Tag: 2011 Elections

NDP shadow cabinet ready for prime time

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…

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.

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…

An Orange Wave of Excitement: Jack Layton NDP Rally @ Corona Theatre Montreal

Lineups outside of the Corona Theatre in St-Henri aren’t a unique sight. The classic movie house, reborn as a concert hall, has been hosting some of the larger local and touring musical acts playing the circuit these days. Energetic crowds inside the venue aren’t a new thing either. The main difference this Thursday afternoon was that the lineup and the energetic crowd weren’t there for a rock band, they were there for their political convictions, rallying to a familiar face that has recently felt a resurgence of support: Jack Layton…