Senior public servants shouldn’t run for political office: Savoie
It’s difficult for senior public servants to run for political office and then return to serve in a non-partisan manner, says Université de Moncton political science professor Donald Savoie. “I think the bargain that we had between politicians and public servants was that public servants provided advice without fear or favour and politicians would receive […]
Hope and fear are tried-and-true methods because they work
AT GATE B41, PEARSON AIRPORT—In politics, you know, the main task is getting folks to pay attention. Most of the time, they don’t. They don’t like politics, they don’t like politicians. So they don’t vote as much as we’d like. Political parties spend lots of money trying to figure out how to deal with that. […]
Party platforms coming up short on environment
Climate change, it now appears, could be a much more important issue in the October federal election than it once appeared, though all three parties are tiptoeing around the key issue of what to do about Alberta’s highly polluting oilsands. The NDP and Liberals, as well as the new NDP government in Alberta, recognize we […]
Change is in the air, but which party will be seen as real agent?
All signs point to a government on its way out. Canada Day celebrations in the nation’s capital included homemade signs sprouting up on lawns proclaiming “Stephen Harper’s Canada—Not My Canada.” In rural Saskatchewan, a disgruntled voter has erected a fake traffic sign reading STOP HARPER. Surprisingly, it has been left untouched for weeks on […]
Tories ready to take on ‘Reckless Coalition’
One of the most fascinating aspects about Canada’s political scene is that the Conservative Party’s main opponent in the next federal election doesn’t actually exist. At least, it doesn’t exist just yet. I’m talking about an imagined entity that the Conservative Party calls the “Reckless Coalition.” You may recall this “Reckless Coalition” concept first emerged […]
Consortium looking to firm up debate dates in crowded field
Negotiations around the timing of national broadcasters’ debates started early this year as the consortium, facing competition from a number of potential hosts, started floating dates and formats with the parties last week. Parties are evaluating the potential risks and rewards of participating in the roughly 20 debates that have been proposed, as well as […]
Staffers hit campaign trail to fight for parties, jobs
The majority of staff on Parliament Hill, in both MP offices and ministerial ones, will soon be hitting the campaign trail in one form or another to fight for their party—and, often when it comes down to it, for their jobs—a gruelling, marathon-like experience that many say is also valuable and irreplaceable. “I don’t think […]
NDP whittles away at the Conservatives’ voting coalition
The voting coalition that propelled the Conservatives to a majority victory in 2011 was a formidable one. It combined the party’s traditional stronghold of the West with voters in rural and suburban Ontario, with a strong emphasis on new Canadians. It united the fastest growing parts of the country, leading many to argue that the […]
Debate over third-party ads continues, with Conservatives critical of union-backed groups
The Conservative government has criticized third-party advertising in the pre-writ period and caused the shutdown of HarperPAC, suggesting new regulations could be introduced, but former Harper strategist Tom Flanagan says it’s noteworthy no similar criticism has been leveled against other right-leaning groups already advertising. “Trouble is you can’t shut down the left-leaning groups without shutting […]
DeLorey and Ryan seeking Conservative nomination in coveted Central Nova riding
A senior Conservative Party official and a retired high school principal are competing for the chance to replace Justice Minister Peter MacKay as the Conservative candidate in the coveted Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova. Fred DeLorey, the Conservative Party’s director of political operations who is now on a leave of absence, and Jim Ryan, […]
