Contradictory polls ‘perfectly predictable,’ reflect volatility among voters, say pollsters
Contradictory poll results this far out from the election reflect the undecided population and, unlike the results themselves, are “perfectly predictable,” say some pollsters, but others say the recent variations raise important questions about transparency, standards, and reporting. So far, horse-race polls reveal a tight two-way race between the Conservatives and Liberals, but how tight […]
Conservative premiers on campaign trail give Scheer little boost, say pollsters
Campaigning conservative premiers pose little gain for federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and his party in preparation for the October election, pollsters say. A group of five conservative-minded premiers, who met two weeks ago ahead of the Council of the Federation —a biannual meeting of the 13 premiers of Canada’s provinces and territories—to present themselves […]
Too much party control in ‘highly uncompetitive’ candidate selection: Samara study
Over the past five elections, fewer than one-fifth of candidates earned their name on the ballot through a competitive party nomination process, found a new Samara report, a statistic the group says shows candidate selection is “highly uncompetitive, opaque, unpredictable, and centrally controlled” by parties. In effect, party brass—not party members or the Canadian public—have […]
Green Party engaging in politics of bygone era with new war room hire
OTTAWA—What is Elizabeth May thinking? Bob Fife tweeted that Warren Kinsella, former Liberal surrogate, will be joining the war room of the Green Party for the 2019 election. Kinsella made a name for himself as part of Jean Chrétien’s campaign team more than two decades ago. Somehow it does not seem to bother the Green […]
Who wins next election depends on how much Canadians are willing to nurture the health of our ailing planet
OTTAWA—Timing is everything in politics. And the lifespan of a political trajectory is about six months. Bluntly put, if the cabinet exit by Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had occurred this month, the Liberal election goose would have been cooked. The government would have had too little time to turn around negative public reaction to […]
Federal parties are racing against time and losing
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Canada’s three main federal political parties have all managed to squander one of their most valuable resources—time. And yes, time is a resource, one that’s just as valuable as other political resources—money, organizational support, good candidates— if not more so. After all, it takes time to raise money, it takes time to raise awareness […]
Liberals, Conservatives offer clear policy differences on climate change
TORONTO—If voters want a clear choice in the upcoming federal election, differences on climate change policy between the Liberals and Conservatives provide just that, with carbon pricing the clearest but not the only dividing line. Yet the reality is that Canada is projected to fall short of meeting its 2030 emissions reduction pledge under either […]
The power of political polling
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Now that Canada Day is in the rear-view mirror and the summer season is finally in full swing, it’s a good time, I think, to have a little fun with Canadian politics. And, yes, I know the words “fun” and “Canadian politics” don’t really belong in the same sentence, but surely we can find […]
Conservative climate plan no match for Liberal effort, says reader
Sadly, the Conservatives’ ‘Real Plan to Protect Our Environment’ is based on two colossal misrepresentations of reality, both featured in Andrew Scheer’s opening message. The first is that the previous Conservative government achieved emission reductions through targeted programs, thereby implying they will have a better chance to meet Paris obligations than the carbon tax. The […]
Time has come to legislate all political advertising 365 days a year
OTTAWA—Twitter received kudos last week for finally announcing the suspension of political advertising during the summer. The social media feed was late to that party, having been publicly scolded by Democratic Reform Minister Karina Gould for its silence on recent government legislation limiting social media advertising. Michele Austin, head of government and public policy for […]
