The Timidity Of The Ontario NDP
I wrote earlier this month about the growing call from certain monied sectors for an increase in their personal taxation rates, arguing that they are not paying their fair share…
Bob Rae
Killing The Bob Rae Myth
Watching the Ontario election you'd think that there was nothing of much import going on in the world. Why else would there be so little difference in the platforms of…
Fundamental myths about the Liberal Party and the interim leader
Let me start by making one thing perfectly clear: there is no rule that prevents interim Liberal leader Bob Rae from deciding to seek the permanent leadership of the Liberal…
Fresh Merger Talks Raise the Question: Is it Time?
Thomas Walkom had a column in the Star this weekend, raising the possibility of Bob Rae as the next federal NDP leader.A rather silly attempt at reminding Canadians that he…
The PCs may not be a fully Tea Partyesque group, but there are some similarities
John Ivison from the National Post recently wrote a column calling out Liberal interim leader Bob Rae on his comparison of the Harper Progressive Conservatives to American Tea Partiers. Bob…
Did Layton Shift NDP To The Right?
I have a lot of time for Thomas Walkom - ever since way back in the 90s, when the Days of Action movement was heading into full swing and Walkom…
Bob Rae and the Iffy Question of Merger with the NDP
Summer nonsense spilled over into the press conference held today with Bob Rae. One of the questions dealt with a possible merger between the Liberal and NDP parties. Rae was…
After Jack: Three Bad Ideas & One Good One For The NDP
The weeklong outpouring of mourning, love and solidarity after the passing of NDP Leader Jack Layton has now subsided. The sense of optimism that Jack insisted upon and the hunger…
Rae speech at summer caucus: Jobs, jobs, jobs
A great speech by Rae today at the caucus meetings in Ottawa. Going right at Harper and with an economic message. That jobs, jobs, jobs line should be the big…
Liberal AV Club’s Amateur Hour (Part Deux)
Political wonks may recall Stéphane Dion’s cringe-inducing “address to the nation” back in 2008 during the constitutional crisis over a putative coalition government… If not, Adam Radwanski described this way:…
Double Standards And Chauvinism In The Nycole Turmel Affair
For over a week now, politicians, the media and pundits have relentlessly sniped interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel for her past association with the Bloc Quebecois. To them, it’s not…
Attention Bob Rae
Bob Rae, the apostle of centrism, should read Krugman's latest. In particular, he should cut the following out and paste it on his desk for future reference: Which brings me…
Juxtaposition
Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman:Some of us have long complained about the cult of “balance,” the insistence on portraying both parties as equally wrong and equally at fault on any issue,…
An accidental opportunity
This morning, I theorized that the political fortunes of the NDP and the Libs will make for an interesting test case on the relative importance of leadership politics and party…
On comparative advantages
Naturally, Jack Layton's leave of absence has raised plenty of speculation as to what will happen on Canada's opposition benches over the summer (and perhaps beyond). But Tim Powers hints…
Are the NDP too dependent on Jack Layton?
I’ll be brief this time, because I know every pundit and their brother will be covering this story and making this speculation. But it’s worth asking – are the NDP…
alberta ndp and wildrose preparing for next provincial election.
Hoping to capitalize on the recent gains made by their federal counterparts in the May 2011 election, word on the street is that the Alberta New Democrats have brought in…
Out on a Limb: In Defence of the (Political) Moral High Ground
This may be terribly naive of me (and I’m not ruling out that possibility, to be fair), but I am going to go out on a limb and make the…
Bob Rae: Opposition Shrew
Bob Rae is quickly becoming more of a joke than he already was. He keeps talking about the NDP "taking the bait" on this issue, or "taking the bait" on…