Justin Trudeau Is His Own Man Now (published in The Gazette)

Original title submitted was, "The Prime Minister I Know." Click here for link to The Gazette page. Article reprinted below:
The first time I ever went door-to-door canvasing was in 2009 with the newly elected MP from Papineau, Justin Trudeau. The few hours we spent together, just the two of us, gave me an unexpected glimpse into the character of Canada’s new prime minister.

Ten Key Insights Into The 2015 Federal Election

(Wonkish)

10. A weaker NDP than polls depicted from the very beginning

Before and during the first half of the election campaign, nearly all opinion polls placed the NDP in first place across Canada. This was particularly deceiving given their huge advance in Quebec where they were polling between 43% and 52%. In reality they were much weaker in the other provinces and territories except for B.C. Even within many of the provinces, the overall provincial scores were misleading, with close battles in and around major cities and some rural ridings.

For a Greek paper: How Canadian Liberals Won Under A New Trudeau

Short 300-word piece written at the request of the prestigious Greek newspaper, To Vima (To BHMA or The Tribune). They particularly wanted to know if the Liberals had won due to some sort of Trudeaumania or to something else. The Oct. 25 article in which extracts are quoted appeared only in this Greek edition. 

Devriez-vous voter stratégiquement dans votre circonscription?

Le vote stratégique anti-conservateur peut se résumer comme suit :

1. Si les cons. ont aucune chance de gagner, votez pour qui vous voulez

2. Si les cons. sont sûrs de gagner, votez pour qui vous voulez

3. Si le cons. sont près d'être battus par seulement 1 parti, votez pour ce parti

4. Si dans une course à 3-4, décider et voter pour qui a la meilleure chance de vaincre les cons.

Le problème avec cette stratégie se situe la plupart du temps aux points 1 et 4.

Should you vote strategically for LPC, NDP or CPC in your riding?

Anybody But Conservative strategic voting can be summed up as:

1.   If Cons have no chance of winning, vote for whomever you want

2.   If Cons are sure to win, vote for whomever you want

3.   If Cons are close to being beaten by only 1 party, vote for that party

4.   If in a 3-4 way race, decide & vote for who has best chance to defeat the Cons

The problem is mostly with points 1 & 4.

Major Strategic Mistakes May Still Lead To Lower Voter Turnout

A 70% greater voter turnout than in 2011 at advanced polls suggests that the downward trend could be reversed next Monday, encouraged by a competitive race and multiple get-out-the-vote drives. That however is no guarantee as the last election demonstrated. Additionally, there are some major developments working in the opposite direction and discouraging electors this time around – and apathy is not one of them.

Proportion de femmes au parlement / Proportion of women in parliament

                                                                                                                                 (English will follow)

Proportion de femmes élues aux chambres basses des divers parlements dans le monde : le Canada est au 65^e rang (76/308 élues en mai 2011, soit 24.67%) et est surpassé par au moins 22 pays européens, 15 en Afrique sub-saharienne, 11 en Amérique centrale et du Sud, 5 en Asie, 3 au Proche Orient et en Afrique du Nord, et 4 en Océanie.

Exemples: Rwanda 64%, Bolivie 53%, Suède 44%, Sénégal 43%, Mexique 42%, Argentine 36%, Soudan & Tunisie 31%, Afghanistan 28% et Irak 26%.

Pourquoi octroyer la citoyenneté à un intégriste male alors?

Pourquoi le père, le mari, le frère, le fils ou l’autorité religieuse qui soutiendrait ou imposerait le port du voile intégral lors de la cérémonie d’assermentation pourrait obtenir sa citoyenneté canadienne, tandis que la mère, l’épouse, la fille ou la sœur qui le porte volontiers ou obligatoirement n’y aurait pas droit? 

Deux poids, deux mesures qui devraient nous inciter à ne pas exclure tous ceux et celles que nous jugeons mal-pensants, mais plutôt à voir comment les encourager à changer d'idées et de pratiques. Lire la suite...

Syrian Refugee Crisis In Canadian Perspective

There are now over 12 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees fleeing the war in Syria alone (of whom 5 million children), which began with the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad in early 2011, the worst such crisis in the world.

Reply to A. Coyne: Spend All That Money, Mr. Trudeau? Why Yes & On That!

(Revised Sept. 3, 2015)

The Tuesday confirmation by Statistics Canada that the country was officially in a recession the first half of this year is not much offset by June’s growth rate of only 0.5% (0.1% non-annualized), when compared to America’s 3.7%. The electoral debate on the merits of the Liberal promise to stimulate the economy and incur deficits can certainly continue.

Débat Maclean’s Debate

Analyse du premier débat des chefs en 2015  (English will follow)

M. Justin Trudeau 

Quiconque croyait que M. Trudeau serait battu corps et âme lors des débats des chefs le connaissait peu ou pas. S’il y a une chose qu’il a démontrée amplement depuis qu’il est devenu chef des libéraux fédéraux, c’est de bien se préparer avant tout grand événement.

C’est à se demander pourquoi certains de ses discours et entrevues, telle que sa dernière parution à TLMEP en octobre dernier par exemple, n’étaient pas à la hauteur par le passé. Par manque de

Will Election Call Force New Duffy Trial Adjournment?

Will Senator Mike Duffy’s trial be reconvened as scheduled on Aug. 12 given its potential influence on the federal election presently underway, especially with the anticipated testimony of its star witness, Mr. Nigel Wright, opening the second phase of the trial?

Election launch noon-hour national interview on CBC News Network