New voices, new approaches expected in 2015 campaign coverage
New media outlets on the Canadian political beat and resource-deprived traditional ones taking new approaches could make for election coverage this fall that’s less centered on the main trail and offers more variety for an increasingly splintered audience. Since Canadians last went to the polls in 2011, media organizations’ financial woes have largely continued, leading […]
Almost half of Canadians support Liberal child care plan: poll
More Canadians prefer the Liberal Party’s child care plan to the Conservatives’ Universal Child Care Benefit or the NDP’s $15-a-day plan, says a new poll. The Liberal plan to create a Canada Child Benefit based on income and the number of children received support from 47 per cent of Canadians, according to a poll by […]
How to democratically restrict third-party ad spending
Some recent commentary about advertising by third party interest groups (or political action committees, “PACs”) has been inaccurate and/or has included undemocratic or incomplete proposals for ensuring big money doesn’t dominate, let alone corrupt, Canadian politics. First, while a few new coalitions started up recently and started running paid ads (HarperPAC, Engage Canada, Working Canadians), […]
First Nations can make a vote difference in 51 ridings, says AFN’s Bellegarde
It is now six months into my term as National Chief and the first time we are gathering since that election. I want to thank all of you once again for your support and the honour you have given me. We are at an historic time in our history. For decades our people have struggled […]
Senior public servants shouldn’t run for political office: Savoie
It’s difficult for senior public servants to run for political office and then return to serve in a non-partisan manner, says Université de Moncton political science professor Donald Savoie. “I think the bargain that we had between politicians and public servants was that public servants provided advice without fear or favour and politicians would receive […]
Hope and fear are tried-and-true methods because they work
AT GATE B41, PEARSON AIRPORT—In politics, you know, the main task is getting folks to pay attention. Most of the time, they don’t. They don’t like politics, they don’t like politicians. So they don’t vote as much as we’d like. Political parties spend lots of money trying to figure out how to deal with that. […]
Party platforms coming up short on environment
Climate change, it now appears, could be a much more important issue in the October federal election than it once appeared, though all three parties are tiptoeing around the key issue of what to do about Alberta’s highly polluting oilsands. The NDP and Liberals, as well as the new NDP government in Alberta, recognize we […]
Change is in the air, but which party will be seen as real agent?
All signs point to a government on its way out. Canada Day celebrations in the nation’s capital included homemade signs sprouting up on lawns proclaiming “Stephen Harper’s Canada—Not My Canada.” In rural Saskatchewan, a disgruntled voter has erected a fake traffic sign reading STOP HARPER. Surprisingly, it has been left untouched for weeks on […]
Tories ready to take on ‘Reckless Coalition’
One of the most fascinating aspects about Canada’s political scene is that the Conservative Party’s main opponent in the next federal election doesn’t actually exist. At least, it doesn’t exist just yet. I’m talking about an imagined entity that the Conservative Party calls the “Reckless Coalition.” You may recall this “Reckless Coalition” concept first emerged […]
Consortium looking to firm up debate dates in crowded field
Negotiations around the timing of national broadcasters’ debates started early this year as the consortium, facing competition from a number of potential hosts, started floating dates and formats with the parties last week. Parties are evaluating the potential risks and rewards of participating in the roughly 20 debates that have been proposed, as well as […]
