Election commentary

Election nail biter: what’s next for BC politics?

May 17, 2017
By and
A week after British Columbians went to the polls, we’re still waiting to learn the final seat count. And when we do (hopefully next week), it’s unlikely we’ll know precisely what our new government will look like. Whatever the outcome, we know things are going to be different. And one thing seems clear: there is… View Article

The incredible shrinking role of government in BC

Apr 25, 2017
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As BC’s political parties lay out their election platforms, media pundits tend to focus on the flurry of spending promises. But all this attention on spending makes it easy to forget that we’ve actually witnessed an incredible shrinking of government’s role in BC over the past 15 years. Unlike the strange mist that shrinks Scott… View Article

Searching for affordable housing in the 2017 BC election platforms

Apr 24, 2017
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Housing affordability is one of the top issues for voters in the 2017 election campaign, particularly for those in pricey Metro Vancouver. While most of the media attention has been on the jaw-dropping prices of residential real estate, a tight rental market has fuelled rising rents and renovictions, and the most recent count uncovered a… View Article

Climate change and energy issues in the 2017 BC election platforms

Apr 18, 2017
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From the fracking fields and Site C dam in BC’s northeast to an LNG terminal and Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tanker expansion in the southwest, energy issues should figure prominently in BC’s 2017 election campaign. Climate change, the result of all that pollution from dirty energy development here and elsewhere, is an overarching challenge. In… View Article

As the BC election starts, where’s our collective head at?

Apr 4, 2017
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Much of BC’s pre-election debate has coalesced around the free-for-all in corporate political donations—and understandably so, given the scale of the problem that’s been revealed by various investigations. But worrying as the potential corruption of our democratic system may be, it’s not the only concern weighing on British Columbians’ minds as we draw closer to… View Article

The US election results: Brief thoughts on the unthinkable

Nov 18, 2016
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Having watched the US electoral horror show unfolding over several months, I’m trying to stand back from the emotional impact of the outcome, to think of some of the themes for progressive debate and research in politics and communication. What understandings are relevant to the political action that our collective survival now necessitates? First, we… View Article

Lessons from the Trump election for progressives in Canada

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It’s been a little over a week since we were jolted by the profoundly disturbing reality of a Donald Trump US presidency. We’ve all found ourselves in many discussions about how such an abhorrent and blatantly racist and misogynist candidate could have won the most powerful political office in the world, and about how to… View Article

The election story is an addiction story

Nov 9, 2016
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I know I am not alone shedding tears for the story of the 2016 American election. These aren’t the tears of a campaign or game lost, or an ego wounded, nor are they tears of aloneness, because I know I am not the only one who is afraid. These tears connect me to all of… View Article