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► Election 2011 News/Analysis/Events ◄

November 5, 2011: Egyptians call for day of action to revive their 'stifled' revolution
Links between Cairo and Occupy movement strengthen as anger grows at actions of military junta.
August 22, 2011: Jack Layton dead at 61
Jack Layton, the New Democratic Party leader who led his party to Official Opposition status in this year's federal election, has died after a battle with cancer.
May 16, 2011: Canadian elections: Another failed intervention
After decades abroad as a TV host, academic and public intellectual in Britain and the United States, Michael Ignatieff's Canadian political homecoming has ended in disaster.
May 12, 2011: Understanding the NDP sweep in Quebec
Before the May 2 election, the NDP had only ever won 2 seats in Quebec. Now they hold 58 out of 75 seats in the province. Roger Rashi is a founding member of the progressive party Quebec Solidaire. He explains what he thinks led to this remarkable turn of events.
May 12, 2011, Bullet No. #502: After the Election 2011: Building Our Movements on Shifting Ground, Alan Sears and James Cairns
The federal election of 2011 drastically shifted the terrain of parliamentary politics in Canada. With 39.6% of the vote, Stephen Harper's Conservatives won 167 of 308 seats in Parliament, meaning that they will now rule with all the power that comes with a majority government.
May 11, 2011: NDP campaign platform analysis
NDP Leader Jack Layton said he would deliver on several key social policy priorities for low and middle-income families during the first 100 days of taking office. [Interviews with Akaash Maharaj and Greg Albo were conducted early April.]
May 11, 2011, Bullet No. #501: The Federal NDP's Electoral Breakthrough in Quebec: A Challenge to Progressives in Canada, Richard Fidler
If Jack Layton's election-night speech to his Toronto supporters is an indication of what lies ahead, the New Democratic Party is going to have a hard time coming to terms with a parliamentary caucus now composed of a majority of MPs from Quebec.
May 10, 2011: The Conservative plan for the permanent election
Stephen Harper had the 2011 election won before the writ was dropped. All he had to do to win the most seats was not lose popularity during the campaign.
May 6, 2011: Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Left in the Canadian Elections, Herman Rosenfeld
The Activist caught up with Herman Rosenfeld, a member of the Socialist Project and the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly, in a wide ranging interview about Canada's recent elections and the prospects for the Left in Canada.
May 6, 2011: More voters cast a ballot
It's more than simply population growth; voter turnout in Barrie was up Monday night.
May 6, 2011: Canadian election brings historic shifts
Canada's history-making federal election on May 2 shifted the political dynamics of the country and set a new stage of struggle for progressives.
May 5, 2011: PSAC will continue to defend and promote public services
The election of a Conservative majority government should be cause for concern for public service workers and all Canadians who believe in the role of government in providing quality public services.
May 5, 2011: Harper's majority: What's Left for us
There is no point dwelling on the obvious other than to simply reiterate it. The election of a Conservative majority government will usher in wrenching change in Canada and we will have to witness the worst that Stephen Harper has to offer.
May 4, 2011: NDP, Liberals must eventually work it out
For Canadians unnerved about a Stephen Harper majority government, two facts about Monday's election stand out. The first is that virtually all of the Conservative gains occurred in and around Toronto. Of the 24 new seats Harper won across Canada, 18 came from the Greater Toronto Area -- including nine from Toronto itself.
May 4, 2011: NDP Breaks Through But Tories Win Big
NDP wins historic number of seats, creates conditions for Conservative Majority Government. Leo Panitch is interviewed by Paul Jay of the Real News Network.
May 3, 2011: The morning after
Where are we and where do we go from here?
May 3, 2011: The Conservative Majority and the Left
A Few Notes to Begin the Discussion...
May 3, 2011: The Real Victory Is The NDP's
I know lots of people are depressed this morning thinking about four years of majority rule under the heel of the Nasty Party. It's true that they are a ghoulish and evil lot and they will try to shaft workers, the poor, women, Quebecoises, Aboriginal peoples, the disabled, peace-lovers, the environment and all things good and right in the world that I may have missed.
May 3, 2011: After the election: Time for democratic action
Canada has fallen into the hands of Harper majority government. It is hard to imagine a worse outcome for the 2011 election, over-shadowing the magnificent victory of the NDP in Quebec where 59 New Democrats were elected (out of a total of 75).
May 3, 2011: Le NPD, outil de résistance?
Propulsé par des libéraux en chute libre, les Conservateurs vont maintenant et pour les prochaines années imposer leur agenda de mesures annoncées dans le dernier budget Flaherty.
May 3, 2011: Une nouvelle donne et de nouvelles obligations
Les élections fédérales de 2011 ont débouché des changements majeurs dans le paysage politique: des conservateurs majoritaires, une opposition social-démocrate à la Chambre des communes, la réduction du Parti libéral du Canada au rang de tiers parti, l'effondrement du Bloc québécois.
May 1, 2011: Platform Primer: Infrastructure
In the run-up to the federal election on May 2, we'll be comparing the major parties' platforms on issues that matter to urban voters.
