No change please, we’re British Columbian
By Frank Moher
That BC’s Libs would be re-elected was a no-brainer; they simply hadn’t done anything spectacularly incompetent enough in the last four years to get tossed-out. The breadth of their win may have something to do with their effective co-option of the environmental movement, thus drawing off erstwhile Green and NDP supporters. And the [...]
BC’s watershed election
By Alison@Creekside
“Environmental blah blah” is how retiring NDP MLA Corky Evans describes the privatization of B.C.’s waterways under the guise of addressing climate change. So-called “green” run of river hydro projects, also known as independent power projects or IPPs, divert water into a pipe several kilometres long and then into a turbine before returning it [...]
If Harper falls, Layton should too
If the Harper government falls in the next month, let’s keep in mind whose fault it is.
Jack Layton’s. That’s right. Mr. blown opportunity himself.
But first, let’s get something straight: when the opposition parties started moving toward a non-confidence motion back in November, they weren’t capitalizing on an opportunity to topple a democratically-elected government; they were [...]
Another great RepubliCon idea
By guest blogger Alison@Creekside
Dr Dawg relates that Gerry Chipeur “the Alberta lawyer who drafted a power-sharing proposal between Stockwell Day, Gilles Duceppe and Joe Clark in 2000 is now suggesting that the Conservatives should defy the Governor-General if she were to ask the Liberal-NDP coalition to form a new government if the Conservative administration falls [...]
Harper and the coalition of sharks
By guest blogger Frank Moher
One thing of which you can be certain: if you’re a western Canadian prime minister, they will eventually try to get rid of you. They, of course, being the central Canadian political operatives and parties who regard it as their congenital right to run the country.
It happened to Diefenbaker, it happened [...]
Obama elected
What Obama’s election won’t do: Change everything.
What it’s already done: Ended 29 years of Bush-Clinton rule.
What it might do: Change relations between whites and blacks in the United States.
And that might change everything.
- Frank Moher
Why we don’t vote
Because of our ridiculous and highly undemocratic first-past-the-post system, the party that most Canadians do not want is forming a government. According to Fair Vote Canada, this stupid, stupid system wasted millions of votes, distorted results, severely punished large blocks of voters, exaggerated regional differences, created an unrepresentative Parliament and contributed to a record low [...]
Stephen Harper wins small
The Conservatives may have been re-elected last night, but Stephen Harper lost. He coulda been more than a contender; he could have been the leader of a majority government. But he lost it by being small-minded; his silly, captious comment about artists torpedoed the Conservatives’ momentum in Quebec, and here we are.
Over on bobalicious, BoB [...]
Throwing one to the Greens
We’ve invited backofthebook.ca’s chief bloggers to let us know how they plan to vote in the federal election, and why. Below, Eric Pettifor reports in from Vancouver.
If we used the Australian system of preferential voting, I would vote on Tuesday as follows:
Green
NDP
Liberal
Satan and his Minions Party
Conservative
Note: #4 assumes the ability to do write-ins. I don’t [...]
Has Harper blown it?
It is striking how Stephen Harper has bollixed this election campaign. In 2006, he ran a model opposition party assault, not only decrying the squalid condition of the Liberals after their long run in power, but also staying a step ahead of them by announcing nearly every day a new initiative, policy, plan. Two years [...]