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Kumbaya Counter-Terrorism
One of the reasons I keep blogging is that the comments section here tends to breed meaningful discussion rather than the “no you’re Hitler” type of debate you see on most mainstream news sites. And as pointed out here, I found this comment by regular hosertohoosier quite thought provoking: Paul O: Or was the Justin […]
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Happy Birthday
For a government which has been in power 42 years, celebrating a one-year anniversary seems somewhat trite, but it was one year ago today that Allison Redford bested Danielle Smith, in one of the most exciting elections the province has ever seen (not that we’ve had a lot of those lately). The past year has […]
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A Brief History of Stephen Harper Supporting Our Troops
“In 2006, after the Liberal ‘decade of darkness,’ we took action to rebuild Canada’s Armed Forces.” –Stephen Harper October 2010: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is scrambling to contain an ever-widening scandal in which officials deliberately tried to ruin the reputation of outspoken military veterans” October 2011: Veterans Ombudsman Questions Harper Government Cuts To Veterans […]
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This Just In: Voters Feel Negative Ads Are “Negative”
Trudeau’s predictable win, followed by predictable attack ads, has been followed by an all-too predictable poll: In an EKOS Research Associates survey, 70 per cent found the ads “unfair” while 74 per cent said the ads were “unhelpful.” Asked to describe the ads, 84 per cent said they were “negative.” “The ads have backfired on […]
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Justin Trudeau: Too Sexy For His Shirt, Too Sexy For Canada?
The only thing more predictable than Justin Trudeau’s win in the Liberal leadership race was that it would be followed by Conservative attack ads. For those curious what the sequel to “Not a Leader” and “Just Visiting” would look like, the wait is over: It should come as no surprise that the ad is repugnant, […]
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Trudeau’s Win by the Numbers
Over the past year, there have been thousands of articles written about Justin Trudeau, his father, and his leadership campaign. Since it hasn’t been a big secret he was going to come out on top, we’ve also seen thousands of articles about what his win means. So rather than rehash what has already been written, […]
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How I’m Voting
Unlike past leadership contests where I’ve been fighting on the front lines for my candidate, I’ve watched the federal race largely as a spectator. Being away from a campaign offers a different vantage point, and I’ve enjoyed blogging my opinions candidly, as I slowly made up my mind who to support. With voting now open […]
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Final Power Rankings
There isn’t a lot of suspense surrounding Sunday’s Liberal leadership vote. Pick the metric of your choice – fundraising, endorsements, hair volume – and Trudeau leads his nearest challenger by at least a 4:1 ratio. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in Twitter support, but Justin has 10 times more followers than the rest […]
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Provincial Unrest
Angus Reid has released their quarterly Premier approval ratings. As per usual, Brad Wall is more popular than God, and everyone else is a little more human: Wall (SK): 64% approve, 28% disapprove Alward (NB): 41% approve, 50% disapprove Selinger (MB): 38% approve, 49% disapprove Wynne (ON): 36% approve, 37% disapprove Marois (QC): 33% approve, […]
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Rae’s Day
Every political commentator loves to say “timing is everything in politics”, and every Canadian political commentator loves to say that Bob Rae never had good timing. He had the misfortune of becoming Premier before he was ready to govern, and had the misfortune of governing during a recession. His “second career” is often portrayed as […]