May 1, 2011: Whatever happens tomorrow, the NDP surge is a sign of hope for Canada
It's too late for televised accusations of 'blind ambition' to stop the momentum of the New Democratic Party. It's too late for plaintive calls to cost out NDP proposals, which Canadians pretty obviously like, to have much effect.
May 1, 2011: He's not Lenin; he's just Jack
Stephen Harper warns that Jack Layton's New Democrats would return Canada to Cold War times. Michael Ignatieff says the NDP would bust the bank.
April 30, 2011, Bullet No. #496: Anti-Austerity Struggles and the Canadian Election
The economic crisis that whipped across the advanced capitalist countries in 2007-09 has now moved into a phase of unprecedented government austerity. Rather than spelling the end of neoliberalism, the response to the crisis is intensifying its primary distributional and administrative norms.
April 30, 2011: Vote for the Canada You Want
'We're going to win, Judy,' Stephen Lewis told me over the phone a few days before the 1990 Ontario election.
April 30, 2011: Jack NDP, Mike Constable
An electoral cinematic production...
April 30, 2011: La réalité du terrain rattrape le NPD au Québec
Malgré une montée fulgurante dans les sondages, le parti avoue ne pas avoir la machine pour canaliser cet élan
April 30, 2011: Toronto Star endorses the NDP
Monday's federal election may well turn out to be historic for all kinds of reasons that were not obvious when it was called five weeks ago today.
April 29, 2011: Prime minister versus Parliament: Democracy demands Conservative defeat
The first responsibility of a prime minister is to uphold the Canadian constitution. As prime minister, Stephen Harper broke the most solemn undertaking a government makes under the constitution: its obligation to present its spending plans to parliament.
April 29, 2011: Stephen Harper's Economic Record: Best in show?
According to the polls, Stephen Harper gets the highest score on handling the economy, though he only gets the nod from 38 per cent of Canadians.
April 29, 2011: Harper plays the phony percentages of first-past-the-post
As we swing into the final days of the 2011 federal election campaign, Conservative leader Stephen Harper has offered up some misleading, even false interpretations of our system of government -- if the constitution of Canada is anything to go by.
April 28, 2011: Fair Shares
How Banks, Brokers and the Financial Industry Can Pay Fairer Taxes
April 27, 2011: Letter to the editor of Presse-toi à gauche, Herman Rosenfeld
I read with a certain amount of dismay, your editorial of April 12, 'To Defeat the Right, the Left Must Organize Itself.' As an English Canadian resident of Toronto, I have no desire to tell progressive political activists in the Quebec nation what electoral strategy they should or shouldn't choose. But I find there is a certain amount of misunderstanding about the political realities of the NDP in the so-called Rest of Canada.
April 27, 2011: Harper's Attack on the Arab and Muslim Communities
During the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006 - and in the five years since - Stephen Harper has strongly defended Israel's policies even when other allies like the United States and Britain have made the occasional criticism of Israeli policy or called for compromise between the Israelis and Palestinians.
April 24, 2011: The Christian right, Israel and Stephen Harper
Journalists have largely ignored the political influence of Canada's right-wing Christians - especially when it comes to Conservative policies in the Middle East. Hence Marci McDonald's The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada is a good and important book, although you would never know it from the reviews.
April 23, 2011: An open letter to Canadian journalists
Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the flow of information out of Ottawa has slowed to a trickle.
April 22, 2011: Canada Watch - Spring 2011
The Harper Governance Revolution: Taking Minority Government to Its Limit -- Harper's mixture of ruthless pragmatism in dealing with Parliament, the micromanagement of government, and the relentless strategy of one-way messaging has provided him with the tools to govern as if he had a majority.
April 20, 2011: Pulpit and Politics
Dennis Gruending is an Ottawa-based author and consultant and a former Member of Parliament. He has worked as a print and television journalist and radio host and has written five well-received books
April 17, 2011: 100 Reasons...
there are literaly 100 reasons not to vote for Harper's Conservative Party.
April 16, 2011: Historical Analysis of Business Investment and Taxes Going Back to 1961
Here is a link to the CCPA study we released yesterday, analyzing the determinants of business fixed non-residential capital investment spending in Canada on the basis of quarterly data from 1961 through 2010.
April 16, 2011: The real election winners
None-of-the-above and couldn't-care-less
April 15, 2011: Making it count!
Making It Count is the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' 2011 federal election blog, designed to bring you expert analysis and commentary on the issues that will--or should--define the federal election.
April 15, 2011: Tell the Conservatives: Hands off our ballots!
The Conservative Party of Canada is trying to disqualify the votes of 700+ people at the University of Guelph, many of whom waited for hours to cast their ballot for the first time.
April 15, 2011: Debt by 1,000 tax cuts: An election special
Stephen Harper knows he can't come right out and reveal his radical agenda to downsize government. But if he gets his majority, expect Harper to slash and burn on the pretext that the federal debt and deficit requires massive evisceration of government.
April 15, 2011: How Would A Tory Majority Govern?, Trevor W. Harrison
Once more into the breach; well, at least, into the polling booth. The Harper Conservatives begin their quest to gain a majority government sporting numerous attributes, including money, organization, and five years in office.
