that it’s not worth mounting the effort to compete. But it would seem to follow that wh…
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Accidental Deliberations: You may not have noticed, but…
…the first vote on budgetary policy in Canada’s new Parliament took place on Wednesday, with the parties taking their positions on the Libs’ budget subamendment. And it may make for an interesting signal as to who’s willing to work together in provid…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On shocking transformations
I suspect it’ll be quite some time before we see an end to stories about how the NDP’s Quebec breakthrough means that it’ll have to radically change direction. But let’s put the spin in perspective.In their first opportunity to introduce bills as Offic…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Gerald Caplan has a modest suggestion to ensure the Senate doesn’t do any more avoidable harm to Canada’s democracy:That we have no need for a second house of Parliament of any kind is the first proposition h…
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Bob Rae Shines Light On Mental Health In His Response To The Budget
“The essential message that I bring to the House and to the people of Canada about this budget is that it is not a budget for everyone. It is not a budget that brings Canadians together. It is not a … Continue reading →
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Ontario NDP would cap gas prices
New Democrats will stop price gouging at the pump: Horwath « Ontario NDP
An NDP government in Ontario would set weekly price caps on the cost of gasoline.
Five provinces and many U.S. states have some sort of price cap on gasoline. The benefits have …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Chantal Hebert points out that the biggest difference resulting from the NDP’s emergence as Canada’s official opposition may have to do with gender rather than age:A lot has been written and said about the yout…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Jack Layton’s Plans versus Reality
Right now Jack Layton and the NDP are rightfully riding high, with their newly elected MPs learning the ropes. Layton says repeatedly that the NDP will keep the Conservative majority government honest, by raising issues which it believes the government…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On regional effects
The NDP’s provincial surges in Canada’s Atlantic provinces has received some attention already. But it’s particularly worth noting how the provincial numbers figure to relate to the recent federal election results.On the one hand, it does seem that the…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your midweek reading.- The Star skewers the Cons’ insistence on pushing ahead with bad budget choices:As the Star argued during the election, Canada needs progressive economic vision in the form of strategic investments in sc…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Moved to action
It remains to be seen how far the NDP will get in pushing for all parties to engage in meaningful discussion about policy. But if you’re wondering whether there’s already evidence of progress in the first days of the new session of Parliament, look no …
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Mosaic 2011 in Regina
I only attended some of Mosaic in 2011, which let me keep my spending on it to under $50 this year. I made it to the Korean and Brazilian pavilions which were new this year, and the French one returned too. I enjoyed the Brazilian a lot, although the sound system was too loud in […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn’t belong. See if you can spot the difference in the following single-election results – and consider what it might mean for each party’s future strategy…
Vote Share | Seats | Provinces w Seats | Provinces under 20% | High Prov% | Low Prov% | Rebates |
30.6% | 103 | 8 | 2 | 42.9% | 15.4% | 306 | 25.5% | 66 | 5 | 5 | 58.9% | 3.9% | 182 | 30.2% | 103 | 9 | 1 | 52.5% | 15.3% | 283 | 29.6% | 99 | 8 | 1 | 61.7% | 8.8% | 251 |
For those wondering, the parties who posted those totals are respectively the NDP in 2011, the Canadian Alliance in 2000, the Libs in 2006, and the Cons in 2004. And of course, each party served as the official opposition following the listed general election.
So let’s ask the rhetorical question: is there an obvious reason why one of those parties might have had both a glaring need to pursue a merger, and an obvious opportunity in doing so?
And conversely, is there an equally obvious reason why the other three might see fit to work from an existing national base, rather than pursuing wrenching structural changes?
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On flattering comparisons
Yes, it’ll take time to break the habits that have formed over the past few years – and it may well be that the Harper Cons will continue to stonewall and distort no matter what they face from the Official Opposition. But if this turns into a consisten…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.- Brian Topp’s initial observations on the new sitting of Parliament include this note on the Libs’ interim leader:(A)s a footnote, Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae was also interesting in these exchanges. H…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Jack Layton’s balancing pole
In today’s Toronto Sun, Lorrie Goldstein, the Senior Associate Editor, has an interesting article in which he writes about the Layton balancing act, caused by his schitzophrenic NDP party caucus makeup:
Layton is now riding atop a two-headed tiger as o…
Crunching the numbers, who Canadians voted for in the 2011 federal election
As previously stated by many liberal bloggers the Conservatives now dominate the rich west, where most of their votes, that put them in a majority government, came from, the NDP are mainly Quebecers and the Liberals are mostly represente…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: First signs of the Bobby Bounce?
On May 25 Bob Rae became interim Leader of the Liberal Party, after a few weeks of speculation that the job would be his. On May 2 the surprising election was held, reducing the Liberals to a mere 18.9% of the votes cast, which sank a few weeks later t…
Continue readingThe Equivocator: The Medium Is the Message: Brigette DePape and the NDP’s Ineffective Response To The Throne Speech
Some thoughts on Brigette DePape: I don’t like Stephen Harper or his government but I also think that what Ms. DePape did was stupid. What she did during the June 2011 Throne Speech reminded me of Congressman Joe Wilson yelling “You … Continue reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On dominance
Meanwhile, the obvious potential for growth in NDP support figures to have some rather important effects on the Cons’ strategy as well. After all, their current coalition of support left them little room for error even with a split opposition – and if …
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