The Vancouver Scrum

End of the line

2004-12-13T03:31:00.000-08:00

Well, following a long stretch of business, procrastination, and a bunch of other crap not worth explaining, ianking.ca is now up and running. Yes, it's a fancy-pants, standards-compliant, CMS-powered website just like all the cool blogging kids have, with an engine lovingly grown in the south of France. All, or at least almost all, of the stuff on this site has been migrated over to the new

Suzuki on anti-Americanism

2004-11-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

Renowned fruit-fly breeder David Suzuki, also rumoured to be something of an environmentalist and favourite target of the rootin’-tootin’ pollutin’ crowd, lays down the smack on those self-hating Canadians who equate disagreement with the Bush administration with outright. His view? That of a scientist who got his Ph.D from the University of Chicago and whose work on Drosophila melanogaster (

Post-elxn, down south

2004-11-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

Paul Wells offers a bit of post-election wisdom. I’m not bothering; I’m hacking away on an assignment that I should have filed 12 hours ago. Read his stuff instead. The majestic Howard Dean coalition %u2014 youth, new voters, the “wired,” the “disenfranchised” %u2014 remains the France of electoral coalition-building: genuinely useful, if only it would freaking show up for the freaking fight

Spank!

2004-10-28T22:24:00.006-07:00

Take that, Gordo: NDP neophyte Jagrup Brar knocked off star BC Liberal candidate Mary Polak in today’s provincial byelection. With unofficial numbers from 80 of the 104 polls, Brar has 4,321 votes while B.C. Liberal Mary Polak is well back in second with 2,963 votes. Canadian Press has declared Brar the winner With a few more polls rolling in, that lead is

Gotta Love Ralph, not

2004-10-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Must be election time in Alberta: Ralph Klein’s attacking disability payment recipients. Odds are, that he wasn’t thinking when he said this… In the same speech where he stressed the need to help the vulnerable, Klein said he was at a recent sod-turning where two women were “yipping about AISH payments.” “They didn’t look severely handicapped to me, I tell you that for sure,

Pundit Peter Principle

2004-10-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Michael Campbell, “business pundit” whose failures at running his own business caused him to retreat to the safe world of rehashing tired old Fraser Institute cliches, in today’s Sun: In looking at the Downtown Eastside, it’s difficult to make the case that in order to give voice to our most disenfranchised neighbourhoods they need their own city councillor. Judging by the political and

Black, Darkness

2004-09-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Slate’s Daniel Grossman elaborates on the misaventures of neoconservative icon Richard Perle’s misadventures in business at Conrad Black’s Hollinger Digital unit. It appears that Perle’s judgment is as flawed in business as it is in forign and defence policy. Well, at least he can thank Black for giving him a cushy job while the Republicans were out of the White House.

Curious Logic

2004-08-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

This story speaks volumes about the drones proud Americans rushing out to buy the book Unfit for Command, an anti-John Kerry screed recently in the news. NEW YORK – The nation’s two biggest bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, say angry customers are accusing them of political bias as the retailers struggle to keep up with demand for a best seller that questions John Kerry’

Link Pruning

2004-08-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realise that fiddling with the blogroll is probably not a high proprity given that I really should be working on this thing so that you can read my drivel there rather than here. Nonetheless, I draw your attention to three new adds in the "Canucks" section -- the excellent Tilting at Windmills, and two with Bell Globemedia conections: CTV web journo and info-scout extraordinaire Bill

Hack Turns Flack

2004-08-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Let the sniping begin: CBC Radio senior parliamentary reporter Susan Murray has crossed over to the Dark Side to become communications director for public works minister – and fellow Bluenoser – Scott Brison. Murray, a pit-bull questioner on air and in the scrums, was positively gushing over the new boss. “I think the only person who could have enticed me away from the CBC is Scott,” she

Exit Strategy

2004-08-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

One way-out story from New Jersey today, where state governor James McGreevey has resigned after admitting to having had an extra-marital affair with another man. The previously well-in-the-closet guv’nah, now on his second wife, was elected in 2001, replacing Christine Todd Whitman, who joined the Bush administration as its normally-ignored EPA administrator. McGreevey, 47,

Terminal City: Tune Out... Way Out

2004-08-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

From last week’s Terminal City, a column on the network TV tune-out from the Democratic National Convention, and a big yawn-out to the blogs. Unlike some other critics, I happen to think that the nets were right to skip over the conventions now that no actualy news comes from ‘em. Coming up in tomorrow’s paper, a snarky look at the shake-ups at both the Province and the Georgia Straight. Both of