April 13, 2011: NDP Words: Money Where Your Mouth Is?
In this three-part post I wanted to take a look what the parties said in their platforms compared to what they actually want to spend money on...are they putting their money where their mouth is?
April 12, 2011: Why voters appear to accept Harper's contempt
What does it say about our democracy when the prime minister of the country can with impunity almost continuously demonstrate contempt for it and repeatedly violate its rules, conventions, and the independence of its institutions and agencies?
April 12, 2011: Which Canada will you vote for?
We cannot afford for the first government in Canadian history to be found in contempt to go from there directly into a public mandate.
April 11, 2011: You have a choice
Jack Layton and NDP.
April 9, 2011: Canada watches its democracy erode
On Friday, the minority Stephen Harper government fell on a confidence motion by a 156-145 vote. Speaking to the motion, Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff attacked the government for disrespecting Canadian democracy and treating parliament with contempt.
April 9, 2011: CATCH 22 'Super-Voters' can keep Harper humble
It is the strangest of elections. Nobody really has a feel yet for how many voters will show up or what the outcome will be. Stephen Harper, the benign dictator (his phrase), is openly campaigning for a majority - and he might get it.
April 5, 2011: Ready to Pay to Stop Harper?
Swing 33 Shows How - new website, not affiliated with any party, identifies races where political donations pack most punch against Conservatives.
April 5, 2011: Nine reasons to oppose the Harper candidate in your riding
Stephen Harper promised to 'change the face of Canada' so drastically we wouldn't recognize it. He has succeeded and Canadians must decide if that is really what they want.
April 5, 2011: Election 2011: Which Party Will Bring Military Spending Under Control?
It's hard to walk down Ottawa's Sparks Street these days without tripping over some lobbyist or public relations consultant for the arms industry.
April 5, 2011: Election 2001: Robin Hood In Reverse
The Real Numbers Behind Income Splitting
April 4, 2011: Catch 22 Harper Conservatives
Catch 22 is independent of all political parties, campaigns and candidates.
April 4, 2011: Nightmare in Canada: a Harper Majority
It's been a long five years for Stephen Harper as prime minister of a minority government. Long and infuriating, I am sure, because for all that time he has had to pretend that he was governing.
April 4, 2011: The neo-Conservatives are at the gates
The neo-Conservatives are 'at the gates.' If polls at the end of the first week of Canada's election campaign do not change substantially, a majority is only barely outside Harper's grasp.
April 4, 2011: Nation is rallying to the NDP
The nation is rallying to the New Democrats. Jack Layton's campaign is on fire. His issues -- working with others in Parliament to fix Ottawa; economic security and a break for middle class families; better public health care; protecting the environment -- are exactly what the people want.
April 4, 2011: The Liberal platform: Targeting the NDP, seducing civil society
The Liberal party released its comprehensive election platform today and it reminds me and a lot of other people of the Red Book trumpeted by Jean Chretien throughout the 1993 election: full of left of centre policies, reflecting the values of fairness and equality and stealing Liberally from the NDP last election platform.
April 2, 2011: Harper's priorities out of whack: Fighter jets vs. green power
Canadian taxpayer dollars slated for fighter jets demonstrates Harper is not here for Canadian interests or the environment, says the Council of Canadians.
March 30, 2011: Measuring the realities of Canada's economic performance
The Conservatives' drive for a majority is premised on positioning themselves as the best economic managers. After all, they say, Canada got through the recession much better than other countries.
March 30, 2011: Federal Election 2011: Apathy, big lies, contempt and electoral dysfunction
Right out of the gate in the 2011 federal election, the Harper campaign has managed to frame the terms of debate as the threat of a 'coalition.' The media are largely giving the Conservatives a pass on this, allowing them to repeat the 'Big Lie'
March 27, 2011: Crumbs for you, Cake for us: Budget 2011
If you take a look at this year's budget and you have an issue that you're interested in, chances are you'll find it on the list. There are in fact almost twice as many items on this year's budget list as the large 2009 stimulus budget.
March 26, 2011: The game is on for another election
Be careful what you predict. Yes, in all modesty I must confess: I did, in this very space only weeks ago, confidently announce that an election would take place in May.
March 23, 2011: Budget 2011: Smells like 1995
Back in 1995 Finance Minister Paul Martin introduced a budget that reshaped fiscal federalism and retrenched the scope of the welfare state in Canada.
March 23, 2011: Budget fails to address Canada's triple deficits
'Canada faces a triple deficit. We have an economic deficit, an ecological deficit, and a social deficit,' said Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
March 22, 2011: Layton pulls the plug on Harper government
The drama is over and Jack Layton and the NDP clearly did the right thing, very quickly rejecting the Conservatives' budget and pledging to vote against it 'in its current form.'
March 22, 2011: Luxury for the rich but 'realism' for the rest of us
'Greed is good and I love money' - there was a time when such a lip-smacking declaration of personal gluttony would have been dismissed as boorish and anti-social.