Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Nick Falvo lists ten things to know about social programs in Canada. And Mike Crawley offers a painful example of Ontario’s social safety…
messaging
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- Michael Bader argues that a cynical view of politics represents the most important barrier to progressive victories:Cynicism is a corrosive force in our…
Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading.- Nicholas Kristof points out how important a stable and effective public service looks from the standpoint of a country which doesn't benefit from…
On earned media
Ideally, a new Parliament should have the opportunity to talk about issues of far more direct significance and practical value than keeping even offensive speech such as Donald Trump's out…
On balancing acts
For those wondering, I'm indeed following up on these posts and working my way through some of the factors in the NDP's federal election result. (For more on the subject,…
On definitions
The post-mortems on the NDP’s federal election campaign continue to roll in. And it’s particularly a plus to see that there will be a systematic effort within the party itself…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Mike Barber highlights how Canada’s federal election campaign was dominated by messages pushed from the top down rather than citizens’ concerns. Erna…
On defining themes
I’ve pointed out previously that the Libs’ advantage during the federal election came from the fact that the primary message against them was one which could be disproven. And it’s…
#elxn42 Campaign Closer: Liberals
Finally, let’s look at the Libs’ campaign as tomorrow’s election day approaches. In case there was any doubt, the Libs’ main challenge was to try to cast Justin Trudeau as…
#elxn42 Campaign Closer: NDP
I’ve previously pointed out that others were far too quick to write off the NDP in Canada’s federal election. But it’s safe to say by now that it will be…
Lessons not learned
Yes, plenty of people are pointing out Stephen Harper’s decision to be less prime ministerial, more game show host as the election campaign comes to an end. But we should…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Edward Keenan writes that a lack of affordable child care is the crucial financial pressure facing families across the income spectrum. And…
On conversation pieces
Following up on this post, the stretch run of the election campaign (particularly a holiday weekend with advance polling already underway) is exactly the time when our messages in talking…
On campaign reflections
There’s been a flurry of discussion elsewhere about the NDP’s campaign over the past couple of weeks, and I’ll chime in quickly with my own take on how the campaign…
The Political Prisoner’s Dilemma
Let’s double back to Karl Nerenberg’s take on the opposition parties’ messages in Canada’s federal election and point out how it relates to a classic decision-making hypothetical, the prisoner’s dilemma.…
Lies and the lying liars who tell them
Ideally, this would be the end of the story when it comes to Stephen Harper’s callous and desperate attempt to claim the Terry Fox Foundation’s reputation for his own. But…
Trampling the message
So apparently the Harper Cons are panicking mid-campaign and throwing out years of preparation to bring in an Australian consultant to better pitch their messages of the importance of familiarity…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Louise Arbour’s interview with The House includes both her compelling criticisms of both the Cons’ terror bill, and the Libs’ failure to…
On judicious outrage
Following up on this post, let’s take a look at the flip side of the possibility that political parties can help themselves out significantly by taking umbrage with competitors’ treatment…