This was prodded by a reader. He asked me to search my mind for leaders of Canada’s federal parties and determine what I would consider their legacy to the country. It was a somewhat disappointing search. While hardly a recent leader, I started with Sir John A. Macdonald. It is
Continue readingTag: Wilfrid Laurier
Alberta Politics: When then was ‘Now!’ Marking the day Peter Lougheed moved Alberta dramatically to the left
PHOTOS: Peter Lougheed on the campaign trail during the 1970s. Below: A few of the important characters in this story … William Aberhart, Ernest Manning, Danielle Smith and Rachel Notley. Today is the 45th anniversary of Peter Lougheed’s historic e…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: One year ago, Stephen Harper, master of all he surveyed, called an election – what could possibly go wrong?
PHOTOS: Then prime minister Stephen Harper with his strategic brain trust, back when they still seemed like the masters of Canada’s political universe and would seem so for a few more weeks. (Source unknown.) Below: Screen shots of Mr. Harper’s Aug…
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 readingCalgary Grit: Canada has always been at war with Eurasia
RB Bennett was one of Canada’s most popular Prime Ministers, to the point where average Canadians would name their buggies after him. We found out last week that the Harper Conservatives will be leading a review of the way Canadian history is taught in schools. We don’t yet have word
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Races Through History (Part 2): An Elected King
Previously: Prologue, The 19th Century Spoiler Alert: He sees dead people…or at least, got advice from them. In 2009, delegates at the Liberal Party convention in Vancouver voted overwhelmingly to choose the party’s next leader using a one-member-one-vote system. This effectively killed the grand old leadership convention, a system the
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Liberal Leadership Races Through History (Part 1): The 19th Century
Previously: Prologue In the 19th Century, political parties still followed the British tradition of having caucus select their leader. At least, they followed this tradition when they felt the need to have a leader. In both the 1867 and 1872 elections, the Liberals ran sans chef. That may seem unfathomable
Continue readingThe Equivocator: The Liberal Party: A Substantial Heritage, a Future of Substance (Co-written with Theresa Lubowitz)
Theresa Lubowitz on the Death of Substantive Policy Canada is teetering dangerously close to the death of substantive policy as we know it, with the rise of a populist Conservative Government, a populist NDP Official Opposition, and a struggling Liberal Party so afraid of irrelevancy it has spent the last
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