Keep diggin' that Hole, Randy

2004-08-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Q: What do you call a guy who consents to be interviewed for a documentary, knowing that what he says will be controversial; signs a release, and then tries to backtrack with the help of lawyers after the shit hits the fan? A: Randy White. The Abbotsford MP’s strongly worded comments against same-sex marriage, recorded for the upcoming documentary Let No One Put Asunder, caused trouble for

Messy, Greasy, Necessary

2004-08-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Terminal City colleague Heather Watson is developing Poutina, a site devoted to serving up “unhealthy gossip for Canadian tastes.” That alone should be enough to send you there. Not yet officially launched, but complete enough to point to.

That ain't news, bub

2004-08-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver Sun never ceases to amaze. Once again, the city’s purported paper of record decides to make its own news and give it some serious play rather than actually go and and find it. Apparently, a website poll on people’s reaction to Svend Robinson’s conviction and sentencing for theft over $5,000 is worthy of page three. (Of course, it’s hidden behind the subscriber firewall.) The Sun’s

Testing...dumping

2004-08-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Get ready for the new move! UPDATE, 12:00 AM: An explanation is in order, I suppose. Just as Blogger has become sufficiently rich in features to make me almost wanna stick with it, I've decided to go with a real content management system, lovingly crafted in the south of France by a Vancouver expat. As such, I've been dumping content out of this site and attempting to import it to the new site,

Oh, Barbarella

2004-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

She may need to pick up a few new gigs to satisfy that extravagance that knows no bounds…

We don't need no Chinese wall

2004-08-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Former federal environment minister David Anderson blamed his firing, in part, on a camapign by the oil lobby and its allies in the editorial boards of the Calgary Herald and National Post. Herald editorialist Charles Frank disputes that, claiming that his efforts at getting bums tossed out of high positions is pretty poor. He then drops this gem about the paper's anti-Anderson campaign. Yes, we

Bloggers prove useful?!

2004-07-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've studiously avoided the DNC bloggers, the much-hyped web diarists who have willingly subjected themselves to days on end of convetioneering, apparently for PayPal donations, recognition, and bragging rights. Globe Technology editor Jack Kapica has been paying attention, and clues into the bloggers' use: the local angle on the convention, something abandoned by most smaller newspapers and

Canada's murder capital

2004-07-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Not gang-riddled Vancouver or the decadent metropolis of Toronto, but God-fearing Abbotsford. Yes, the buckle of British Columbia's bible belt, represented in Ottawa by a vulture who made his career out of others' sufferinganti-crime crusader Randy White, had the highest murder rate of any metropolitan area in Canada, tied with rough-ass Regina. ADDENDUM, 12:10 AM: Abby mayor Mary Reeves is

Hand it to CNN

2004-07-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Just watching the Democratic national convention on the boob tube -- well, I suppose that John Kerry's speech was, well, okay -- but CNN's audio feed beat all. While the other nets flipped over to the taking heads as the mass of balloons and confetti rained down on the Fleet Center (enema, shurely?!) and Kerry get the requisite hugs 'n kisses from the wife and stepkids, CNN went with the voice

Like others, I'm told

2004-07-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

That I should update this site once in a while. Okay, fine. I've been taking it easy the last four weeks, having worked myself silly through the federal election campaign. Trust me, it's good for you, and it probably beats the hell out of the month-long temper tantrum that some folks have been throwing simply because Canadian voters didn't agree with them. (Odd, though, how it shook out -- the

Reckoning: Vancouver and Environs

2004-06-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Ted White's loss in North Vancouver was the night's big shocker. North Vancouver is widely seen as good, solid, conservative territory: the riding's been Progressive Conservative, then Reform, then Alliance since 1979. Liberals have run high-profile candidates -- Gordon Gibson Jr., Iona Campagnolo, Mobina Jaffer and Warren Kinsella -- at the riding only to lose to PC loony Chuck Cook, then White,

No Live-blogging here

2004-06-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

Busy as I am with reporting commitments, you probably won't see much updating here tonight. For live-as-it happens reax, check the blogroll to your left or turn on your TV. CTV, the Star, the CBC, and canada.com all have realtime results; analyse them for yourself. See you later today, or sometime tomorrow.

