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2011 Person of the Year
As 2011 winds down, it’s time to pick a Calgary Grit Person of the Year for the 8th consecutive year. The criteria is simple – someone who made an impact on the Canadian political scene in 2011. While I usually try to think outside the box on these picks, this year’s selection is about as […]
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Primary Debates
In his Macleans.ca debut, my friend Jeff Jedras takes aim at the proposal Liberals will be voting on in January to move to a US-style primary system to choose the party’s next leader and nominate candidates. While I’ve already voiced my support for this system, Jeff raises three valid critiques which I want to take […]
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The Fall and Rise of Dalton McGuinty
If I told you a few months ago there would be a picture of Dalton McGuinty waving on newspaper front pages October 7th, you’d have assumed it would be on the Sun, directly below a “GOODBYE! GOOD RIDDANCE!” headline . After all, when the unofficial campaign kicked off this spring, McGuinty was 10 or 15 […]
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Sixth Annual Politicians in Cowboy Hats
For a brief history of Stampede fashion, you can read the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 round-ups. Although Rick Hansen served as Stampede Parade Grand Marshal, all eyes were on Will and Kate this year. I do find it somewhat perplexing how many of the same people who lambasted Ignatieff for his time outside […]
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What to expect in the Liberal leadership marathon
The best way to think about the Liberal leadership race is like those velodrome cycling races you see at the Olympics. The gun sounds and two cyclists crawl around the track, quietly jockeying for position and looking over their shoulder to see where the field sits. Then, out of the blue, one racer starts sprinting […]
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ELXN41
This post is just a collection of blog postings on the past election, for the sidebar archives. Consider it a place to visit at any point over the next four years when you’re feeling nostalgic for daily polls, ads, and news stories. POST MORTEMSConservativesNDPLiberalsBlocGreens PREDICTIONS AND PROJECTIONS How the polls and projections fared A round […]
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Election Post-Mortem: The Conservatives
Previously: NDP, Bloc, Liberals, Greens A lot has been written over the past two weeks about the election that was, but nearly all of it has been about Jack Layton’s victory. This may be a bit unfair to the election’s actual winner, so let’s pause for a moment to reflect on what Stephen Harper accomplished […]
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Election Post Mortem: The NDP
I don’t have much to add to the post-election discussion on the NDP’s past, present, and future, as most of the key points have already been beaten to death. But it’s worth a moment to pause and appreciate what Jack Layton accomplished last Monday. Layton inherited a party with 13 seats in the House of […]
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Election Post-Mortem: The Bloc
I was tempted to just post a snide comment along the lines of “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” and leave it at that for the Bloc post-mortem. But their collapse may very well be the most sudden and shocking in the history of Canadian politics, so it deserves more than […]
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Election Post Mortem: The Liberals
In the 2004 election, the Liberal Party lost 37 seats. Liberals blamed this on Adscam, and they blamed it on Dalton McGuinty. This was considered a bad result, but the good news was voters had gotten it out of their system and, regardless, they’d never make Stephen Harper Prime Minister so there was a little […]