The short answer is yes. The longer answer is why risk it? A recent article pointed out, maybe correctly or wrongly, that Thomas Mulcair is deciding to form a government without being competitive in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), that belt of support surrounding the City of Toronto that in
Continue readingTag: new democratic party
Alberta Politics: When propaganda becomes memory: Pierre Trudeau and the National Energy Program
PHOTOS: Pierre and Justin Trudeau back in the day, with possibly quite a few Liberal supporters in the background. Below: Prime Minister Steve and Defence Minister Jason Kenney. Everybody in Alberta knows Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program laid waste to Alberta in the 1980s, and that would include
Continue readingAlberta Politics: No losers except Canadians in last night’s ditchwater-dull debate
PHOTOS: Zzzzzzzzz … Why are these men smiling? Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sneering; Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, smiling unnervingly; Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, doing his best to look pugnacious; Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, happy to be there. Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair stayed calm, smiled and looked prime ministerial
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is it good news or bad news for the Conservatives if Stephen Harper trumps Trump tonight?
PHOTOS: Stephen Harper, as imagined during tonight’s TV debate. (Photo of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore.) Below: The real Mr. Harper and another shot of the real Mr. Trump. Now, about that debate tonight, the big question has to be whether it will help the Conservatives or hurt them when
Continue readingAlberta Politics: This just in: Prime minister calls early election … I mean, calls an election early … What could possibly go wrong?
PHOTOS: The prime minister of Canada in a Navy hat. The new kind. Yeah! A macho Navy cap! Now where’s Tommy Flanagan, now that we need him again? No, not that Tommy Flanagan! The political strategy guy. Below: Former prime minister Joe Clark, former Alberta premier Jim Prentice and current
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta shows why there will be no NDP-Liberal entente, Nathan Cullen’s mistimed musing notwithstanding
PHOTOS: Loose-lipped New Democrat Nathan Cullen – whatever was he thinking? Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, former Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman, federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP strategist Ian Capstick. Whatever Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen was thinking when he flapped his lips to the delight of the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Two polls, widely different results, and Postmedia only reports one – what gives?
PHOTOS: “It is indeed Christmas in July for Conservatives!” Maybe it’s July, but is this guy really Santa Claus? Below: Pollsters Quito Maggi and Lorne Bozinoff. A Forum Research Inc. interactive voice response poll conducted on Tuesday of this week indicates 34 per cent of decided voters plan to vote
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fast food and fair wages: What happens when a good idea from Alberta hits the big time in New York?
PHOTOS: New York, New York … You gotta love it! Below: Fast food, New York City style. Below that: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Alberta’s New Democratic Party government got a powerful boost from an unexpected quarter yesterday for its plan, which is controversial
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Lawyer, businessman and long-time Tory Douglas Goss steps aside as U of A board chair
PHOTOS: University of Alberta Board Chair Douglas Goss at the infamous Melcor Five news conference on May 1. Below: New University of Alberta President David Turpin, who took over on July 1, and former U of A provost Carl Amrhein, now the deputy minister of health in the Alberta government.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tory sale of government air fleet was a terrible business decision, executed incompetently
PHOTOS: Not this Beechcraft King Air, maybe, but three a lot like it are now plying the friendly skies of North Dakota, which is a great deal for their new owner thanks to the generous former government of Alberta. Below: The unsold Alberta Government Dash 8, and former Conservative Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Who ends up allied with whom in a ‘Pizza Parliament’? It may not be as simple as you think
ILLUSTRATIONS: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, left, and Conservative Leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, right, get together in a liaison dangereuse … actual Canadian politicians may not behave exactly as predicted, or expected. Below: The real Mr. Harper, NDP Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, the real Mr. Trudeau and notorious Republican
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: It was Greek to me #nlpoli
After days of intense talks, the Europeans apparently have finally reached a final deal to help Greece out of its latest financial misery. Greece is broke. With a gross domestic product of about US$238 billion, the country had a government debt of about US$346 billion. Some of the country’s banks
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is anyone seriously surprised Alberta’s books might be in worse shape that we were told?
PHOTOS: Uh-oh! Newly appointed NDP chiefs of staff start to check the books left by the now-departed Prentice Government, and they don’t like what they’re finding. Actual government political staffers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Finance Minister Joe Ceci and Provincial Gadfly Joe Anglin. Can anyone honestly say
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Does advertising plagiarism suggest Harper Government’s running on intellectual fumes?
PHOTOS: A screen shot from the new Harper Government anti-Tom-Mulcair advertisement. Actual Harper government plagiarism may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Scenes from the nearly identical 2011 Manitoba NDP 30-second spot and 2015 Harper Con spot. If political ads were popular songs, the Manitoba NDP would probably be getting
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Political Pandermonium #nlpoli
You can tell the election is already going on. You can tell because of what some of the political workers are doing. The Liberals are going door-to-door. They are meeting voters. They are asking for their votes. Then the campaign workers write on Twitter and Facebook.about the “glorious day” of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Parson’ Manning, in the pulpit, preaches a formula of failure to Alberta’s New Democrats
PHOTOS: Preston Manning, Godfather of the Canadian right. Below: Alberta Premier Designate Rachel Notley, Liberal prime minister Wilfrid Laurier, Social Credit premier E.C. Manning and United Farmers of Alberta leader Henry Wise Wood. Preaching from the highest pulpit in the land, the opinion pages of the mighty Globe and Mail,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: And now for the hard part … getting businesses and right-wing commentators to curb their hysteria
PHOTOS: Alberta NDP premier-elect Rachel Notley at the centre of media attention. Below: NDP premiers Dave Barrett of British Columbia and Bob Rae of Ontario, back in the day; columnist and NDP activist Gerald Caplan. And now, the hard part … If you thought overcoming the supposed Progressive Conservative juggernaut
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: NDP leadership rules screw local businesses #nlpoli
Any of the small, local printing companies who usually make a fair bit of cash from political campaigns can keep their printing presses chilled during the upcoming NDP leadership campaign. Any candidates who make it past the other restrictions must print any campaign materials like flyers and householders in unionized
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: NDP votes for “More of the Same” #nlpoli
Gerry Rogers is smiling again now that Earle McCurdy has agreed to be the NDP Kevin Aylward. If Earle had decided to stay retired, Gerry was the substitute leader the key inside factions of the party had tapped to fill-in until after the next election. Rogers would have had to
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Void #nlpoli
For its last editorial of 2014, the Telegram decided to discuss the fate of the province’s New Democrats. A quick summary: things were good for the Dippers. Now things are not so good. This isn’t just a local thing. It’s happening nationally. Lorraine Michael has said in year-end interviews she
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