Tax bureaucrats vs. free speech

All the ideological, political, and bureaucratic pieces are in place for a Canadian version of an ‘IRS vs. Tea Party’-style controversy.

In politics nice is okay, but tough is better: Nicholls

Attila the Hun would make for a far more successful politician than Mother Teresa.

Forcing Canadians to finance propaganda wrong

Recently, for instance, the Conservative Party urged its MPs to blanket their ridings with a taxpayer-financed Ten Percenter designed to attack the judgment and experience of newly-minted Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. Even Prime Minister Stephen Harper could not defend this mailing on moral grounds.

Poll that says negative ad a failure tells us little

Negative ads have a definite stigma attached to them, meaning few people will ever admit to a survey researcher that they like or are influenced by one.

Is Justin really an angel?

Now admittedly, Trudeau—thanks to his lack of a policy agenda and to his affable personality—is not an ideal candidate to hit with negative ads. But every politician has a weakness and every weakness can be exploited.

Farewell to political heroes

Margaret Thatcher didn’t care about polls; she cared about doing what was right. Too bad they don’t make political heroes like that anymore.

Rumours of  Tory revolt greatly exaggerated

Defining Harperism

Harperism and conservatism have some things in common. They both embrace a ‘law and order’ agenda, they both support a strong military, and they both respect, if not revere, the past. Yet, the differences are also quite stark.

Mulcair plots under the radar

Rather than trying to chase down votes in the ‘centre’ of the political spectrum, as parties seeking to win majority governments are wont to do, Tom Mulcair has seemingly decided instead to consolidate and grow his base by attracting progressives from across the country to his NDP banner.

To beat Trudeau, laughter is best strategy

The best and most effective weapon the Conservatives and NDP might deploy against Justin Trudeau is mockery.

Onward online soldiers

Will having access to Facebook followers and endorsements from online activists actually translate into votes for Murray? Right now it’s hard to say.

Liberal debates are dull, but good for democracy

Cut the Liberals some slack. Despite their wacky formats, the Liberal leadership debates are good for democracy.

How the Harper Conservatives changed the political game: Nicholls

In The Big Shift, John Ibbitson and Darrell Bricker not only explain why this new alignment has taken place, but more importantly, why it will be an enduring fixture on Canada’s political landscape.

Politicians should steer clear from trendy movements


Trendy, activist, grassroots movements tend to turn off middle-class Canadians, the people you will probably need to keep happy if you ever want to get elected. Many will disagree with me on this.

Why Liberal money loves Trudeau

If money is a proxy for votes, then Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau might as well start planning his victory speech.

Intelligentsia disappointed with democracy

Prime Minister Stephen Harper keeps winning elections and, for many elites, this is an intolerable situation that demands a drastic and immediate remedy.

Hate to bring it up, but Canada has a serious deficit

The theory is that if governments spend themselves into deficits on things like building bridges, roads, and other public projects it will help boost the economy. Not to mention help them win votes.

Harper a skilled practitioner of political jiu-jitsu

In fact, if anything Stephen Harper’s track record as Prime Minister indicates he governs with politically adroit flexibility.

Trudeau campaign highlights failure of campaign finance laws: Nicholls

Despite all the contribution limits that have been put in place, the Liberal leadership race is not a level playing field.

Here’s a thought: Santa Claus should run for Liberal leadership

For one thing, the guy has awesome name recognition and given the generally positive media coverage he manages to garner every year, his ‘likeability’ numbers probably go through the roof. I mean, he’s literally a saint!