Stockwell Day’s is not the tale of the little party that grew
We are now getting a somewhat better look at Stockwell Day. Save for the gullible, there are no surprises. The Reform Alliance leader is a twister, a wobbler, a primitive. He has two sorts of health-care plans. He preaches “respect,” but his tongue is busy with innuendo, (about the Prime Minister’s in-laws). He has complained […]
Don’t listen to hypercentralists: devolution of power is a real possibility and our national parliament could be given more power
Arguments to centralize the main powers of the federation at the federal level or to vest the main federal power in the hands of a small oligarchy in Ottawa are very similar: they constitute an argument for centralization of power in few hands at the centre. This project is built on the model suggesting that […]
Douglas can “ruffle up your spirits, put a tongue in every wound” [in defence of medicare]
An argument between the Liberals and the Canadian Alliance about their health platforms aroused some interest last week. Prime Minister Jean Chretien and an influential Opposition spokesman, namely Canadian Alliance MP Jason Kenney, tossed around the question of one- tier, two-tier medicare. Some observers declared that the biggest issue in the campaign is the health […]
What’s up Toronto Globe and Mail’s nose these days, eh?
TORONTO — “Day’s plan found in secret paper,” screamed the main front-page headline in Tuesday’s Globe and Mail. What “secret paper” you ask? Why the standard “policy overview” which all parties send out to all their candidates to explain party policy to them. That way, the hope is, that all candidates for the party in […]
Williams’ Waste Report reveals some fun stuff
Waste not? Why not! … Canadian Alliance MP John Williams’ latest Waste Report reveals some entertaining, if not costly, facts about government spending. Among them: the disappearance from the Department of National Defence of $128,000 worth of computers (the thieves obviously took out the computers through Windows 98). DND also forked out about $1,000 for […]
How the Liberals think they can win
Buoyed by public opinion polls, Liberal strategists believe their party can who win between 167 and 174 seats in the next federal election even though they’re starting to admit they’re going to lose some ridings in 103-seat Ontario. No party strategist will openly admit to the possibility of something other than a plain and convincing […]
Grit Matthews in one wild, wacky race [Burin-St George’s riding]
Forget former Newfoundland premier Brian Tobin’s re-entry onto the federal political stage, the race in Burin-St. George’s, Nfld., is shaping up to be one of the most bizarre and unpredictable electoral battles in Campaign 2000. In this sprawling riding, which spans almost the entire southern half of the province and has one of the highest […]
Kinsella’s the lead Liberal hitman in War Room: it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to be in charge of spin control apparatus
While the Liberals have adopted the “bomb the bridge” strategy on Stockwell Day, Warren Kinsella is quarterbacking the Liberal Party’s War Room, coordinating much of the governing party’s spin control apparatus. Mr. Kinsella, who is on leave from his job with the public policy section of Toronto law firm McMillan Binch, has bounced between law […]
Doctor Bennett takes the pulse of Canada’s health-care system [Kill or Cure? How Canadians Can Remake Their Health Care System]
It’s the No. 1 issue of Campaign 2000 and Carolyn Bennett, the first- term MP and medical doctor, who is fighting to win her St. Paul’s, Ont., riding has recently released a book on the hot-button issue. Titled Kill or Cure? How Canadians Can Remake Their Health Care System. The book is a series of […]
[Long shadows: truth, lies & history]
In October, “The Famous Five” statues were hauled from their graves and thrust, walking and talking, onto the lawn of the Parliament Buildings. At least, that’s what should have happened, but, instead, we got the kind of historical fakery that governments love to indulge in as they rewrite history. A similar thing happened in London […]
