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Bart’s Books: Stephen Harper, Episode II
“On any day, [Harper] has a choice, he can do the big conservative thing that would be the end of his career, or he can do some of the small conservative things that won’t.” I’ll save you the trouble of reading the rest of this book review – if you like Paul Wells’ writing style, […]
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Bart’s Books: The Michael Ignatieff Experiment
“I had made myself into a politician, and I didn’t much like what I was becoming.” On my Christmas reading list this year was Michael Ignatieff’s latest book, Fire and Ashes, which takes the reader from the moment “the men in black” recruited him to come back to Canada, to his historic defeat on May […]
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2014: Year in Preview
We don’t know what will make headlines in 2014. After all, most political predictions are about as accurate as a Forum poll. So I won’t try to guess how 2014 plays out, but here are a few things we can reasonably expect to see this year: With the new electoral map coming into force, all […]
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2013: Year in Review
January: SunTV applies for corporate welfare, arguing that they cannot survive unless the government forces people to watch them. Later this year, they would give Rob and Doug Ford their own show…before cancelling it faster than Lucky 7. February: Patrick Brazeau is knocked out of the Tory caucus. While the Senate has yet to change […]
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Quotes of the Year
Scroll to the bottom to vote on your favourite quote… “I am Conservative. I am a traditionalist. I wish I left Cabinet in the traditional way – with a sex scandal!” –Stephen Fletcher, after being removed from Cabinet “When I stand back and look at the cast of candidates, even I would pick me. I […]
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What’s a 9-letter word for obsessive preoccupation with one’s self?
Behold, the taxpayer-funded, Brian Jean crossword puzzle!
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Persons of the Year
Every December, I like to name a “Person of the Year” – the individual who left their mark on Canadian politics over the past year. The only rules are that the PM is too obvious a choice, and that lame picks (“You!”) are strictly verboten. The Person of the Year doesn’t need to be someone […]
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The Best Intentions
Michael Chong is one the most respected people in the country when it comes to democratic reform. He quit his cabinet position on principle, and proposed a series of thoughtful Question Period reforms in 2010, which seem all the more overdue after the Paul Calandra show we saw last week. So when Michael Chong tables […]
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Liberals: The Next Generation
The Liberal Party is old. I’m not talking about its history, but about the faces it puts before Canadians. The average age of Liberal MPs in Ottawa is 56, with Scott Andrews their youngest at 37. The second youngest is some kid named Justin, but at 41, even he’s old enough to remember most of […]