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Redford has no one to blame but herself
No one, least of all politicians, likes to admit just how big a role outside forces play in one’s political success – and failure. Strong MPs are defeated when the national campaign goes south. Unexpected issues derail the best laid plans. Competing interests from within will undermine even the most successful leaders. That’s largely what […]
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Hanging up the shoes
It’s not a huge surprise, but it’s still big news. After 8 years, the only Finance Minister Stephen Harper has ever known and loved is calling it quits: Jim Flaherty steps down as finance minister OTTAWA – Jim Flaherty is leaving the federal cabinet after more than eight years as finance minister to prepare for […]
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Turbulence
Back in 2008, myself and a couple of young Liberals launched “Edspedia.ca“, a mock website to poke fun at some eyebrow raising travel expenses by members of the Ed Stelmach cabinet. The list included Mark Norris’ $50,000 Vegas vacation, and Rod Stevens Hawaiian stop-over to “study their gambling system”. If I hadn’t received a cheerful […]
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Liberals Now Going for Gold
When a new narrative sets in, it’s oh so easy to forget the old narrative. But as I compared this weekend’s Liberal Party convention to the last time Liberals gathered, I was reminded at how quickly the story has changed. First, let’s flash back to January 2012. Newt Gingrich was alive and well in the […]
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A brief history of Stephen Harper supporting our troops (updated)
“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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Caucus Splitting
By design, Tuesday’s budget was a non-event. The public’s eyes are on Sochi, and the pundits’ eyes are on next year’s budget. So, it should not be surprising that it was the post-budget fallout that grabbed the most headlines, when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty mused that the Tories central 2011 campaign promise of income splitting […]
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Will any Calgary Grits be going to Ottawa in 2015?
We’ve all heard the jokes. When Calgary was hit with flooding in 2005, the Calgary Herald ran a delicious cartoon showing a giant ark being loaded up at the Stampede grounds, and Noah lamenting that, despite his instructions to rescue 2 of each kind, he couldn’t find a second Liberal. It’s been 46 years since […]
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Liberals Lose Half Their Caucus Under Justin Trudeau’s Leadership
It’s rare that something happens in Ottawa that truly surprises everyone. Despite having spent the last year talking about the senate over and over again, it’s safe to say very few saw this coming: Trudeau leads on Senate Reform: Liberal Leader takes concrete action to remove partisanship and patronage from the Senate OTTAWA – The […]
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Canada’s New Government Turns 8
Today marks the 8th anniversary of Stephen Harper’s election as Prime Minister. At the time, a lot of Liberals figured they could turn him into Joe Clark after a quick leadership change. Yet, by this time next year, Harper will have passed Louis St. Laurent, Robert Borden, and Brian Mulroney, to become the 6th longest […]
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How many Tory MPs does it take to screw up a light bulb fundraising campaign?
I know it’s still January, but we have an early contender for the most awesome political story of 2014: Tory MP raising money to fight bulb ban her party enacted OTTAWA — A Conservative MP’s campaign against her own government’s ban of incandescent light bulbs is directing the donations it receives to a Conservative riding […]