Cambridge resident Geoffrey Stevens, an author and former Ottawa columnist and managing editor of the Globe and Mail, teaches political science at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. He welcomes comments at the address below. This article appeared in the Waterloo Region Record and the Guelph Mercury.
by Geoffrey Stevens
Whenever federal and provincial heads of government gather, the seating at the head of the table is the same. The prime minister sits in the centre with the premier of Ontario on his right and the premier of Quebec on his left.
"He doesn't hear himself the way that others hear him."
by Geoffrey Stevens
If the man weren’t so self-satisfied and insensitive, one could almost feel sympathy for Mitt Romney.
Poor Mitt. All he wants is to realize the American dream by becoming president of his country. He is spending scads of his own and, mainly, other people’s money in pursuit of that dream – so far, $179 million for advertising in swing states alone, with more than three months to go to election day.
by Geoffrey Stevens
If Dalton McGuinty had his eye on the ball, he would waste no more time in calling the provincial by-election in Kitchener-Waterloo. He would then throw the Liberal treasury, the kitchen sink, and anything else he can lay his hands on, into the fray.
Kitchener-Waterloo offers McGuinty his best (perhaps only) opportunity to realize his fondest dream: a return to a majority Liberal government (albeit with a bare majority: 54 of the 107 seats).
There are certain issues that simply will not go away. Fueled by religious or ideological conviction, they lie dormant for a spell, then reappear on the public agenda.
Capital punishment was a deeply divisive issue in the 1960s and '70s. Although the death penalty was finally abolished in Canada 36 years ago this month (on a 130-124 free vote in Parliament), the issue is not dead. It is still alive in the weeds of the political right, and no one will be surprised if it surfaces again if there are a few more shootings like those in Toronto and Colorado in the past week.
If this were 1968 all over again, Justin Trudeau would have an excellent chance of carrying off the Liberal leadership, as his father did in '68.
by Geoffrey Stevens
The capital may have been astonished, but the people who know Bob Rae well were not surprised by his decision not to seek the permanent leadership of the Liberal party. They knew he was wrestling with a political dilemma — the result of lousy positioning and unhappy timing.
They knew he still dreamed of becoming prime minister, but he could not see how to get to 24 Sussex from the starting point of the leadership of the third party, a party on the skids, a party that had been rejected by progressive voters in favour of the NDP, a Liberal party in urgent need of long-term retooling.
In a column four weeks ago, I discussed some of the arguments against a Rae candidacy, suggesting common sense and political sense might well cause him to stay out of the race.
by Geoffrey Stevens
Question:
Can Stephen Harper win the next federal election?
Answer:
Yes. Absolutely.
He will win as long as the economy — that's jobs, employment security, pensions, health insurance, the whole ball of wax — remains the pre-eminent bundle of issues, or fears, in the minds of Canadian voters. And as long as Harper can maintain his message that, thanks to sound Harper policies, Canada is performing outperforming every other significant country in the whole wide world, including the United States — and that, without Harper's wise leadership, Canada would be a basket case, like Greece.
If he can continue to sell that message — and we know from recent history that the Conservatives are prepared to spend bottomless amounts of their supporters' and taxpayers' money to sell their messages — the rest won't matter.
by Geoffrey Stevens
There's a familiar adage in television that states, "If it bleeds, it leads."
A story that offers some combination of blood, gore, violence, depravity, murder and mayhem will command top spot on TV news lineups while other more important and more complicated stories will drop down the list, and perhaps fall right off it.
We had a classic example this past week with the gruesome body-parts story, which dominated newscasts and front pages. If it were merely a routine tale of murder and dismemberment, it would have received fleeting attention from the media in Canada and none outside. What made it a global sensation was the political angle: the mailing of body parts to political parties in Ottawa.
by Geoffrey Stevens
New Year's resolutions are generally an exercise in futility, especially among politicians. Even so, here are a couple of resolutions that, if implemented, would improve our politics in 2012.
Resolution #1:
by Geoffrey Stevens
With the House of Commons enjoying another extended break — nine days to celebrate Victoria Day — this is a quiet time to ponder a question that perplexes friends and colleagues: What is next for Bob Rae?
Rae has been filling in as federal Liberal leader since the disaster of the 2011 general election, when the former natural governing party was reduced to third-party status. The word is out in Ottawa that Rae will resign as interim leader next month. The party's board of directors is expected to rescind its edict that the interim leader not be allowed to run for the permanent position. And, as speculation has it, Rae will be a candidate at the leadership convention a year from now.
