liberal leadership

Spring political follies: Three Canadian leadership races

On Sunday, when a respected Quebec politician declared for the leadership of the Bloc Québécois, it should have been welcome news for Quebec sovereignists. Instead it provoked controversy.

A one-time Hydro-Québec engineer, former Minister of Natural Resources in the government of Pauline Marois, and two-time candidate for the Parti Québécois leadership, Martine Ouellet is a PQ member of the Quebec National Assembly.

If elected Bloc leader, as appears likely, Ouellet will leave the PQ caucus, but continue to perform her duties as an independent MNA (Member of the National Assembly). She intends to stay in office until the 2108 Quebec election, and then contest the federal election expected in 2019.

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Justin and the hyphenated Liberals

On Sunday the Liberal Party of Canada elected an untried and untested Montreal MP as leader. But there is more to the story than the Conservative Party line: " ... in a time of global economic uncertainty, he doesn't have the judgment or experience to be prime minister."

Unlike other new leaders, Justin Trudeau needs no introduction to Canadians. From the day of his birth (Christmas Day, 1971) he has been a celebrity. The 24 Sussex Drive official residence he wants Stephen Harper to pack up and leave is where he spent the first 12 years of his life.

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Group files complaint with Elections Canada over 'loans' some federal Liberal leadership candidates made to themselves

Democracy Watch

| March 12, 2013

Group files complaint with Elections Canada about “loans” some federal Liberal leadership candidates made to themselves that are actually contributions that exceed legal limits

Canada Elections Act must be changed to prohibit any organization from making a loan, and to prohibit anyone from loaning more than the current donation limit, and to require disclosure of all donations, and to make leadership races democratic in other key ways

Monday, March 11, 2013

Photo: Adam Scotti/Justin Trudeau/Flickr

Justin Trudeau's ethical problem

Gerry Caplan

| March 4, 2013

Quickly now: What do the following have in common? No Googling necessary.

- London Health Sciences Centre ($20,000)

- Ontario Library Association ($10,000)

- The Learning Partnership ($10,000)

- Waterloo Catholic District School Board ($15,000)

- Ontario Public Service Employees Union ($20,000)

- Charity of Hope, Hamilton ($15,000)

- Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board ($15,000)

- Kincardine District Secondary School ($10,000)

- Queen's University ($12,000)

- Literacy for Life, Saskatoon ($20,000)

- Canadian Mental Health Association, Halton region ($20,000)

- Grace Foundation, St. John ($20,000)

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Election Fallout

Election Fallout 43 with Joyce Murray

March 3, 2013

| Interview with Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray on the subject of inter-party co-operation.

Length: 40:10 minutes (91.94 MB)

Notes on the Liberal leadership races

Gerry Caplan

| January 28, 2013

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A veritable orgy of Liberal leadership races have transfixed Canadians. Well, three, anyway. In Quebec, Dr. Phillippe Couillard will be the easy winner, which curbs the enthusiasm somewhat. But in Ontario and the Dominion at large, the thrill is palpable.

The Ontario Liberal Party is about to choose a woman as leader and, at least for a moment, the province's premier. But far more remarkable than their sex, the two frontrunners, Kathleen Wynne and Sandra Pupatello, offer an unusually stark contrast in policy, personality and prospects.

Columnists

Democracy, leadership conventions and the voting fallacy

Ontario Liberals hold their leadership convention this weekend at Maple Leaf Gardens -- a great choice of venue. The event belongs to a dying breed: brokered conventions. That means the wheeling, dealing and decision-making happen right there on the floor among delegates in real time. It runs counter to the trend toward more self-evidently democratic conventions, in which party members everywhere get to vote by mail or online -- the way the NDP chose Tom Mulcair last spring and federal Liberals will do so in April.

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democracy Liberal Party free speech ontario liberals voting liberal leadership

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Liberals hoping celebrity appeal revives the party

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It is an open secret that Liberal partisans want Justin Trudeau to lead the party. The only other serious contenders stepped aside. Interim leader Bob Rae opted not to run, and New Brunswick MP Dominique LeBlanc decided he would support his friend since childhood, Justin.

Yet, eight other candidates showed up to the first Liberal Party of Canada leaders' debate in Vancouver Sunday afternoon. Some want to increase their stature in the party. Others have ideas they want to see debated.

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Canadian politics federal politics Liberal Party of Canada Justin Trudeau liberal leadership

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Photo: Jean-Marc Carisse/Trudeau pour Papineau/Flickr

The hopes and reservations surrounding Justin Trudeau

Gerry Caplan

| October 1, 2012

Justin Trudeau was first elected to Parliament in 2008. When his first leader, Stéphane Dion, chose his shadow cabinet, Justin's name was MIA. (It does seem unnatural to call him anything but "Justin," doesn't it?) If you search back, you can find the MPs he named to be critics of finance, environment, foreign affairs, defence, treasury board, fisheries -- the entire kit and caboodle. But even the most complete list of critics that Google turns up finds no listing for Justin.

liberal leadership

Spring political follies: Three Canadian leadership races

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Justin and the hyphenated Liberals

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Election Fallout 43 with Joyce Murray

Democracy, leadership conventions and the voting fallacy

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Liberals hoping celebrity appeal revives the party

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