March 1st, 2019 | S.P.

Unfortunately, the Butts resignation may be nothing more than a clever show of theatrics. Although Mr. Butts has resigned and been removed from the official PMO payroll, Butts and Trudeau's friendship dates back decades and the dirty deeds and antics of the McGuinty government continued long after the resignation of Gerald Butts. There is no way to know for certain if Gerald Butts will continue whispering advice and strategy into Justin Trudeau's ear from afar. Butts' influence may continue to sway and direct the decisions coming out of Justin Trudeau's office, just as it it may have during the years of Dalton McGuinty. We could never know. From outside of the PMO, Gerald Butts may continue his work as an off-the-record advisor and policy-maker to our dainty half-wit-in-chief. His resignation may have been nothing more than an attempt to take the heat off of Justin Trudeau in time for an important election. 

March 1st, 2019 | T. Carter

The joke goes, “Bernie Sanders hated millionaires until he became one. Now he hates billionaires.” The sad truth is that Bernie's hatred of wealth and his far left, socialist policies have been adopted by some mainstream Democrats. Bernie Sanders did, indeed, spark a revolution in America by convincing the Democratic Party that socialism pays in politics. The days of believing that Americans would never accept full socialism may be behind us now, as Democratic heavy weights like Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Beto O'Rourke sell socialist ideas to win support in every corner of America. As for Bernie Sanders, his own success in sparking a revolution on America's left could be what blocks his chances of winning the Democratic nomination next year. The Democrats no longer need Bernie Sanders because his ideas are being adopted by fresh, young Democrat hopefuls. Socialism in America now looks like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Julian Castro. 

March 1st, 2019 | C. Wang

The upcoming Alberta election is going to be transformative and culture-shifting in a way many people aren’t expecting. After twelve years of electoral gong-show antics we are likely to see a result that provides Jason Kenney with a healthy majority and the NDP reduced to the official (and only) opposition. The coming destruction of all the small single-seat political parties like the Alberta Liberals, the Alberta Party and the Freedom Conservative Party will lead to more clarity and professionalism for both sides of the political spectrum. The great divide will now consist of the NDP and the anti-NDP coalition… just like every other Western Canadian province. There are three downsides to this however…

March 1st, 2019 | S.P.

The pleasant folk of Newmarket-Aurora in Ontario have had some of the weakest representation in Ottawa since Ottawa was a place for bureaucrats to converge. Well, perhaps I'm being a bit too negative... or perhaps I'm being honest. Newmarket-Aurora was the riding of our good friend and traitor, Belinda Stronach. Now the beautiful people of Newmarket-Aurora must stomach the underwhelming, meandering and effortless work of their Liberal MP, Kyle Peterson. Not since the invention of bleached flour has the world seen such a stale and mundane excuse for a representative. Kyle Peterson's efforts as an MP are weaker than a pot of Denny's coffee. It is time for the voters in Newmarket-Aurora to send him packing, just as they have fearlessly done before with previous MPs. 

March 1st, 2019 | C. Wang

All this long-winded analysis about populism and trade and blah, blah, blah… a huge fact of the matter is that Trump had huge name recognition going into the election. He was a New York celebrity since the 70s and a national name since the 80’s. He flirted with running for president since the George HW Bush era and his hit show The Apprentice made him a household name. People knew who he was, and they understood the brand. This isn’t the first time Republicans have capitalized on name recognition. George W. Bush traded on the family name. Ronald Reagan was Hollywood famous before seizing the White House. Even Eisenhower had a brand name from his World War 2 exploits. Hillary Clinton tried to sell her celebrity brand against Trump, but coat-tailing on her husband’s name didn’t have the same impact as a pop culture celebrity.

March 1st, 2019 | R. Rados

When he gave his concession speech after losing to Justin Trudeau in 2015, Stephen Harper seemed relaxed and unfazed. At the time, I assumed he was relieved to be done with politics, but as Justin Trudeau proves to be the worst prime minister in our history, I'm seeing Harper's long term vision materialize. Stephen Harper knew Trudeau would fail so badly that Canadians would naturally gravitate back to the Conservative Party. With a fresh new leader and a reputation for being a safe and balanced alternative, the Conservative Party could supplant the Liberal Party as Canada's “natural governing party”. That was always Harper's long term goal. Despite his own personal beliefs, Stephen Harper ran a safe, moderate and managerial Conservative government. It was imperfect, but it was effective in showing Canadians that the new party wasn't the radical, far right nightmare Liberals wanted them to think it was. Harper weathered the storm and steered Canada safely out of the 2008/2009 recession. He safely cut spending in some places and failed to live up to the Liberal Party's far right, neo-con label. After Harper, Canadians still had public healthcare, human rights, legal abortions, powerful unions and good international relations.