Advice to Ontario Leaders about Minority – Stick to the Issues
There is talk now that Ontario may elect a minority government in the upcoming election. My advice: leaders should avoid making promises about what they would or would not do…
Mark Crowley
United They Stand, While Democracy Falls
There are two very different stories playing out in two of the most contested democratic chambers in Canada right now. One chamber is Toronto City Hall and the other is…
United They Stand, While Democracy Falls
There are two very different stories playing out in two of the most contested democratic chambers in Canada right now. One chamber is Toronto City Hall and the other is…
Happy Democracy Day, Canada! Or Is it?
Happy Democracy Day Canada! Wait, what? That’s not even…huh? That’s right, Sept. 15 is the International Day of Democracy. The fourth annual! Apparently. I know, I hadn’t heard of it…
Happy Democracy Day, Canada! Or Is it?
Happy Democracy Day Canada! Wait, what? That’s not even…huh? That’s right, Sept. 15 is the International Day of Democracy. The fourth annual! Apparently. I know, I hadn’t heard of it…
What We Don’t Know Will Hurt Us
So, apparently the Conservative government’s deep cuts to Environment Canada are leading to the cancellation of an important monitoring project on the ozone layer over the Arctic. The British journal…
A Coming Out Party for Optimists
Watching the funeral services yesterday for Jack Layton, I felt it was like a coming out party for optimists, a chance for people to be unashamed to express hope in…
The Chomsky/Norvig — Classical/Statistical AI Brouhaha
I’ve written an article on my other blog Computationally Thinking summarizing an ongoing fascinating discussion on the state of Artificial Intelligence research. It should be accessible to technical and non-technical…
Hobbits for Electoral Reform
Dear Wise Races of the United Kingdom of Middle Earth, Please forgive a humble Hobbit for bothering you but I just wanted to write about an urgent matter of democracy.…
Canadian Election: Fringe Edition
Warning: This post will only make sense to you if you follow the recurring adventures of the characters discussed in it as they try to save our nation and the…
Liberals Turn My Dreams a Whiter Shade of Pale
I just flipped on the radio and Michael Ignatieff is talking about electoral reform. Am I in some kind of Fringe-like alternate universe where my dreams (ahem, remember The Liberal…
Harper’s Constitutional Double Down Strategy
This was meant to be a reply to the cat’s latest column, regarding Stephen Harper’s outrageous stance on forming government in a minority situation in parliament. Something went wrong with…
Old People Vote Like Crazy, Now Will Crazy Young People Vote?
Hey “YoungPeople™”, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this but…there are a LOT of old people around. By young people I’ll be very broad here and say everyone who…
To Think Outside the Box, Sometimes You Need to Leave the Box
Some very offensive man this morning on the panel on CBC radio called Ignatieff a “carpet bagger” and chuckled. No one called him out really, they just moved on. When…
This month of May don’t just stand there with your arms folded tight
I just looked into these vote mobs that LeadNow is encouraging young people at campuses around the country to create. I noticed Guelph and a few others already had some…
The Liberal Nuclear Option
I’ve suggested this before but here it is again in brief, can anyone explain to me what the downside of this would be for the Liberals? Nuclear Option: The Liberal…
Deja Vu Election All Over Again
Hey there, election season in Canada is here. Can you smell the ballot papers, the baby powder, the stench of hateful attack ads? Doesn’t make you feel alive… Well, unfortunately…
Every Vote is a Strategic Vote
Fellow DemReform blogger CuriosityCat has a great post today on a little tidbit that passed the lips of Jack Layton: “The way to stop Stephen Harper from getting a majority…
The Real Tyrant in Canada is You
Today, as the Liberals put forward a motion to find the Conservative government in contempt for withholding information and misleading parliament, House government leader John Baird used the phrase “Tyranny…
A Time For Politics and A Time For Action
Well, this is going to be an interesting week isn’t? In case you haven’t heard, the UN Security Council just approved a No Fly Zone over Libya. The wording was…