In the midst of all the current Canadian electoral hyperbole, I was disappointed to hear that “Ignatieff rules out coalition with NDP, Bloc.” If  Canadians are now facing a federal “election that seems increasingly inevitable,” the opinion polls at the moment suggest we are likely enough to elect yet another minority government. And a recent […]

It is still not altogether clear that there will actually be a Canadian federal election this fall. But two contradictory trends have developed over the past few days, as all who are still interested await the return of Parliament on Monday, September 14. First, among those closest to the ground in Ottawa there appears to […]

[UPDATED SEPTEMBER 11]. Dr. L. Frank Bunting has finally completed his (as it happens very) in-depth look at the inevitably complex question of whether or not there will or even should be yet another Canadian federal election this fall. For his full report CLICK HERE. For a preview of the three most recent – and […]

On the Calgary Herald website there is a photograph of “Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a news conference in Calgary Sept. 1, 2009” – just after Michael Ignatieff announced “Liberals will vote against government.” And it is at least arguable that the prime minister looks a little like a cat who has just swallowed the […]

We still have [Dr.] Frank Bunting hard at work on a deep think-piece about the real prospects of yet another Canadian federal election this fall. But he has just told us that everything has been suddenly blurred by two conflicting opinion polls that came out at the start of this week. An Ipsos Reid survey, […]

The Vancouver Sun thinks “A Halloween election would be … frightening.” Prime Minister Harper himself has said “I can assure you that I do not intend to trigger an election.” (Whatever that means?) Another Canadian federal election may nonetheless be upon us before the end of 2009. We have commissioned a deeper report from our […]

UPDATED AUGUST 16. The federal New Democratic Party is meeting at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax this coming Friday-Sunday, August 14—16. Among many other things, “delegates will debate and vote on a proposal to drop the ‘New’ from the party’s name, going with just the Democratic Party.” Our guess is that delegates […]

The annual summer meeting of Canada’s 10 premiers and three territorial leaders – aka the Council of the Federation – starts today in Regina. It’s hosted this year by Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall. Ordinarily, this would not stir many Canadians from their fibreglass canoes. But this summer no less a centralizing force than the Toronto […]

Two opinion polls made public on July 30 just point to continuing gridlock in Canadian federal politics: “A survey by Angus Reid Strategies for the Toronto Star shows the federal Liberals with 34 per cent support and the Conservatives with 33 per cent — a statistical dead heat … The NDP was at 16 per […]

OTTAWA. The still mysterious Employment Insurance Working Group is apparently meeting for the first time this afternoon. The rain is setting the right kind of  mood. You may or may not recall that this group was hastily nailed together last month to avoid a Canadian federal election this summer. If it comes up with some […]