Your blogger yesterday in a future vanity wall picture with NDP leadership candidate Thomas Mulcair. Thomas Mulcair turned in a virtually faultless performance in Edmonton last night, proving once again that the federal Opposition New Democratic Party is attracting top-quality candidates as it completes its sad duty to replace Jack
Continue readingTag: Peggy Nash
A Different Point of View....: Should we ‘take down’ the banks or try to save the best of capitalism?
It is November 1968, and a writer for Modern Mechanix peers 40 years into the future: “People have more time for leisure activities in the year 2008. The average work day is about four hours . . . . Homes are practically self-maintaining. Robots are available to do housework and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Travaillons ensemble
Following up on this post, I’ll expand briefly on what looks to be one of the more interesting questions for the balance of the NDP’s leadership race. I’ve pointed out before that one of the subtle advantages of having a leadership race immediately after ascending to Official Opposition status is
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Importance of Geography in the NDP Leadership Election
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 readingAccidental 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 readingthe reeves report: The cautious politics of choosing a leader
NDP leadership candidates at the first debate held in December, 2011. As the race to replace Jack Layton heats up, it was only a matter of time before the candidates began taking significant steps to differentiate themselves from their fellow candidates. Eight candidates remain in the race to lead the
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 readingBrian Topp Sinks to a New (Conservative) Low
What was it that most attracted people about the NDP campaign in 2011? Was it that we offered a social democratic alternative to the hard edged ideology of Stephen Harper? Was it that we actually planned to implement our platform unlike numerous Liberal governments and could therefore be trusted?
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Profile – Peggy Nash
In some ways, Peggy Nash’s candidacy is the easiest and most straightforward to analyze among the NDP’s leadership contenders. She’s drawn her core support from the intersection of the party and the progressive movement, meaning that her initial strength can be set at a level that should keep her on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your afternoon reading. – Alison Loat offers some suggestions to make political parties more responsive to Canadian voters: (H)ow can parties reorient spending to encourage a more balanced focus across their responsibilities? Political parties serve at least four critical functions: engaging citizens in politics, selecting candidates for
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 Profile – Thomas Mulcair
From the moment Thomas Mulcair chose to run as an NDP candidate for Parliament, he’s earned both more scrutiny and more attention than any other NDP represenative other than the leader who recruited him. Indeed, during slow news months there were even highly speculative stories about Mulcair trying to take
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 readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: First impressions: NDP leadership candidate Peggy Nash in Edmonton
NDP leadership candidate Peggy Nash at last night’s “kitchen-table talk” in Edmonton. Below: Marlin Schmidt. There are only three or so of the nine candidates for the leadership of the federal New Democratic Party, and therefore for Leader of the Opposition, who are truly qualified to do the job and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – pogge points out the Cons’ suppression of news that a lack of running water on First Nations reserves facilitated the spread of H1N1 – offering a case in point as to both how neglect of social needs can carry widespread ramifications, and how
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: "Most Canadians if they don’t show up for work they don’t get a promotion."
The above ad was from the NDP’s positive hope-filled election campaign. In it, the NDP pointed to Ignatieff’s attendance record and accused him of “not showing up for work”. Funny thing though. As pointed out by Jeff Jedras in October, and the Globe this morning, NDP MPs looking for a
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 readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics blog: brian topp comes to edmonton.
NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp Brian Topp was in Edmonton last night campaigning for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada. At an event hosted by the Edmonton-Strathcona NDP association, more than 130 people packed into the City Arts Centre to listen to Mr. Topp deliver a pitch
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: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – If you’re only going to read one analytic take on the NDP leadership campaign, make it Alice’s – featuring this take on Thomas Mulcair’s strategy in cultivating later-ballot support: I’m fairly sure I was privy to the exchange between Paul Wells and “Mulcair
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