When choosing the next NDP leader, one question that can be raised is considerations for where the NDP leader is geographically based from. How much of a difference does this make, and, if it matters, where ought that region to be? The list, found at the end of this post, shows the
Continue readingTag: niki ashton
Accidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Links and Policy Roundup 3
Assorted policy and punditry from the NDP leadership campaign. – On the policy front, it’s looking like time to give Nathan Cullen full credit for being well ahead of the pack with a well-rounded and detailed set of policies. I missed his democratic reform proposal in my last policy roundup
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Profile – Niki Ashton
The final candidate to enter the NDP’s leadership race was Niki Ashton. And initially, far too many observers seem to have been eager to write off her candidacy. But while there’s little doubt that Ashton faces some hurdles in her candidacy, she’s done plenty to establish herself as a strong
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Marxist Analysis of ‘the Wave’ in Sports Stadia
Perfesser Dave at a Blue Jays game, photo courtesy a kindly Yankees fan. Below: Exhibition Stadium – the cheap seats are at left, directly behind centre field! Below that: Thomas Mulclair; Niki Ashton. Maclean’s Magazine once said that the Toronto Maple Leafs – which should be called the Maple Leaves,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – December 26, 2011
Anybody expecting the holidays to make for a quiet spell in the NDP’s leadership race was in for a surprise, as the last week has seen the first candidate departure along with a boost in the number of pundits’ rankings and candidate profiles. But will the result be much change
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – December 18, 2011
We now have at least a bit of pollster data to compare to Skinny Dipper’s online poll on the relative positions of the NDP’s leadership candidates. But Forum Research’s results look to largely match the previous candidate positioning – which combines with relatively little news from the candidates’ travels to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Yes, it’s absolutely asinine that the Cons’ attacks on Muslim women have been extended to denying citizenship based on a particular type of clothing. But after the Cons’ repeated efforts to suppress veiled voting, we shouldn’t expect anything less from them. And
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Policy Roundup 2
Following up on my earlier post, let’s take a quick look at the policy proposals that have been unveiled by NDP leadership candidates over the last couple of weeks. – Niki Ashton’s plan for a more inclusive economy includes plenty of noteworthy ideas, including a direct attack on structural discrimination
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – December 10, 2011
While there was plenty to talk about following the NDP’s first leadership debate, the effect of such an early event on the candidates’ long-term prospects was bound to be limited. And so the most-discussed event of the campaign so far hasn’t led to much change from last week’s rankings. 1.
Continue readingBlunt Objects: And the winner of the first NDP debate is….
The Conservatives, because of the massive wealth of soundbites gained from the debate which will paint the new NDP leader as wanting to raise taxes, put through a carbon tax, destroy Canada’s resource extraction sector, and cripple free trade. What’s worse is that pretty much every candidate said those exact
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Debate 1 Wrapup
Plenty of others have already commented on the NDP’s first leadership debate. But I haven’t yet seen any that line up with my take on yesterday’s chance for candidates to introduce themselves to the country. To start with, the perceived top-tier candidates generally lived up to their billing. Thomas Mulcair
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Ottawa NDP Leadership Debate Thoughts
The debate was good. Exciting even. After several months of being forced to sate my political appetite on the Republican leadership contest, the NDP leadership debate in Ottawa provided a refreshing Canadian contrast. Overall there was far more homogeneity between positions than there was difference. The tone of the debate
Continue readingpolitics on CAPS LOCK: Liveblogging the first NDP leadership debate
The first NDP leadership debate is about to start. I’m not even going to liveblog in caps, THAT IS HOW SERIOUSLY I AM TREATING IT 12:03 Robert Chisholm, he is already somebody that I like. Here comes Niki Ashton, I like her too. So yeah, it’s going to be 120
Continue readingBlunt Objects: #NDPldr Debate #1: The Economy
Today’s Dipper leadership debate takes place in Ottawa at 2pm EST til 4pm, and apparently will focus on the economy. Now what, you make ask, does a Dipper have to say about the economy that isn’t anything but tax rises? Well, there’s nine of them there to tell you what’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – December 4, 2011
Not a lot has changed since last week’s rankings. But with the first NDP leadership debate looming this afternoon, let’s quickly take stock of where the candidates stand – including with a quick take on what they’ll each need to accomplish this afternoon. 1. Thomas Mulcair (1) There isn’t much
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – November 26, 2011
Last weekend, I mentioned my intention to introduce NDP leadership rankings. Before getting to the rankings themselves, though, let’s make clear exactly what the below is intended to reflect. First, unlike Ian Capstick’s survey, I’m not making any effort yet to determine who figures to do the best on becoming
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: NDP Leadership Quick Links
As promised, let’s take a quick run through plenty of material on the NDP’s leadership campaign… – Straight Goods has posted Ish Theilheimer’s interviews with each of the candidates. – I can only figure Justin Ling has been reading Future Babble and looking to Dan Gardner’s criticism of reckless pundits
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: ndp leadership candidates attending edmonton kitchen table talks.
Three federal NDP leadership candidates: Nathan Cullen, Paul Dewar, and Brian Topp Home of Alberta’s only NDP Member of Parliament, Linda Duncan, the Edmonton-Strathcona NDP Association is hosting a series of “Kitchen Table Talks” with NDP leadership candidates (named in honour of Jack Layton and his penchant for addressing the kinds
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: And we’re off…
I’ll start looking at the candidates in more detail now that the NDP’s leadership contestants seem to be set in the wake of Niki Ashton’s entry. But before getting to that, I’ll note that while a few of my initial favourite possibilities took a pass, t…
Continue readingImpolitical: The "new politics"
This doesn’t feel new at all: Scrapping the long-gun registry has been a particularly controversial issue for Ashton as MP for a northern Manitoba riding, one that has a heavy aboriginal population. She has sided with the government before and voted to…
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