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By-Election Live Blog
Voters in Durham, Victoria, and Calgary Centre head to the polls tonight in what were originally pegged as three “safe” by-elections. The story appears to be following the script in Durham and Victoria but, unexpectedly, Calgary Centre has become the riding to watch. When Lee Richardson resigned from Parliament last spring, no one could have […]
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Role Reversal
Now I know how Conservative candidates running in tight Ontario races must feel whenever Rob Anders opens his mouth during a federal election campaign: Rae forced to apologize after David McGuinty says Alberta Tories should ‘go home’ Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae has apologized for a colleague who suggested Alberta Conservative MPs are shills for […]
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Liberal Heartland Calgary
Wednesday was not a typical day for Calgary Grits. While leadership candidates must all fly into town, knowing the party’s weighted-by-riding leadership system makes a vote there far more valuable than a vote in Toronto, I have never seen a serious candidate launch their leadership campaign from the heart of Conservative country. But there was […]
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A Reminder of the Unpredictable Nature of By-Elections
Just 17% of Kitchener-Waterlooians voted NDP provincially last fall – nearly the same number who voted NDP federally last spring, in the midst of the orange wave. They hadn’t won the riding since 1943, when they were known as the CCF. So this isn’t a riding with deep NDP roots. And it’s not like the […]
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The Dog Days of Summer
With politicians away from Ottawa and politics the last thing on the minds of Canadians, the summer news cycle usually slows to a crawl. Short of extraordinary events – war, disaster, or the great Census crisis of 2010 – politicians are content to stay on the back pages of the newspaper, and Canadians are more […]
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Oda Out
While most will toast Bev Oda’s departure with a $16 glass of orange juice, to me, she’ll always be the Cabinet Minister who doctored government files and got away with it. In some respects Harper oews his majority government to Oda, as her “not” problem last winter emboldened the opposition to bring down his government. […]
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Calgary Centre By-Election
As David Wilks reminded us last week, Conservative backbenchers are “not going to make a difference”. So it’s not at all surprising that Lee Richardson has turned his back on Ottawa to take a job as Alison Redford’s principal secretary. This gives Stephen Harper six months to call a by-election in Calgary Centre, and one […]
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Rematch in Etobicoke Centre
Despite all the close votes over the years, this is a first: Election result in Toronto riding thrown out by judge Conservative MP Ted Opitz’s 2011 federal election win last year in Etobicoke Centre was declared null and void today in a challenge by former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj. Opitz won the May 2011 election […]
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McGuinty’s Majority Move
As I wrote on election night last fall, the line between majority and minority isn’t as rigid as it’s often made out to be. When the margin is this thin, one case of appendicitis can tip the scales and change the course of history. On Friday, Dalton McGuinty proved how fluid that majority line is, […]
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In the news
No, I haven’t joined Gordon Campbell, Jim Prentice, Danny Williams, and Carole James in retirement. Rather, I’ve been off on vacation for the past week, so here’s a few quick hits on what I’ve missed: 1) On my by election numbers post, I said there’s no evidence of a long term decline in by election […]