New column day
Here, featuring my musings on how political parties should be able to function without the top-down direction of a permanent leader – and the example the federal NDP has set…
party politics
Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Sixth Estate catches a right-wing election contractor defending vote suppression, then theorizes as to how Robocon may have come together. – The…
On voter information
Andrew Coyne raises some noteworthy points about what political parties know about us and how they use that information. But while I agree as to the need for parties to…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Amy Minsky uncovers some suspicious-looking spending patterns underlying Robocon, while Postmedia also points out that election results in at least a couple…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Paul Wells points out that despite the Cons’ best efforts to get Canadians to panic over the state of our retirement system, the…
The Political Roots of Inequality
Last Thursday I was at an event on the issue of rising income inequality, sponsored by Canada 2020. It featured one of the authors of the recent OECD report on…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jim Stanford highlights a trend of employers forcing work stoppages in order to force massive concessions out of their employees – and notes…
New column day
Here, on how the rewriting of Rob Ford’s budget by Toronto’s City Council should serve as a reminder that legislators at all levels of government can do more than merely…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom puts the Cons’ anti-environmental hysteria in perspective by noting how our cabinet ministers are going out of their way to sound…
One more front in the permanent campaign
It may get lost in Aaron Wherry’s story on perpetual political campaigning. But the NDP’s work to get constituents involved in letting the Cons know what they think looks like…
Book Review: Pulpit and Politics
Dennis Gruending is a former journalist and NDP MP who blogs about political and religious issues – which in theory should make for an ideal background for a book focusing…
New column day
Here, on the spread of bullying in the political sphere even as it’s been rightly rejected elsewhere – and what we should do as citizens to make sure it doesn’t…
Tuesday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your afternoon reading. – Alison Loat offers some suggestions to make political parties more responsive to Canadian voters: (H)ow can parties reorient spending to encourage a more…
Saturday Afternoon Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom tries to be optimistic about the year ahead, and likely settles on the best reason for hope that Canada’s politics…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Bruce Anderson worries that the Cons might think they face no restriction on their ability to get away with dirty tricks. But Noah…
On reasonable standards
A quick thought on how Canadian pundits may want to evaluate how political parties do their jobs – which looks to be particularly relevant given the entirely justified criticisms being…
Don’t let dubious political tactics turn us off politics
Here’s a guest post from Ben Gillies, a political economy grad from the University of Manitoba. Canadians Must Not Let Dubious Political Tactics Turn Us Off Politics Altogether By Benjamin…
On common concerns
Most of the discussion of Samara’s report on political disengagement has focused on the responses of non-voters. But perhaps more interesting is the fact that the disengaged and the currently-engaged…
On pertinent questions
I’ll add one additional follow-up note from yesterday’s NDP leadership debate. In principle the opportunity for candidates to ask questions of one another looks to have been an ideal chance…
Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Thomas Walkom rightly points out that the voters most affected by the Cons’ push for privatized pensions are the ones paying the least…