Today marks Day 19 of the federal election. It’s Hump Day. There are 19 days left until we (well, some of us) vote on October 14th. And like the Wednesday mid-week blahs that some people experience, I’ve been feeling less enthusiastic about the election this week. Some might say that things are just heating up […] More »
The Liberal Party is imploding, with Stephane Dion as unpopular as ever and left-leaning people increasingly shifting to the NDP, or even the Green Party. This is not the Liberal Party’s year. But aren’t they so very lucky to have Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal MP and deputy leader, as a member of their club? Yesterday, […] More »
In this election, and in most others, strong words are common and as plentiful as the air we breathe. Stephane Dion has been pegged an effete, weak-chinned, intellectual; Jack Layton, a crude Barack Obama imitation; and Stephen Harper, stone-hearted and disengaged. Well now Harper can add “genocidal” to the list. Dr. Julio Montaner, a researcher […] More »
IN EDMONTON Why hasn’t there been any outcry from the Conservatives over Jack Layton’s call for the assassination of Stephen Harper last weekend? At an NDP rally in Edmonton on Saturday, Layton was working the crowd and himself to climax when his rant took a turn to the seditious. “Well,” he said, “I say it’s […] More »
Dave Bidini knows from hockey, that’s for certain. So when an opportunistic right-wing politician taints the sport’s good name by calling herself a hockey mom, Bidini has a response. In his latest column at thismagazine.ca, the response is clear: she’s not cut out to represent either hockey or America. Palin’s comparison between being a hockey […] More »
The YouTube Video above, an English-subtitled version of a French Quebec-made video about cuts to arts funding by the federal government, is closing on 100,000 views, and the original has been viewed more than 400,000 times. The unlikely trajectory of arts and culture as a wedge election issue is worth examining. Since the $45 million […] More »
There needs to be more debate on the issue of income splitting this election. Conservatives have flirted with the idea in years past, and Stephen Harper promised last week he would allow income splitting in homes where one person stays home to care for a family member with a disability. Jack Layton was quick to […] More »
There are some people out there that hate election lawn signs. Some find them ugly things that clutter our landscape and advertise incorrect grammar. Others find the idea of publicly declaring who you’re voting for vulgar. Points out my partner, “It’s supposed to be a secret!” And that’s fine, if you want to keep who […] More »
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has 175,000 members from a wide range of sectors (agriculture, technology,energy,etc.) and sizes(small, medium and large cap). It is by far the biggest business association in Canada; when it speaks, Canadian politicians listen. And so it was that every political party had it ears open to CCC president and […] More »
Lefty think-tank the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just published “The Harper Record,” a new book analyzing the record of the Conservative Government under Stephen Harper, just in time for the election. Even better for curious readers out there, the whole thing is available to download as a free PDF. The CCPA swears up […] More »
So far, the Conservative Party has made a real push for votes in Quebec. Harper recently asked Quebecers to ignore the Bloc Quebecois, saying the party would do nothing but come “empty-handed”. And the Conservatives were doing quite well in the polls — beating the traditional favourites, the Bloc, infused with the sense that this […] More »