Required Reading

2004-06-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

If you really want to know what drives Conservative leader Stephen Harper, forget the minibiographies, features on his chilhood and family, and all that other crap. Globe and Mail political columnist John Ibbitson's feature on the so-called Calgary Mafia -- an agglomeration of neoconservative academics from the University of Calgary -- reveals the men (and they're all men) whose teachings were

Coyne's Crew Calls It

2004-06-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Following his call for predictions over at the Echo Chamber, Andrew Coyne has tallied up his commenters' guesses on which party will win how many seats in tomorrow's election.UPPERDATE - June 27, 5:25 pm: With 270-plus entries, Collective Wisdom still stands at: Crooks 106, Fascists 122, Commies 23, Traitors 57, Freaks 1. My own forecast has been revised somewhat, making use of more evidence and

EPP Weighs In

2004-06-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Election Prediction Project website has made its final predictions for the federal election. Unlike other prediction games, the EPP doesn't forecast seat totals; rather, it predicts the outcome of each riding and the adds up the results. Liberal: 121 Conservative: 104 Bloc: 52 NDP: 29 Independent: 1 EPP was accurate in over 92% of the ridings in the 2000 federal election; they've had

Conspicuous by his absence

2004-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

At Saturday's Conservative love-in in Surrey, all but two of the party's 21 Lower Mainland candidates were in attendence. One was Delta-Richmond East candidate John Cummins; the other was Randy White, recently in the news for musing about using the Charter's notwithstanding clause to ban same-sex marriage. Coincidence?

White on the Warpath

2004-06-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

... Not Randy, either. This time, it's incumbent North Vancouver MP Ted White. White alleges that the North Shore News's coverage during the election is biased against him to the extent that it violates the Canada Elections Act for printing untruthful information about a candidate. In an email to senior editor Anna-Marie D'Angelo, White cited the News's failure to publish his rebuttal to a

PM Does Hip Flip

2004-06-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

Of all the national party leaders, only one of them was willing to do the Hip Flip with Nardwuar the Human Serviette. It wasn't Smilin' Jack Layton, either; instead, Paul Martin contorted himself for those kids watching Much.

Your answer

2004-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

So prominent Conservative MP Randy White has said that he'd see that a Conservative government would invoke the constitutional override clause in order to ban abortion and same-sex marriage. Paul Wells asks:It is nothing but hypocrisy for Paul Martin to cite Randy White as proof of Conservative extremism unless he promises, right now, today, to evict Roger Gallaway from the Liberal caucus.

Reynolds spinning away...

2004-06-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Conservative party co-chair, former Howe Street hustler, and party animal John Reynolds, while explaining how MP Randy White's talk of using the notwithstanding clause to ban abortion and gay marriage are strictly his own and not those of the Conservative party, invokes the Conservatives' token gay candidate, Gary Mitchell: "We have an openly gay man running in Vancouver Centre, we think it's a

Fun with Polls

2004-06-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

SES Research has released its final tracking poll of Indecision Canada; once again, they're showing 34% Liberal, 30% Conservative, 20% NDP, 12% Bloc, 3% Green -- the trend has been towards these numbers for the past week. SES hasn't hazarded a seat projection based on those numbers. That much is up to you, but Andrew Coyne would like you to place your bets, inspired as he was by the most recent

Culture Wars

2004-06-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Two items on how the federal election outcome will affect arts and culture in Canada: Former arts-mag publisher Raymond Tomlin, of VanRamblings, warns about the dire consequences of a Conservative government and its ideology on the $26-billion culture industry. That the Conservative platform offers no answers on cultural policy, apart from the usual bleatings about banning "child pornography,"

They're ba-a-a-a-ck!

2004-06-24T17:42:00.001-07:00

A pleaseant surperise this morning: after a two-year hiatus, those lovable culture jammers at Guerrilla Media (as opposed to the humourless ones at, say, Adbusters) have a brand-new Vancouver Sun spoof, which has littered coffee shops, coin boxes, and newsstands around the city. Apparently the election is off, there's a new time limit on how much health care you can get in BC, CEOs are underpaid

Terminal City Weighs In

2004-06-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

That fine newsweekly with which I'm affiliated has made its choice of candidates in the five Vancouver ridings. And the winners are: ELECTION CHEAT SHEET On Monday, June 28, Terminal City Weekly endorses the following candidates for the five Vancouver ridings: VANCOUVER EAST Libby Davies (NDP) VANCOUVER SOUTH Ujjal Dosanjh (LIB) VANCOUVER CENTRE Kennedy Stewart (NDP) VANCOUVER QUADRA Stephen

What's really important

2004-06-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if Colby Cosh is right that the flight of SpaceShip One will be this 2004 event that people will remember in 2104, but I'll give it better odds than I will this election.

