Today Jack Layton announced the composition of the shadow cabinet that will take on the Conservatives when Parliament resumes on June 2. For those who don’t obsessively follow politics, a shadow cabinet is the group of MPs who will serve as critics to the government’s ministers. A critic is tasked with holding their government counterpart to account, and is the main voice of opposition on issues relating to the ministry for which they are responsible. For the first time in their history the NDP are the Official Opposition, and the government in waiting for the next four years…
Category: Canadian Elections
Leave Them Kids Alone
What an election, huh? Quebec went from light blue to orange, Ontario went from red to dark blue and British Columbia now has a shade of green. If I were a religious man I’d say it’s a sign of the apocalypse. The Conservative Majority aside though, the biggest surprise was obviously Quebec’s orange crush. I thought the NDP would do well, but going from 1 to 59 seats is unheard of.
It was the perfect storm until the shit hit the fan: 2011 Canadian Election Results
By all accounts, this looked like it was going to be an election that would really change the political map in Canada, and it was. It looked like some political careers would be over, and a slew of new MPs would come to Ottawa. That happened too. It looked like an unstoppable wave would sweep through Quebec, then head west and not stop until we had a new Prime Minister with a new vision for a better Canada, and that’s exactly what happened – at least, the first part happened, then something went wrong, really wrong…
Hackers!
Why must there be so many evil, vile people out to ruin other innocent people’s hard work and the fruits of their labour? People who rob and then stab their victims, even though they’ve already stolen what they wanted? Or for that matter, those creepy, anti-social type people who sit in basements crafting computer viruses and malware, for the sole purpose of causing other people harm?
Please Don’t Forget The Box Ballot
Today is Election Day in Canada and tomorrow the Canadian political landscape may be drastically different. What seemed like an ordinary campaign at the start with predictable results similar to those attained the last time around has been flipped on its head and might just take a sharp turn to the left before…
Supreme disappointment?
An electoral campaign dominated by talk of coalitions, corporate tax cuts and care for seniors has sidelined an issue crucially important to the future of the country: court appointments to Canada’s highest judicial body.
With four of nine Supreme Court Justices approaching the mandatory age of retirement in the next four years, and eight of nine eligible for retirement with full pension by the end of 2011, Canada’s next Prime Minister will likely wield an inordinate influence over the country’s judicial landscape for years to come.
In Canada, the Prime Minister appoints judges to the Supreme Court with no formal checks and balances. While the Supreme Court Act requires that three of the nine judges be from Quebec and that all nominees must have been members of the bar for at least ten years, the appointment process is otherwise uninhibited…
Why strategic voting isn’t the best strategy
I don’t blame you for flirting with the idea of voting for the Liberal Party if you actually support the NDP. I don’t blame you for your well intentioned effort to beef up the odds against a Conservative majority government.
It’s not your fault, one of the inherent flaws in our electoral system is that it encourages strategic voting. It has pressured many voters into voting for the perceived lesser of two evils at the expense of their first choice. But I urge you to be strong against the seductive powers of strategic voting. This election, vote first with your heart…
Stephen Harper – Why is this Man Still in the Lead?
I remember back in November of 2004 the headline on the cover of the Daily Mirror, the UK tabloid newspaper. It read “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?” referring to the number of people who voted to re-elect George W. Bush. I can’t wait to see the headline when we re-elect Stephen Harper for a third time. In the Canadian election of 2008 there were 5 209 069 people who voted Conservative. This time around the Conservatives are in line…
Even if it were the last election on Earth (Day): politicians ignore the environment, but do Canadians?
Ten days before the election, on April 22, Earth Day gives Canadians and people around the world the chance to focus on the environment. But the question is: does anyone really care? If you follow the election campaign, the answer would be no. The funny thing is that back in 1970, it was a Wisconsin politician, Gaylord Nelson, who started Earth Day. But even though our leaders aren’t talking about it, get back to reality and you’ll find the environment is front and centre. Start at the computer…
Looking for a Leader in a Leaderless land
I had the pleasure over the last three days to attend a leadership convention in Springfield, Massachusetts. The convention was geared more toward business owners than it was toward politicians, but anyone of the leaders running in the Canadian federal election could have taken a lesson from it.
What my colleagues and I learned at this conference was not just how to build our businesses, but how to lead others to success and greatness, in essence to lead people to realize their dreams…