Monthly Archives October 2015

T-3: Mulcair vs. Trudeau, Head to Head #elxn42 #canpoli

On Monday, either Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau could become the Prime Minister of Canada. Forget attack ads.  Forget haircuts & beards. Forget party policy.  Forget polls. Forget strategic voting. If you only look at them side-by-side, who is more qualified to be the leader of a G-7 nation, Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau? Mulcair: 60 years […]

T-4: The NDP’s Strong Leaders from Tommy Douglas to Thomas Mulcair #elxn42 #canpoli

The NDP has a history of great leaders who are inspirational, principled, and pragmatic. Here are some videos to remind you of the important role past NDP leaders have played in Canadian life… Tommy Douglas The federal NDP’s first leader and “Greatest Canadian”, Tommy Douglas long ago identified the futility of switching between Conservatives and Liberals […]

T-5: Liberal Campaign Co-Chair Resigns (aka “Liberals, Tory, Same Old Story”) #elxn42 #canpoli

Much of this election has been about the battle between the NDP and Liberals for who would be voters’ choice as the “change” party. Except, the reality is that one of these parties’ last time in government ended in scandal and one party is the NDP who are the only party that represents real change […]

T-6: Steven Harper’s Advice To His Children May Be The Single Most Tone Deaf Thing I’ve Read During This Election #elxn42 #canpoli

So I’ve been obsessively reading about and following this election through various outlets – Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc. – which often lead to news sites like the CBC, Globe & Mail, National Post. But occasionally you stumble across something quite different. For example, Twitter recently led me to what I expected would be a typical […]

T-7: “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” #elxn42 #canpoli

Originally coined by Bill Clinton advisor, James Carville, the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” has become a useful shorthand for what many elections are really about no matter how much politicians try to focus voters on other meaningless distractions. This holds true in the current Canadian election where surveys have shown that 60% of people feel […]

T-8: A Few Thoughts on Trudeau’s “Real Change” Campaign #elxn42 #canpoli

I find it fascinating that Justin Trudeau has run on a slogan of “Real Change” when there are a few very clear signs that he’s not either of those things… First off, he leads the Liberal Party which is often called “Canada’s Natural Governing Party” and which held power in Canada for 69 of the […]

T-9: Combatting the Cynicism of Politics #elxn42 #canpoli

There’s a lot of commonly accepted wisdom you hear that reflect the increasing amount of cynicism that people have towards the political process… They’re all the same. There are definitely good and bad people involved in all parties.  But saying that all politicians are bad simply because they’re politicians is as simplistic (and wrong!) as […]

T-10: Talking Turkey: Will Thanksgiving Weekend Decide The Election? #elxn42 #canpoli

Maclean’s has an article about how long weekends (especially ones that fall very close to an election) are vital times in campaigns as that’s when family gather and talk together over meals and social time. In fact, from the outset of this unusually gruelling 11-week race, officials for all three of the main parties have, […]

T-11: NDP Release Their Election Platform (and Three Big Reasons To Vote NDP over the Liberals) #elxn42 #canpoli

The NDP released their election platform today.  Called “Building The Country of Our Dreams” [PDF], it mostly summarizes the various proposals the NDP has been promoting over this entire campaign – affordable daycare, making post-secondary education more affordable, increasing corporate taxes and so on.  (Discussion on Reddit.) Some highlights identified by a Reddit user: 7,000 […]

Awesome Parkour

Pace thought I should take a break from my election posts to share this awesome parkour video…