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Great Moments in Spin
I can’t wait to see the tourism brochures: Toronto mayor Rob Ford is still dodging allegations that he smoked crack cocaine, but now he seems to think there’s a silver lining to the international attention brought upon his city by the scandal over his (alleged!) drug use: tourism dollars. At least that’s what Ford told […]
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Great Moments in Spin
The Onion Conservative Party reacts to their by-election defeat moral victory: As we know, majority governments do not usually win by-elections. In fact, Liberals have won the riding of Labrador in every election in history except for two, so we are not surprised with these results. What is surprising is the collapse of the Liberal […]
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Topp Spin
There’s no positive spin to put on yesterday’s by elections for the Liberals, which may be a good thing, because trying to spin by elections too much can make you look rather, well, like Brian Topp: The Liberal vote in Montreal dropped by about 30 per cent (the Michael Ignatieff-led Liberals got slightly more than […]
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This Week in Northumberland, UK
What I love most about Ed Stelmach is how his government seems drawn to the silly little screw-up stories. The latest example: EDMONTON – Tourism officials in northeastern England are both pleased and baffled by a new $25-million Alberta rebranding campaign that features a photo of children frolicking on one of its North Sea beaches. […]
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The Talking Points, They Are A Changin’
Dion July 23, 2008: Canadians Ready for a Fall Election, Dion Says August 24, 2008: Dion Says Harper Could Reconsider Election Call Layton August 8, 2008: Told that Canadians are wondering when the next election will be, Layton’s response was, “Me too, the sooner the better.” August 21, 2008: NDP Leader Against Early Election Call […]
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Great Moments in Spin
Alberta spent $3.8 million on its Smithsonian party in Washington in 2006, an event hailed as a huge success by the government and slammed as a waste of taxpayers’ money by the opposition. [A spokeswoman] said surveys conducted by the Smithsonian show that before the festival 77 per cent of people polled had very little […]
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Not so Great Moments in Spin
Further to the story of Ed Stelmach’s plunging poll numbers, comes a surprisingly candid explanation from his spokesman, Tom Olsen: The reason the dramatic plunge is “believable,” according to Olsen, is that “hundreds of thousands of new Albertans don’t know the history of Progressive Conservative governments in this province and are spending their time assessing […]
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Great Moments in Spin III
OK, that’s provincial and municipal. Time for federal: The leaders reacted harshly after the Commons question period where Harper challenged the credibility of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion because he hasn’t served in the military, and took a shot at deputy leader Michael Ignatieff because he lived outside the country for three decades. “I will just […]
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Great Moments in Spin II
If I’m going to hit Stelmach, I guess it’s only fair to hit his nemesis too. From Mayor Dave Bronconnier’s letter to Calgarians: “Until Thursday, April 19, I was hoping to be able to send you a list of the much-needed infrastructure projects The City of Calgary would be fast-tracking, projects that would have enabled […]
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Great Moments in Spin
EDMONTON – Premier Ed Stelmach isn’t surprised by a recent poll showing his support slipping, particularly in the province’s two largest cities. “There’s a lot of pressures on Alberta today,” Stelmach said Tuesday. “Anything from taking longer to get to work because of congested roads, to issues tied to housing, more people moving to the […]