Deborah Coyne launched her campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada today with a barrage of ideas. You can go through them on her Web site. We only got to a couple of them today — mandatory voting, reforming the way we elect MPs, and eliminating supply management — when she joined me earlier today on the Daily Brief: Continue reading Ideas – and plenty of 'em — from Liberal leadership hopeful Deborah Coyne
Category: Politics/Liberals
Pollster Coletto, Liberal partisan Kinsella on Trudeau as saviour of the Liberal Party
The CEO of polling firm Abacus Data, David Coletto, reports that the Liberal Party of Canada would be tied in popularity (this week at least) with the Conservatives and the NDP would be well back in third place if Justin Trudeau were the party’s leader. I put it to Trudeau fan Warren Kinsella that this may be the last thing Liberals should be told, that somewhere out there there is a messiah who can lead Liberals back to the promised land after a decade of decline at the polls:
Your Liberal leadership choices so far: Merner, Geschiere and Coyne (no, not that one)
Yesterday, our pollster, Abacus Data, reported that if Justin Trudeau was leading the Liberal Party of Canada, a whole pile of Canadians would be prepared to vote Liberal again.
Right now, according to Abacus, just 20 per cent would vote Liberal if an election were held to today compared to 35 per cent each for the NDP and Tories.
But after asking its survey panel that question, it floated a hypothetical: If Trudeau was leading the Liberals, who would you vote for? Answer: Conservatives: 33%, Liberals: 32%, NDP: 24%. Talk about your reversal of fortune! Continue reading Your Liberal leadership choices so far: Merner, Geschiere and Coyne (no, not that one)
Ray Heard argues: NDP merger issue may be most divisive for Liberals
Ray Heard was John Turner’s communications director. He’s been around for a while, watching lots of internal Liberal Party of Canada fights — and participating in almost all of them. He says that the big issue in the nascent Liberal leadership race will be whether or not to merge with the New Democrats and that that issue will be more divisive than the Martin/Chretien or Chretien/Turner fights. I talked to Ray about that tonight on my program with Zach Churchill, a Liberal MLA in Nova Scotia. (Zach, incidentally, was born in the same year – 1984 — that Turner was, briefly, prime minister):
Continue reading Ray Heard argues: NDP merger issue may be most divisive for Liberals
Liberal leadership race: Some details on the rules, please?
Following Bob Rae’s dramatic announcement this morning that he will not seek the permanent leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, the party’s national board met by teleconference this evening. The big news? Leadership race vote will sometime in April 2013. Also notable tonight: Not a peep in terms of a news release, etc. about Rae’s decision although Liberal Party prez Mike Crawley did put this on Twitter to his 2,493 followers: Continue reading Liberal leadership race: Some details on the rules, please?
I ask Bob Rae: If the Liberal Party didn't exist, would we invent it?
Just before the all-night voting session in the House of Commons got underway Wednesday night, I asked interim Liberal leader Bob Rae about his decision not to run for the permanent job:
Happy anniversary, Thomas Mulcair. Why do you hate our Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
On April 17, 1982, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became the law of the land. Love it or hate it, it’s a very important document that’s had an important influence on our country’s development.
We are now at the 30th anniversary of the Charter and there are some who say that the current prime minister, Stephen Harper, is not celebrating this anniversary in appropriate style. Well, it’s not really “some” people. It’s really one person, former prime minister Jean Chretien, who, as justice minister in 1982, was one of the signatories of that document. On Wednesday, Chretien and interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae will lead a Liberal celebration of the Charter in Toronto.
Ray Heard, Stephen Taylor on the Liberal weekend in Ottawa
Ray Heard, journalist and former director of communications for Liberal Prime Minister John Turner, and Stephen Taylor of the National Citizens Coalition break down the Liberal biennial convention held in Ottawa last weekend. Continue reading Ray Heard, Stephen Taylor on the Liberal weekend in Ottawa
University of Western Ontario makes presidents of the Liberal Party of Canada
This is now beyond coincidence.
Mike Crawley was just elected President of Liberal Party of Canada.
Through playing an active role on local campaigns, leading the University of Western Ontario Liberals as Student Director for the Ontario Young Liberals… Continue reading University of Western Ontario makes presidents of the Liberal Party of Canada
All right, then, let's vote for a Liberal Leader
The Liberal Party of Canada isn’t supposed to pick its permanent successor Michael Ignatieff until the middle of 2013. But interim leader Bob Rae gave such a fiery speech to his caucus today that many think — despite a rule set by the party leadership to prevent him from running for the permanent job — he may yet end up with that job. Continue reading All right, then, let's vote for a Liberal Leader