Oh, Sheila

2004-06-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I can bring myself to watch CTV NewsNet's Countdown, the nightly Mike Duffy-hosted gabfest. Once again, the Puffster had, from the right, the bufoniform David Frum (hey! What's an American citizen doing yammering on about our election? The rightwing warblogger whackies did protest when Michael Moore piped in the other week!), and the worst press secretary in Canadian history, Ezra

Odds and ends

2004-06-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

Outgoing Burnaby-Douglas MP Svend Robinson was formally charged today with the theft of an expensive diamond ring back in April. Since Robinson's admission and the subsequent referral of his case to a special prosecutor, some of his old enemies have been grousing loudly that Robinson has been getting special treatment -- particularly Link Byfield, he of the Citizens Centre for Freedom and

Conservative Child Porn Smear

2004-06-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

As you probably know by now, the Conservative Party has decided to go for broke and accuse its opponents of being a bunch of pedophile-coddling kiddie porn advocates. In two brazen press releases yesterday, the Conservatives blasted both Paul Martin and 11 NDP Members of Parliament for supposedly supporting child pornography. The basis for this smear, which may well be worse than accusing someone

Is this thing on?

2004-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, a couple of technical fixes here: I've added a "Feedburner" button on the left-hand sidebar; this serves up an RSS 2.0 feed for those of you whose aggregators don't yet support Atom, which seems to be the Blogger favourite in the site-feed wars. Second, I've switched on the Blogger commenting system due to my dissatisfaction with SquawkBox; the new commenting system should be working with

Commenting problems

2004-06-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that the SquawkBox commenting system I'm using right now has lately been unreliable. Some of your comments show up when I read for one browser/machine combo, but if I switch browsers, then a new series of comments appears under the same post. It's all rather annoying, so I'll be switching over to the new Blogger commenting system later this evening; all the old comments will no

Nicely summed up

2004-06-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

Seeing as nobody can agree -- and everyone seems to have their own standards for -- who came out best from this week's leadership debates, this assessment from a Globe and Mail letter-writer and rock-paper-scissors fanatic is as appropriate as any. Even a cursory glance should reveal that Mr. Harper's overly aggressive play of Rock is beaten by Mr. Martin's bureaucratic Paper. It warms my heart

The English-language debate

2004-06-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Didn't know what to make of the format. While I do prefer leaders' debates where the competitors do address each other and mix it up, this debate tended to degenerate into people talking over each other; sometimes it was as many as three at a time with the end result being that nobody got heard until moderator Anna Maria Tremonti stepped in. It was a refreshing contrast to the utterly sterile

No live-blogging here

2004-06-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

I was out of the house for much of the English-language leaders' debate, thus the lack of posts on the topic. Will catch the repeat broadcast on Newsworld at 8:00 PM PDT, posting some reax shortly thereafter. One thing I can tell you: they picked the right host in Anna Maria Tremonti, a no-BS journo of the highest order.

Condolences

2004-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

To Warren Kinsella, on the death of his father, T. Douglas Kinsella.

Not your father's Tories?

2004-06-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

From the middle-of-the-road, middle-of-the-country world that is Manitoba (yes, I realize that it's not quite so geographically), several prominent longtime Progressive Conservatives have taken the tough decision to support the Liberals in this election. According to these ex-Tories, the new Conservative Party is not the Progressive Conservative party that you knew and loved / sneered at / might

The French Leaders' Debate

2004-06-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

I'm incredibly bad at listening to debates with on-the-fly translation -- if you're not really keeping your eyes on the screen, it's hard to keep track of which translator is voicing which leader. Maybe I'll try to tape the debate and watch it through tomorrow. Then again, I could just rely on those who actually watched the thing the first time out. Hey, that's a good idea... Optimus Crime comes

The BC Booster

2004-06-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Finally, a large-sample poll of British Columbians' voting intentions! Ipsos topped up two nationwide federal election poll earlier this month with a "BC Booster" sample of 800 (the same size as the company's BC omnibus polls) to give a grand total of 1066 British Columbians quizzed on their federal voting intentions. The Liberals lead the New Democrats 38-32 in the inner Lower Mainland (

Shocker: Asper brat favours buying off politicians!

