The sudden importance of paternal political relations
September 23, 2010 | 4 Comments
The Globe and Mail ponders the potential sexism or, at the very least, patriarchal politics that public safety minister Vic Toews directed towards NDP MP Niki Ashton. Aaron Wherry adds that he has observed Liberal MP Justin Trudeau suffering heckles thanks to his famous father. An interjection that should also be noted during this discussion [...]
The increasing impatience of Canadian political parties
September 20, 2010 | 2 Comments
If Michael Ignatieff loses the next federal election and then quits as party leader, as the Globe‘s John Ibbitson today says he might do, the Liberal leader will have fallen victim to a somewhat strengthening trend in Canadian politics. Federal leaders used to routinely hang on to their jobs for at least five years, and often [...]
Interns as drivers of political culture
September 16, 2010 | 8 Comments
For most young political wonks, an internship on Parliament Hill in Ottawa is a dream. And an internship in the capital to the south is, well, a dream within a dream. But some among us political science grads hit the big time. My friend Amy is currently on the ground in Washington, interning at the Canadian [...]
The twin lives of Toronto
September 16, 2010 | 1 Comment
“Toronto cops think they’re in Chicago in 1968.” That’s what Roger Ebert said on the night of June 27, as hundreds of mostly innocent Canadians were kettled by police for several rainy hours at the corner of Queen and Spadina. Ebert, who is as articulate a political observer as he is a film critic, expressed distress at Toronto’s streets [...]
Let’s not leave it up to men
September 13, 2010 | 16 Comments
As we all wait for the federal gun registry’s moment of reckoning, let’s take stock of some important information. The bill to create the registry was tabled in the House of Commons by justice minister Allan Rock on Valentine’s Day in 1995. The legislation was the Liberal response to the tragic murder of 14 women at the École Polytechnique de [...]
Is Canada’s legal establishment full of prudes?
September 8, 2010 | 11 Comments
Why do nude pictures of a sitting judge reflect badly on that judge’s ability to do her job? That’s a serious question, and it’s been thrust into the spotlight by a CBC report about the potential indiscretions of senior Manitoba judge Lori Douglas. Jonathan picked up on it in a Commons post a few days ago and [...]
Why not dismantle party discipline?
August 30, 2010 | 22 Comments
The NDP is staring down a potentially disastrous situation. Most of its federal caucus wants to save the long-gun registry that the Conservatives have, for years, hoped to kill. The rest of its caucus could, quite awkwardly, help those same Conservatives kill that same registry. So rural MPs are fulfilling an election promise by killing the registry and urban [...]
“It’s all tricknology”
August 23, 2010 | No Comments
Here, without further comment from me, is a note that a friend posted on Facebook. When the government imposes requirements or restrictions which may infringe on our freedom of expression, demonstrable justification has become less a matter of fact, and more a matter of acknowledging the empirical uncertainty of policy development. It seems to matter [...]
The perils of the fringe [Updated]
August 23, 2010 | 10 Comments
When we had a reasonable discussion about legalizing sex work on this forum just the other day, every commenter judged the notion based on its merits. No one dismissed it as not worth at least, well, a reasonable discussion. But we can’t always take that kind of dialogue for granted. Often, controversial issues are cast [...]
Harper’s unlikely foes
August 18, 2010 | 1 Comment
Remember this promise? The Government will strengthen the capacity and independence of officers of Parliament, including the Auditor General, to hold the Government to account. That was one pledge, among others, made by the Conservatives when they took office in 2006. It was part of a much larger series of accountability-related promises that was punctuated by the Federal [...]