Winning the Nomination
At my nomination meeting at the Mont-Tremblant bowling alley on September 18th, 2014, party officials had assumed that my opponent would win. My opponent had told her supporters and local…
David Graham
On Deciding To Run
When I first moved to Ottawa, I did not believe I could ever be a Member of Parliament. In spite of Marva’s observation years earlier that politicians also put their…
The Lighter Side of Hill Work
When I started working for him, Scott Simms was the elected chair of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus, and, as the biggest regional caucus in the emaciated 2011 National Liberal Caucus,…
Full-Time Just On Time
When I arrived in Ottawa in mid September, 2010, I gave myself two years to find full time work on the Hill. Following the federal and Ontario campaigns in 2011,…
Survivor’s Guilt
After the 2011 election, McGuinty’s job was to go through the painful process of laying off nearly all the staff from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, which…
The Perfect Image of Pierre Poilievre
A few days ago, Pierre Poilievre’s official social media channels shared a fairly generic campaign image of him enjoying the services of a small business in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The…
Entering the Ottawa bubble
Even before I left Guelph, I began helping Jean-Marc Lacoste, the nominated Liberal candidate for my home riding of Laurentides–Labelle, having met him on my last visit before moving in…
Going professional
2008 had been a busy year for me. I wrote dozens of essays and articles, ran data for a pair of election campaigns, started my first newspaper column, became a…
Learning to campaign, for real
In the year following Frank’s nomination, I expressed an interest in getting involved with his campaign and helping him win the eventual by-election. It took a lot of patience, taught…
The politics of politics: my first nomination campaign
After the 2006 election, with the Liberals in opposition and Martin out as leader, Guelph MP Brenda Chamberlain let it be known that she would not run again, ultimately resigning…
A Leader I Could Believe In
On April 7th, 2006, former environment minister Stéphane Dion announced his candidacy for Liberal leader, only two years after embarrassing Paul Martin into keeping him in cabinet to continue his…
Palestine Motion Amendment: Stately Compromise or Compromised State?
Monday, the House of Commons spent the day debating a lengthy NDP opposition day motion to call on the government to “officially recognize the State of Palestine”. Barely 20 minutes…
Getting Disengaged From Politics
At the close of 2003, Paul Martin finally won the decade-long civil war he had waged inside the federal Liberal Party, sending Jean Chretien into retirement and taking the reins…
Early experiences in media and performance
In the summer of 1997, between 10th and 11th grade, a movie production company approached my parents, well-known local realtors at the time, for help scouting locations around Sainte-Agathe for…
Keeping Track
The one common thread of my life has been my love of trains. I was obsessed with trains, ships, and planes as a child. As a grown-up, I took photos…
Early lessons in Canada’s telecom industry
In early 2001, my grandfather wanted to show my generation his birthplace while he was still healthy enough to do so, and so much of my extended family travelled together…
False equivalency
There is said to be an ancient curse: “may you live in interesting times.” With attention-grabbing existential wars taking place in the middle east and eastern Europe, and both the…
Career One: High Tech
My first practical political experience came through my involvement in the world of free software. I stumbled into a career in the community when I was only 18, and spent…
A Brief Attempt at University
In 1998, on the advice of my school guidance counsellor, my parents sent me on a 22-day Canadian Outward Bound Wilderness School course in northern Ontario. It consisted of an…
Why the Liberals and the NDP should not merge
Whenever the Liberals are down in the polls, pundits come out of the woodwork demanding the NDP and the Liberals merge to unite the left and save the country from…