2004-06-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Canada's favourite hotheaded media executive, David Asper, is at it again. The eldest son of the late Izzy Asper, until now most famous for calling his journalists "riff-raff" and bullying his subordinates, is lashing out at the new political financing rules brought in the the Chretien government last year. "I find it absolutely offensive," Asper said. "I have a right to support whoever I want to

All candidates, all the time.

2004-06-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

Decided to swing by an all-candidates' forum in Vancouver Centre today while bouncing between various bike month events in the city. As it turned out, it wasn't a complete waste of time. All the big hitters showed up to debate each other; so did a fair number of purported Vancouver Centre voters, be they there through partisanship, boredom, or the crappy weather. It was a strictly downtown debate

Notoriously Liberal CBC Watch

2004-06-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

The "At Issue" political panel on last night's National was anything but a bunch of Liberal sucks: Vancouver Sun editorial page editor and former Fraser Institute polemicist Fazil Milhar Andrew Coyne. Wasn't a Liberal fan last time I checked. TorStar columnist Chantal Hebert. Liberal-friendly compared to the previous two, bot not wed to any party. Oh, but Sheila Copps hosted The Current today.

Foot In Mouth: Conservative

2004-06-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

Just reported on CTV British Columbia; I'm now kicking myself for skipping this event. Vancouver East Conservative candidate Harvey Grigg, responding to a pro-Palestinian heckler at Vancouver's first all-candidates' meeting: "Sir, you can go now. We've cleaned out your cage." Any bets on how long this one takes to go national? update: Here's the brief report from CTV.

Dumb shit you do in college

2004-06-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Google, that dumb shit that you wrote, spouted, or believed when you were 20 can now be preserved for all time. Just ask Malcolm Azania. Previously known only as "the dude who flaked out on Political Animal", Azania penned a rant about whether Jews were "friends or enemies" ten years ago while at the University of Alberta, then posted it on USENET. Colby Cosh dug up Azania's

The Rhinos Return!

2004-06-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. For the first time since 1990, a Rhino will officially be on the ballot in a federal election, thanks to the Supreme Court striking down the "50-candidate" rule for political parties and the efforts of one Brian Salmi, longtime Rhino activist and Terminal City typist. Too bad I'm not in the Yukon.

What you're looking for

2004-06-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

Let's play Spot the Server Log Strangeness! I kid you not: the following search engine queries have been used to find this site at least three times in the last 10 days. ted white racist north vancouver: Oh, you mean this? "My riding has the largest Iranian population in the country. At least 40% of all the Iranians living there are refugee claimants. Most of them are bogus. I just mentioned the

Website wars

2004-06-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Globeandmail.com has a new report on the parties' websites and their strengths and weaknesses.

Day 16: How not to...

2004-06-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

... run an all-candidates meeting: If you're going to sponsor one of those local debates, don't go out endorsing one of the candidates you're hosting beforehand. It really doesn't play very well, as the chamber of commerce in Vancouver's northeastern suburbs found out. From CKNW: The forum, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, has been cancelled now that two of the candidates announced they

The envelope, please

2004-06-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

For those who really must know who's running in every riding in the country (mainly journos, political operatives, and political junkies), Elections Canada has a preliminary list of candidates available for download. The official list will be available Wednesday afternoon. Total to date: 1,597 candidates including 50 registered as "Independent" or "No Affiliation", 12 parties, competing in 308

First Time in...?

2004-06-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

The SES/CPAC tracking poll shows, for the first time in at least a decade, the the rightwing party du jour leads the Liberals in voter intention (PDF). A tracking poll may only be good at showing momentum, but it doesn't take a master's degree to figure out which party had it last week.

Once is Enough

2004-06-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

To counter Paul Martin's attacks on Conservative positions on same-sex marriage and other social issues, the Tories have been sending out "Reality Check" emails to hacks across Canada that cite vaguely similar statements by Paul Martin on those issues in different contexts. Example: Paul Martin accuses the Conservatives of wanting to use the Charter's notwithstanding clause in order to ban

Day 15: More Trail Mix

2004-06-07T03:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the time away from the blog. Decided to spend the weekend out and about instead of chained to my desk. Some pure campaign chewing satisfaction for you today... CP political reporter Bruce Cheadle examines a grumpy, or, as Ipsos' Darrel Bricker calls it, "rationally skeptical," electorate. The Conservatives' attempts to recast themselves as social moderates have once again been

