On Senate reform, Rae should choose his battles more carefully
For the record, I am still trying to figure out how I think Canada could best tackle the problem of a 19th Century Senate in the 21st Century. I am…
Liberal Party
First signs of the Bobby Bounce?
On May 25 Bob Rae became interim Leader of the Liberal Party, after a few weeks of speculation that the job would be his. On May 2 the surprising election…
A lesson in change
"USC's 21st Century Virtual Classroom": In the spring of 2008, John Katzman, the founder of the Princeton Review, approached the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at at the…
Rae Days
Is there anyone in Canada who doesn't believe that Bob Rae will ultimately wind up as the "permanent" leader of the Liberal Party, once this interim, kabuki thing is over?…
Separatism redux, courtesy of Jack Layton’s NDP
Separatism Redux The centre of gravity of the NDP has shifted to the two largest provinces – Ontario and Quebec. In a sense, having ousted the Bloc Quebecois from power…
At last, a real leader!
Congratulations to Bob Rae for being chosen as Interim Leader by the Caucus, and congratulations to the Caucus for choosing him: Bob Rae was crowned interim leader of the Liberals…
Goldilocks and the Liberal constitutional amendments
The actual honest to goodness text of the much speculated Liberal constitutional amendments with respect to leadership timing were finally released to the membership last night via an e-mail from…
The Coming Decline of Harper’s Values Coalition
Ipsos is predicting that Harper's "values-based national coalition" of Tories might have a brighter future than the cobbled-together Mulroney coalition had: Darrel Bricker of Ipsos The interesting thing about what…
Liberal Renewal:Let us not forget this
Renewal starts on the ground, and if we wish to implement a 308-riding strategy, we need to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Change Commission Report April 2009. One…
Constitutional amendments (Now with dates?)
(Scroll down for updated information)As mentioned, today was supposed to be the day Liberal members found out that constitutional amendments they'd be voting on as part of the extraordinary convention…
Why the interim leader shouldn’t run for permanent leader
There has been much debate in Liberal circles about the insistence by the national executive that the interim leader of the party agree to not run for the permanent leadership,…
The Interim Leadership and Bob Rae
This is incredible: some unnamed MPs or Senators seem to think that one candidate for the Interim Leadership should renounce any right to run for permanent leader EVEN IF THE…
Voters pruned Liberal MPs so as to prune Liberal sense of entitlement
The results of the 2011 election were in many ways a continuation of a trend: a steady rapping of the Liberal knuckles by dissatisfied voters over the course of 3…
The Journey: From the Railway Committee Room to the Reading Room
Parliament is a place of symbolism. Today, the Liberal Party caucus said goodbye to Michael Ignatieff in the Railway Committee Room, its last meeting there. Jack Layton's NDP will be…
A suggestion: Consult, but with Options
A short, sharp battle has been waging over the past few days over the decision by the National Board of Directors of the Liberal Party, lead by President Alf Apps,…
After Alf Apps …
Bob Rae Having made a decision which is most likely contrary to section 10(2)(e) of the Liberal Party constitution (which gives every member the right to seek any office in…
Harper’s Right to Appoint Senators
Lot's of faux indignation amongst media and bloggers and politicians over Harper's decistion to appoint three senators, including two who ran for election to the House of Commons, and lost.…
On Alf, consultations and constitutional straitjackets
Tuesday evening I attended a pretty successful social event and informal renewal brainstorming session in Toronto with over 100 Liberal Party members ... and guess who came to dinner?The Edward…
I’m done with witch-hunts and fighting old battles
As an ardent and early supporter of Stephane Dion (still first in my heart) you could argue I should be sympathetic to this line of argument from journalist turned Liberal…
Calling all lawyers: Help our Liberal Caucus understand Section 10(2)(e)
Our MPs and Senators in our Caucus will meet to decide which candidate to elect as the Interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Unfortunately, the Board of Directors…