Coalition! Coalition! All I hear is Coalition!
April 25, 2011 | 2 Comments
If there has been one constant in cacophony that has been our latest federal election, it has been the theme of coalitions. Stephen Harper made efforts early on to frame the ballot question as a choice between a strong, stable Conservative majority and a reckless, unstable Opposition coalition. The drum beat of that frame has [...]
A Speck of White In a Blob of Orange In a Sea of Blue
April 25, 2011 | No Comments
My second piece for iPolitics is up and takes a a look at the indepedent campaign of Canadian Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group founder Christopher White. Across the country, Canadians are weighing the pros and cons of the federal parties vying for their votes. Do the Conservatives deserve the chance to govern with a majority? [...]
Vote Strategically
April 6, 2011 | 3 Comments
A week and a half into our spring federal election, some of the dominant narratives are starting to gel and mold the course of voting for May 2. As the days go by, the story seems to be that for most of the country this election is primarily a two-way race. Either you’re headed through [...]
A Political Trope Whose Time Has Come (To An End, That Is)
April 4, 2011 | 3 Comments
If one thing has become clear in the early days of our current federal election, it is that the Canadian family reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of our political parties. Everything the leaders do seems all to be in service of the needs, wants, and desire of Canadian families. Stephen Harper and the [...]
All Politics is Local
March 31, 2011 | No Comments
Our attention over the past few days has been rightly focused on the current federal election. The questions on people’s lips range from whether Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals can ride the wave of government scandals into office, to whether the Conservatives will be able to squeak out a majority via battleground Ontario, to whether [...]
The Opening Moves: Shoring Up the Base
March 30, 2011 | 4 Comments
The opening election moves by our three major federalist parties have been pretty predictable, base-solidifying efforts, but they give me a greater degree of hope for the ultimate usefulness of this election than I had last week. The Conservatives bolstered their family value and fiscally responsible images by proposing an income splitting measure for married [...]
Top Ten List: Election 41
March 24, 2011 | No Comments
We haven’t exactly been jumping out of our seats with excitement over the prospect of the country’s forty-first federal election here at the Commons. Thus far most of us (by which I mean myself, John, and North) are pretty pessimistic about the likely outcome and usefulness of the process. So I thought that maybe a [...]
There are Elections and then there are Elections
March 23, 2011 | 11 Comments
This morning, Susan Delacourt tore a strip off the Tories and some others for the contention that our impending spring election is a waste of time and money. It now seems we have an election on the way. Which is being billed, by some in government, on Twitter and in some news “streeters” on TV [...]
Instant Gratification vs. The Long Game
March 22, 2011 | 13 Comments
Interesting dynamics are shaping up around the release of the 2011 federal budget today. Especially the Conservatives inciting the NDP into an eleventh hour meeting on the budget. That move plus the leak of budget details showing concessions to the Dippers has a lot of people jumping up and down about what Jack Layton is [...]
The Liberals’ Great Irony, And Ours Too
March 21, 2011 | 1 Comment
If you’ve been paying attention to federal politics for the past few weeks, you’ve likely started to ready yourself for a spring election. There are still a number of calculations whereby we’re spared from going to the polls, but the acrobatics have become such that to do so would require multiple perfect landings. And perfect [...]