Another J-Blog

2004-06-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Jason Markusoff from the Edmonton Journal may have the best of CanWestGlobal's nine -- nine! -- election blogs. Markusoff gets the whole weblog idea: informal, offbeat, and reasonably frequently updated. Got stuff that's unfit to print? Put it on the Web! Markusoff found this gem: the website of the Bloc Quebecois d'Ontario. It's a joke. I think. I'm pretty sure. No, I'm not. But I love the

Day 11: Trail Mix

2004-06-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

Election stories from around the Web: The Liberals take a different tack, sending sitting Cabinet ministers out to challenge Stephen Harper as he swings through Ontario. Conservatives fire off huffy press release denouncing this tactics as "sad" (not on the website though -- but it did arrive in my email -- ik), despite the fact that they themselves had earlier announced that they'd be sending a

Poll Vault: Day 10

2004-06-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Two from SES/CPAC: the 3-day rolling poll shows the Liberals at 36%, Conservatives at 25%, the NDP at 22% (the highest I've seen the NDP in any publicly released Canadian voter intention survey in, oh, quite a long time), and the Bloc at 13%, which roughly works out to an ass-kicking 50% in Quebec. The Greens are holding at 5% nationwide. SES also has put together a 5-day cumulative poll with a

Day 10: Trail Mix

2004-06-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

As I get ready to go out and chase a bunch of politicos on a mini-Super Tuesday, here's some election headlines that have caught my eye. Hidden agendas revisited? Conservative health critic Rob Merrifield suggests that women contemplating abortion should be referred to third-party counsellors. Merrifield's statements might reignite the abortion debate, which was always a minefield for the former

Blogger plays Journo

2004-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Mike Sugimoto puts together nine election questions for candidates in his riding; will any respond? Here's hoping that they do.

Poll Vault: Day 9

2004-05-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Good news(?) for the Grits -- SES Research/CPAC: Liberal 36, Conservative 26, NDP 20, Bloc 13, Green 5. (May 28-30, n=600, +/-4.1%, 19/20) Bad news for the Grits -- Ipsos/CTV/Globe and Mail: Liberal 34, Conservative 30, NDP , Bloc 11 (44 in Quebec), Green 6, Other 2. (May 28-30, n=1000, +/-3.1%, 19/20) Notable: Grits and Conservatives statistically tied in Ontario, NDP falls sharply in BC (

Sign Wars, Day 9

2004-05-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

With a week gone in the campaign, the lawn signs are now more than a curiosity. The Liberals were quick on the draw, setting up signs for their star (read: handpicked) candidates Ujjal Dosanjh and David Emerson as soon as the election call came. The others have now started to catch up. In Dosanjh's Vancouver South riding, NDP candidate Bev Meslo has made a pretty good showing considering the

No tequila, no Sheila

2004-05-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

No John Crosbie, either. Rats. Crosbie versis John Efford would have made for one fun race in Avalon.

Week 1: Slow Start

2004-05-31T00:11:00.000-07:00

The first week of the federal election campaign is over. Andrew Coyne's calling it "Canada Held Hostage." I'm leaning more toward "Canada Held Hostile." Some thoughts and reflections, all off-the-cuff: LIBERALS: Apparently, they want you to "choose your Canada." We're still trying to figure out exactly what kind of Canada the Grits are talking about. Seems like the Canada as it exists, with a

Woo-Hoo!

2004-05-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the staff at globeandmail.com for declaring this unreliable blog as one of their election sites to watch. Props also to Raymond over at VanRamblings and Tom at Trail Spotter for the links and praise. I'll try not to disappoint. TODAY: Paul Martin and Stephen Harper take the day off; Jack Layton doesn't (maybe it's true that Ms. Chow's food is his secret weapon); neither does Gilles

Day 7: Harper's in-and-out

2004-05-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Quick observations from Stephen Harper's visit, brief though it was, to Vancouver -- well, actually, Richmond. Spin machine par excellence John Reynolds was on form, introducing most of the 21 Conservative candidates in the Lower Mainland, and swearing that they'd all win -- including Harvey Grigg in Vancouver East(!). Absent from the rally: Ted White, Chuck Strahl, Paul Forseth, Randy Kamp,

Media Anal-Lysis

2004-05-28T17:38:00.001-07:00

Despite being a part-time media critic type, or because of my unlofty position, I tend to look rather dimly upon research into "the media." That holds especially true when it comes to such things as bias and hidden agendas. Frequenty, the studies seem to say as much about the researchers as the press that they study. Nonetheless, here's a few links to election-related media crit. The Globe and

