Trudeau campaign like watching a monkey with a machine gun
TORONTO—For Justin Trudeau, the headlines haven’t been very good, recently. Here are some: “Liberals falling further behind NDP-Conservative race”; “Former Liberal acclaimed as NDP candidate”; “Trudeau switches targets in bid to cut Mulcair’s momentum”; “Brian Gallant won’t campaign for federal Liberals during election”; “This is still Harper’s election to lose”; and “EKOS poll: Tories are […]
Politics not immune to culture’s triumph of stupidity
My Conservative friend (yes, I have some) posted something noteworthy on Facebook. It was a picture of a sign bearing the words: STOP MAKING STUPID PEOPLE FAMOUS. In this week, the Kanye West week, it struck a chord. Most of the stuff one sees elsewhere on Facebook isn’t as noteworthy. There is the footage of […]
Mulcair is vulnerable on critical issue of Canadian unity
It’s not a big mystery—that is, the moments when the New Democratic Party becomes vulnerable. We draw your attention, in this regard, to the NDP’s on-again, off-again relationship with the notion of a united Canada. It first manifested itself in 2005, when Tom Mulcair’s current party adopted what has become known as the Sherbrooke Declaration—in […]
Liberal Party’s decline can be traced to one cause: Stephen Harper
Twenty-five years ago last week, Jean Chrétien became the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. And Liberals really haven’t been happy since. Well, they were happy during Chrétien’s era, of course. He eliminated the deficit, he said no to war in Iraq, he passed the Clarity Act, he won three back-to-back majorities. Team Canada, […]
Taking stock of SWOT: how future events could impact campaigns
SWOT is an analysis technique consultants use to assess internal STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES—to a campaign, to a client, to a cause—and to evaluate external OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS. A SWOT analysis isn’t about a message—it’s about a thing, or a factor, that can help or hurt. It can be happening right now, or is something likely […]
Public tuning out media’s pious morality lectures
“The media does play a vital role in our democracy,” said economist Dave Brat. “And if we cannot depend on journalistic ethics, the nation’s in trouble.” Brat was talking about his own nation’s media, most likely. Given recent events—Brian Williams’ lies, the faked Rolling Stone university rape story, George Stephanopoulos’ secret donations to the Clinton […]
Three reasons why inquiry into extraordinary number of missing, murdered aboriginal women isn’t the answer
It happens so often, you can almost set your watch by it. Someone in Ottawa has a press conference, or asks a question in the House of Commons, or responds to an important bit of news. And, too often, they demand an inquiry or a royal commission or some sort of a judicial probe into […]
Election 2015 is the NDP’s to lose
TORONTO—Knowing the precise moment when New Democrat winners were transformed into New Democrat losers isn’t all that simple. Was it when first-place Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow—whose victory was considered inevitable by most—had yet another uninspiring debate performance, or couldn’t conjure up anything coherent to say about the city’s suffocating transit problems? Was it when […]
Weep for our media, times are bad
TORONTO—Fittingly, it took a small-town radio station to ask The Question. It came on Dave Glover’s drive-time show on CFWN in Northumberland. “What,” I was asked, “do you think about Postmedia’s purchase of the Sun Media newspaper chain?” “Thank you for asking that question,” I told Glover and his co-host. “As someone who […]
Conservative caucus may not have been as ‘morgue’-like as maladroit MacKay suggested
TORONTO—First things first: we now have conclusive proof Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi is not infallible. Nenshi, much-adored by progressives everywhere, predicted Alberta’s PCs would win a minority government. “I suspect the PCs will win,” said Nenshi. Um, no. They didn’t. It was in all the papers on Wednesday morning. In fairness, Nenshi wasn’t the only […]
