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Make a Difference
I recognize that most readers of this blog either: a) Don’t live in Ontario or b) Have pretty strong political beliefs So any pitch to join the Ontario Liberal Party is either a case of preaching to the choir, or preaching to atheists. However, if you are an unaffiliated Ontarian and want to make a […]
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Kennedy for Ontario
After some bleating about how no one wanted the “poisoned chalice”, an impressive field of six candidates has declared for the OLP leadership race: Glen Murray, Sandra Pupatello, Eric Hoskins, Kathleen Wynne, Charles Sousa, and Gerard Kennedy. All have Cabinet experience, and all are ready to step into the Premier’s chair. I have nothing negative […]
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Your Weekly OLP Leadership Update: Can Kennedy Restore a Liberal Camelot?
With the membership cut-off fast approaching, it seems likely we’ll have a good idea of the field of candidates to replace Dalton McGuinty within a few days. This week, Laurel Broten, Brad Duguid, and George Smitherman added their names to the list of those taking a pass, prompting a round of “no one wants this […]
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OLP Leadership Update
While Federal Liberal leadership aspirants are free to subject their candidacy to a year-long striptease before declaring, Ontario Liberals do not have the luxury of time. With the membership cut-off in just four weeks, there’s little time to play coy. Yasir Naqvi mulled it over for a few days before deciding to bide his time […]
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OLP Leadership Mad Dash
While the federal Liberals chose a lengthy marathon to replace Michael Ignatieff, their provincial cousins sounded the starter’s pistol on a mad sprint this past weekend. Heck, maybe “roller derby” is the more apt sports analogy. The next Premier of Ontario will be selected on January 25th, but the date that matters is November 23rd […]
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After 16 Years of McGuinty, What’s Next for OLP?
Sixteen years ago, Dalton McGuinty won the Ontario Liberal leadership race at 4:30 am, after 5 rounds of voting. Always one to defy expectations, McGuinty worked his way up from 4th place over the course of 9 hours in what was truly one of the wildest leadership conventions in Canadian history. Although it’s almost impossible […]
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Dalton McGuinty
Every pundit, commentator, and Joe Schmoe with a Twitter account has weighed in on Dalton McGuinty’s legacy today. The range of opinions is vast, as you might expect for any leader who has been in power for nearly a decade – even one as bland, centrist, and pragmatic as Dalton McGuinty. I’m sure we’ll see […]
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The Changing Face of Provincial Politics
With Dalton McGuinty’s abrupt resignation, Stephen Harper has now outlasted every sitting Premier in power when he took office. Hell, Alberta has seen two regicides during this period: John Hamm (succeeded by Rodney MacDonald in 2006, who was defeated by Darrel Dexter in 2009) Bernard Lord (defeated by Shawn Graham in 2006, in turn defeated […]
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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 […]