Chasing Paul — not

2004-05-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Paul Martin was in town yesterday; I'd considered trying to meet up with his campaign tour. After all, he was swinging through Vancouver, and there was always the chance to get some answers out of him. Martin was running an hour behind schedule as he flitted from retirement home to reseach lab to bun toss, and not answering any questions along the way. So I decided better; I'm pretty sure that

Not a bad line

2004-05-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

From the latest NDP electronic newsletter: Dear Canadian hockey fan, The final round has begun -- and Canadians from coast to coast have been captivated by the story of an underdog team that has exceeded early expectations, faced off against tough opponents, and is now poised for a success that few had foreseen. Oh, and the Calgary Flames are in the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs …

Foot In Mouth: Conservative

2004-05-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just when it looked like Stephen Harper's minions would be on message and not exposing the Conservatives to charges of having a hidden agenda beneath their new, moderate, appearance, it happened. Bilingualism was the subject. Via CBC: Ottawa-area MP Scott Reid, the party's influential critic on language policy, told the Moncton Times and Transcript that Canada's bilingualism policies need a

Foot In Mouth: NDP

2004-05-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

No matter how much the federal government may have contributed to the urban homelessness problam in Canada, in whole or in part, this is totally over the top and guaranteed to backfire. Via Warren Kinsella, via CP: The federal election campaign turned ugly Thursday following personal attacks on Prime Minister Paul Martin who was accused of causing the deaths of homeless Canadians. The Liberals

OT: Washroom Warning

2004-05-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Mike Browne beat me to it, but George Michael has pronounced himself in love with Vancouver and wants to move here. Maybe if someone introduces him to the city's public washrooms at Victory Square or the corner of Main and Hastings (even if you're not from Vancouver, you probably know that corner by now...), he'd reconsider.

Day 3/4/5: Sniping

2004-05-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of random (but sinckerworthy) bits of politicking from around the Lower Mainland. First off, a Bowen Island man is raising questions about West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP John Reynolds's rather large travel bills. From CBC: Bert Paul of Bowen Island says he wrote to the auditor general after learning Reynolds spent nearly three times as much on travel costs as other MPs in the

You write the punchline

2004-05-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

From Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam (pity the Speaker) Liberal candidate Kwangyul Peck's campaign bio: Between academic degrees, Kwangyul worked and traveled in Paris, London and New York. He holds a particular fondness for his time in New York as a vegetable delivery truck driver. The constant wear and tear of lifting heavy boxes full of vegetables resulted in the loss of all of his

An Outside View (thankfully)

2004-05-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

From the Seattle P-I's Joel Connelly, who knows much about Canada: Dude, where is this prime minister's country?

Day 3 - And the winner is...

2004-05-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, not nationally! If you want brave souls predicting that, go over there or maybe there.) The NDP in Burnaby-Douglas are hoping that it'll be Bill Siksay, constituency assistant to incumbent MP Svend Robinson, who stepped aside last month after a bizarre jewelry theft. Siksay defeated former MLA and current city councillor Pietro Calendino at tonight's rescheduled nomination meeting.

Sign Wars: Painting it Red

2004-05-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Out and about in Vancouver South, and there's no mistaking the big red Ujjal Dosanjh lawn signs as the Liberals try to get an early jump in what will be a fairly close race. You can barely go a block on 41st or 49th Avenues -- two of the riding's main cross streets -- without coming across Dosanjh's smiling mug. So far, there's no Conservative signs, but the occasional NDP lawn sign (for

From the trail: Day 2

2004-05-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Did someone mention that the NDP is looking to make some major gains in British Columbia? After yesterday's election call, party leader Jack Layton flew out to Vancouver for a reception-come-pep rally on Granville Island, then worked Chinatown with local candidates Libby Davies, Ian Waddell, and Kennedy Stewart. Smilin' Jack was on form, praising Davies as a champion of affordable housing,

Blogging the Campaign

2004-05-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

TV freelancer Tom Popyk has assembled an essential list of “house blogs” from major Canadian media outlets. Here's some of the notables, shamelessly cribbed from his list The Globe and Mail is doing a group blog, with quick quips from their travelling correspondents. Toronto Star business columnist David Olive turns to politics and mans the Star's election blog; it's more a daily news summary

Bad Start

2004-05-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

One of those basic electioneering ruiles: when the election is called, hit the ground running. NDP leader Jack Layton seemed to be doing so out on the campaign trail, bien sur -- the man is a performer, is he not? The party's website isn't, though. Two poorly formatted columns that more-or-less duplicate one another, with all sorts of broken links to pages and images. That won't impress anyone

