Exactly one week ago I quoted the excellent Douglas Bell’s critical view of the 2011 Canadian federal election campaign: “my guess is that by the end of next week, the numbers will have changed dramatically.” It is now clear that, for the most part, this guess has proved plain wrong. There are a few straws […]
At our regular Monday morning editorial meeting today one of the most senior editors drearily opined that bumping into the latest daily Nanos poll on the Canadian federal election of 2011 (“Tories enter second week with commanding 14-point lead”) called forth this distressing (and depressing) thought: “If this poll is to be believed, the Harper […]
Today marks the first-week anniversary of the defeat of the second Stephen Harper minority government in Ottawa, on a first-ever “contempt of Parliament” non-confidence vote – and more or less the end of the official first week of campaigning for the Canadian federal election of 2011, which will reach some kind of (maybe?) dramatic climax […]
[UPDATED MAY 3]. There was a time when people interested in politics in at least English-speaking Canada also paid attention to politics in the United Kingdom (which used to be better covered in Canadian newspapers than it is today). And in the back-to-the-future 21st century age of Stephen Harper there are a few reasons why […]
This morning John Ibbitson wrote on the Globe and Mail website: “Stephen Harper continues to insist that if he doesn’t obtain a majority government, a coalition will replace him. ‘Nobody is going to be fooled,’ he declared Saturday. But in fact he is the one who is trying to fool us.” A few hours later […]
[UPDATED MARCH 30, APRIL 5, 8, 11, 13, 22, MAY 1, 3]. There now appears no escape from the spring election “skillfully brought on by Mr. Harper” (despite his seven-year-old protests otherwise). For the tedious technical details, see, eg: “Harper government set to fall Friday, setting stage for vote in early May” and “Harper government […]
According to the Postmedia News report in the Vancouver Sun: “Election on the way … budget rejected by opposition … The Harper government is refusing to consider any amendments to its federal budget, which was rejected by all three opposition parties Tuesday, setting the stage for a spring election.” (Or, as Mark Kennedy observed in […]
[UPDATED MARCH 22, 30]. A piece in the Vancouver Sun (and other Postmedia News outlets) that began March 21 under the headline “Report finds Tories in contempt of Parliament” ended the same day under the quite different “As Harper government faces dissolution, Layton holds most of the cards.” And it was almost entirely re-written to […]
[UPDATED MARCH 21, 22, 25]. At the edge of what promises to be one of the most dramatic weeks in recent Canadian political history (in both official languages), I am surprised that two excellent Globe and Mail pundits are still raising doubts about the need for the Canadian federal election almost everyone else seems to […]
[UPDATED MARCH 21, 1 PM ET, MARCH 22, 9 AM ET, MARCH 23, 25, 30]. Well, well, well … it now seems all but official. According to CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife : “We’re into an election period without a doubt and it’ll probably be for May 2nd.” According to another source (Maclean’s, copying […]
