Can Justin Trudeau be safe and sorry?
Here is an op-ed that Bob Pickard and I wrote for the Globe & Mail on September 23, 2019 in the midst of a federal election about the nature of political apologies.
Was the Demise of Electoral Reform Inevitable?
After answering, more than a few times, what I thought of the prime minister’s decision to abandon electoral reform, I decided to put my thoughts to paper. Some tentative reasons for the demise of electoral reform were published in the Ottawa Citizen on February 3.
Electoral Reform should focus on Principles not Systems
I’ve been asked to be an expert witness at the ERRE (The House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform) on July 28 where I will be elaborating on my thoughts in this column on the importance of focussing on principles in the debate on electoral reform. I will also be discussing what citizens’ assemblies…
The pre-eminence of advertising in Canadian elections
The three national parties have filed their election expenses and there are some surprises but the most important message from the filings with Elections Canada is the central role that advertising plays in modern election campaigns. While no one would doubt its importance, the Liberals took it to a new level spending 64% of…
Who should decide if we have ranked voting in Kingston?
Mayor Paterson of Kingston recently posted an on-line poll to ask Kingstonians what they thought of the prospect of ranked ballots for municipal elections. While I think it’s a good idea for the Mayor to solicit feedback on such an important initiative, such polls can easily be hijacked by those in favour or opposed to…
Electoral Reform at the Manning Centre Conference
On February 27, I was asked to speak on a panel about electoral reform with former B.C. MLA, Nick Loenen and Conservative critic for Democratic Institutions, Scott Reid at the Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa. Nick made the case that single transferable vote would be the best option for any reform while Scott argued that there were many…
Discussing Elections at John Wesley Dafoe Conference, U of Manitoba
I am really looking forward to talking about elections at the John Wesley Dafoe Conference at the University of Manitoba, January 28-29, 2016. The conference is titled “Elections: Democratic Tools or Democracy Denied?” My panel on ‘Future Challenges’ is with Richard Balasko the former CEO of Elections Manitoba and Prof. Tamara Small, with whom I…
Political Advertising in the 2015 Election
I don’t think that many academics do a good job in communicating their findings to a broader public. When we apply for grants or research funds, we are often asked to discuss how we would disseminate our findings. A SSHRCC funding officer once said to me that academics don’t give this much attention. It’s such…
My first AMA on Reddit, Wednesday, Nov. 11
I have heard about Reddit’s AMA’s (ask me anything) for some time. I always thought that they were for famous people but for reasons not known, I am hosting an AMA for the subreddit /Canadapolitics on Wednesday, November 11, from 2- 3 PM. With the new Liberal government promising that the 2015 election would be…
Talking Election Ads At University of Calgary and Mount Royal University
I’m looking forward to giving two talks this week in Calgary on the role of election ads. I’ll be at University of Calgary on Wednesday, October 14 as part of the CMF Speaker Series and Mount Royal University on Thursday, October 16, as part of the SOMAR Speakers Series. If you are near by, stop by…