New Blogger stuff

2004-05-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Jeez. Neglect your blog for a few weeks and not only do you get bitchy comments, but you also miss out on that snazzy new Blogger Interface. Not only is it slicker, with new editing and template tools, but it actually works with the only Web browser worth using. I'm already liking it, apart from some tag-wrapping bugs. Must mean that I'll post more. Oh yeah, it's official. We're having an

Hoisted on own Petard

2004-05-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Paul Wells has a timely reminder of why you shouldn't take David Frum seriously...

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

2004-04-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Liberal-in-Exile Warren Kinsella reviews Liberal PM Paul Martin's "crisis management" approach (yes, the quotation marks are ironic). 350 KB, Powerpoint, mainly of interest to political junkies. I think that I wrote something dubious for the Mad As Hell tour's kickoff in Terminal City. Oh, yes. Here it is. Must go now. There's a game on, and the Canucks absolutely positively gotta win this one.

Neocon golden girl? Maybe not.

2004-04-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

From globeandmail.com: Onetime National Security Council Staffer Roger Morris paints a distinctly unflattering portrait of the most-hyped National Security Advisor in American history. While the neoconservative apologists have been running about making the point that the August 6th presidential daily briefing did not specifically forecast 9/11, Morris makes a deeper allegation against Queen

Sweet

2004-04-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Watch out, Laura Secord: Purdy's chocolates have arrived in Ontario. Any bets on whether folks in the GTA will cotton to this East Vancouver interloper?

On the Tube

2004-04-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

Condoleezza Rice spinning like a top, insisting that the Bushies didn't drop the ball. On every channel, Canadian and American. At least it's more important than the usual morning offering on CBC Newsorld: endless showboating at the Commons Public Accounts Committee. (Sorry, Liberal-haters of Canada, but the people who are the most obsessed with Adscam are largely those who were going to vote

Inappropriate names

2004-04-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

PMO spokesperson rebutting NDP allegations that the Liberals would gut health care: Butcher Nickname: Ginch. Good thing he wasn't Canadian. Erratum: I'd had some screed or other on the various Canadian politicos' claims on what they'd do with Medicare -- it being election season and all -- but hitting the key causes Blogger to send your work to the bit bucket with no warning. Just as well

Another Con Chickens Out

2004-03-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well, we already know that Stephen Harper took the chickenshit way out when he claimed that a government with the NDP would be destructive, only to cut and run when challenged by Jack Layton to back up the smack talk. In a stunning display of Conservative hypocrisy, he dismissed a man who he feared would be part of the next government as an "also ran", using that as an excuse to get out of

Where I been?

2004-03-23T16:53:00.002-08:00

So I've once agained abandoned all those faithful readers. Damn. Well, here's a list of some things that I've found out: Science students often aren’t active on university campuses because they have no life. Regardless of what others might say, it’s got bugger-all to do with the fact that most college campuses are dominated by various flavours of leftists and everything to do with the fact

Welcome Back

2004-02-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Former MP, MLA, and provincial cabinet minister Ian Waddell has made it official: he's seeking the NDP nomination in Vancouver-Kingsway. So here's the question: between Waddell and former "Human Rights" commissar Mary-Woo Sims, who can make the Dippers competitive in that riding? You know the answer.

Erratum

2004-02-07T14:28:00.000-08:00

If you’re wondering why this blog is in plain-jane mode, the server where the template CSS and images reside is down for maintenance or something-like-that. UPDATE: Looks like the server's back up.

Regarding Justin and Janet

2004-02-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I saw it; this was way more over-the-top. Never mind these yahoos. At least you know what I'll be writing about in this week's Terminal City. How could I resist the mix of football, wardrobe failure, broadcast regulation, and family-values freakers whose greatest concern is a naked breast on TV for all of two seconds tops? UPDATE: Column is now up on terminalcity.ca.

Shred

2004-02-03T19:28:00.000-08:00

Former Indian Affairs minister Bob Nault (dumped from Cabinet in December) calls up Maclean's typist Paul Wells. The men chat about Paul Martin's cabinet shuffle the new PM's treatment of Liberal stalwarts; Wells blogs it. Ugly. Martinites will probably say that Nault's words are those of a man who's been spurned, but hey: shouldn't Martin try to keep guys like Nault and former justice minister