The concerning e-volution of Canadian elections
Twenty-first century life has devolved into a predicted dystopia as “the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end,” to quote George Orwell’s 1984. Online visits to Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and most every other company or service facilitates data collection being used […]
Scheer uses subtle image tactics to convince voters he’d be great PM
OAKVILLE, ONT.—The Conservative Party of Canada really wants to make it clear to Canadians that its new leader, Andrew Scheer, is a father to lots of adorable young children and is a husband to a lovely and supportive wife. Or to put it another way, the party’s “branding” message for the past few months has […]
MPs preparing to push private members’ bills seek broad support, but wouldn’t mind getting scooped by government
The next round of MPs who get to take a crack at passing private members’ bills are prepping their legislative plans and, in some cases, praying the government acts first. “I’ve tabled my bill and I’m hoping that’s kind of pushing them along. I don’t care if they take all the credit, and they’re the […]
Hands up if you think we’re better than Americans
TORONTO—Pop quiz time. 1. At an election rally, Ku Klux Klan member J. F. Bryant is joined onstage by a confident young lawyer, who rails against those who speak other languages. Who was the young lawyer? 2. A politician travels abroad to meet a murderous, anti-Semitic fascist boss. The politician rhapsodizes about the fascist leader, calling him “eminently wise,” […]
Serious business, Cattlemen’s Association spreads its lobby days throughout year
PARLIAMENT HILL—Sure, Hill lobby days are great, but a regular practitioner of them says they only work when, as an interest group, you’re maintaining a regular presence with federal policy-makers outside of these marked occasions. “Rather than focusing on a single day throughout the year, we undertake a constant lobbying presence in Ottawa,” said John […]
Liberals offer mostly platitudes on transition to renewable energy
Under the previous Conservative administration, Canada’s energy strategy was whatever the oilpatch wanted—or more precisely what foreign-owned energy multinationals requested. We had no plan for carbon pricing, and Stephen Harper was content to hitch our economic wagon to fossil fuels. Talk of a National Energy Program was quickly dismissed. With omnibus budget bills C-38 and […]
NDP leadership contest taking place in ‘unprecedented’ format
The NDP are trying something new this time around to pick their leader. The next leader of the party will be elected via a preferential, ranked-choice ballot system, but one that can be altered between rounds. The party is doing away with hosting one big convention, which is the (pardon the pun) conventional way parties elect […]
Three lead staffers make up ‘lean and mean’ Caron team
NDP MP Guy Caron is running a “lean and mean” leadership campaign, relying on the efforts of roughly 350 volunteers on the ground across the country, says co-campaign director Isaac Cockburn. A three-member core team of paid staff has been running Mr. Caron’s leadership campaign since its official launch on Feb. 27. That includes Mr. […]
High-profile Conservatives organizing to shift party to centre: activists
A group of influential Canadian conservatives has been working over the summer to create an organization that will try to pull the Conservative Party closer to the political centre, say several sources with knowledge of the effort. The group includes well-known conservatives in and outside of the party, according to four sources speaking on the […]
Scariest part of U.S.-North Korea showdown isn’t Kim Jong-un
OTTAWA—With all of the fear-mongering going on these days, one could be forgiven for believing we are on the eve of a nuclear Armageddon between North Korea and the United States. Military experts are coming out of the woodwork to take to the airwaves, all of them eager to convince us just how dangerous North […]
