On guesswork
Shorter Bob Rae: Some people actually believe voters deserve a meaningful idea what political parties plan to do before choosing between them? That’s crazy talk.
libs
The petulant son
Shorter Justin Trudeau: When I say I plan to do politics differently, what I mean is that I’m willing to leave Stephen Harper in power based on the most petty…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Saturday reading. – Lana Payne writes that we’re seeing exactly the results we should expect from Stephen Harper’s foolish choice to push money upward: A recent…
History repeating
2008, pre-election: Liberal bigwigs make a ridiculous spectacle of themselves proclaiming that they’ll never deign to cooperate with the likes of the NDP. 2008, post-election: Having spent the campaign echoing…
On prospects for change
The latest round of discussion about the possibility of a coalition to offer something better than the Harper Cons seems to have taken an noteworthy turn. At this point, everybody…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – For those looking for information about today’s day of action against C-51, Leadnow and Rabble both have details. – Meanwhile, CBC reports that…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Edward Keenan is the latest to point out that any reasonable political decision-making process needs to include an adult conversation about taxes and…
On constitutional questions
Most of the analysis surrounding the Cons’ terror bill so far has assumed that CSIS’ powers will be interpreted based on a plain reading of the legislation. Under this reading…
On proper fixes
Since this headline seems to be getting far more attention than the actual accompanying interview (if mostly from people with a strong vested interest in distorting the NDP’s position), let’s…
On alternative explanations
In 2011, one of the turning points in Canada’s federal election campaign (at least in determining which party would form the Official Opposition) came when voters learned about Michael Ignatieff’s…
On needless concessions
Shorter Dougald Lamont: The only way to win against Stephen Harper’s Conservatives is to let the Conservatives define both the significance of Stephen Harper, and what it means to “win”.
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – John Hood discusses how the privilege of the political class makes it difficult for elected representatives to understand, let alone address, the problems…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Gregory Beatty reports on Saskatchewan’s options now that it can’t count on high oil prices to prop up the provincial budget. And Dennis…
New column day
Here, on why we can’t expect our federal political parties to answer some of our most important questions without some significant public pressure – and how we can build that…
On simple questions
Gerald Caplan goes far beyond what’s necessary in proposing that the NDP and Libs develop a pre-election cooperation pact intended to lead to a party merger. But as highlighted by…
On common messaging
It shouldn’t come as much surprise that the new election year is bringing out the usual, tiresome round of calls for strategic voting and candidate withdrawals. In the past, I’ve…
I see what you did there
Let’s face it: a broken Red Book promise, an ignored Kyoto Protocol commitment and zero policy action later, nobody would have had reason to believe any Lib policy promises on…
On predictable arrangements
Aaron Wherry nicely summarizes the possible outcomes of the next federal election so the rest of us don’t have to. But let’s take a moment to consider what we can…
New column day
Here, taking a quick look at Canada’s options for electoral reform while arguing that an MMP system would create far better incentives for our political leaders than the alternatives. For…
On targets
Shorter Chantal Hebert: And just think how much more successful Jack Layton could have been as the NDP’s leader if only the Cons had spent years attacking him rather than…