Feds should be doing more for Syrians, now
Most Canadians want to see Canada do more to help the estimated four million Syrian and Iraqi refugees, but, as much as Prime Minister Stephen Harper promises, our federal government has so far failed to respond to this massive humanitarian crisis with strong leadership, generosity, and compassion. “Canada is not doing anything in particular […]
Mulcair doesn’t need cute, Trudeau brings sexy back in Quebec ads, Harper looks human
It’s been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in the case of the NDP’s latest attack ad, flipping the script on the Conservatives’ job interview attack ads, the New Democrats missed the mark, according to Clive Veroni, one of the country’s leading experts on advertising and author of Spin: How Politics Have the […]
Politics This Morning Election 2015: Two debates down, three to go
Good Friday morning! It’s the end of week seven of this 78-day campaign. Two debates are down, and there are at least three more to go before Canadians go to the polls on Oct. 19. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau were in Calgary, Alta., last night to […]
Questions for Progressive Jews in Canada
Spending time with friends and family earlier this week over the course of Rosh Hashana—the Jewish New Year—it was inevitable that we would discuss the Jewish community’s participation in Canada’s ongoing federal election. You’ve heard the story before: Jewish Canadians have left the Liberal Party in droves, increasingly becoming one-issue voters and backing Stephen Harper’s […]
Groundhog day: There’s an awful lot of similarities between Election 2015 and 2004
In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray famously quips, “do you ever have déjà vu, Mrs. Lancaster?” To which Mrs. Lancaster replies: “I don’t think so, but I could check with the kitchen.” For many avid political watchers there is a sense of déjà vu as we compare the current 2015 election campaign to the one 11 […]
As fiscal plans go, NDP’s on light side
Jim Flaherty could have signed off on the fiscal framework the NDP presented on Wednesday. It borrows more from the late Finance minister's budgets than it offers in original content—at least at the front end of a New Democrat federal mandate. That starts with the tax-cutting infrastructure Flaherty put in place over his near decade […]
Politics This Morning Election 2015: Party leaders square off in Calgary for debate number two
The second debate of this election season happens today. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will square off in Stampede Park in Calgary, Alta., for a debate on economic issues, titled “Our Economy. Our Future.” It’s hosted by the Globe and Mail, in partnership with Google Canada and […]
‘This isn’t the Red Book, it’s a back page of the Red Book,’ says Hébert on NDP platform costing
PARLIAMENT HILL—The NDP tried Wednesday to channel Jean Chrétien’s famous Red Book of promises that kick-started his Liberal Party’s campaign to a majority government in 1993, but it didn’t work out as planned. The large contingent of veteran and not-so-veteran journalists who attended an NDP lockup to pore over what turned out to be a […]
Regular season election campaign wrapping up, playoffs about to begin
When the official campaign launched last month, I outlined five factors that will help determine the election’s outcome: campaign length, money, social media, voter turnout and seats, not votes. I also included a disclaimer-like paragraph for the inevitable surprises and external events (e.g., Syria) that could dominate media coverage, rendering even the most scripted and […]
78-day ‘sprint’ nothing compared to U.S. elections
NEW YORK (Troy Media)—Last week, I registered to vote for the first time in a U.S. election. As a Canadian with dual citizenship living in the United States, and an inveterate political junkie, this summer and fall gives me the gift of a double feature—two campaigns happening simultaneously in each of the countries I consider […]
