Stephen Kimber

Is a carbon tax a good idea? What the f*&^ is a cap-and-trade policy anyway? And why has the media—for the most part—abandoned its traditional role of trying to make sense of it all for us? Perhaps the simple, unhappy answer is that our journalists are so busy reading the leavings in the bottom of […]

So Gerry Ritz a made stupid, tasteless, offensive joke. Two actually. Is that any reason for Stephen Harper to fire him? My answer would be no. Most of us—well, me at least; thee may be more pure—have, in the heat of an overheated moment, or in a moment of frustration, or in the inevitably mistaken […]

How many thousands (millions?) of dollars will Canadian news organizations spend polling public opinion in the leadup to the October 14 federal election? How much of that would have been better spent explaining the concepts and relative merits of competing environmental policies like the carbon tax or cap-and-trade emissions policies so the public opinion they […]

Given the number of candidates in this upcoming federal election who’ve already had to suddenly slink off in disgrace because videos had surfaced showing them driving while doping, or skinny-dipping while (or while not) erect, or blathering mindlessly in their blogs about how gays and women must begin packing heat to protect themselves from predators…; […]

It seemed like a good idea at the time. According to various news reports, Halifax Liberals planned to gather Wednesday evening (Sept 10) to officially crown Catherine Meade as their candidate in Halifax. I should go, I thought. I first checked out the Liberal party’s provincial and national websites, but there was no information on […]

Thirty-eight reasons not to vote for Stephen Harper… one for every day of the campaign. Feel free to add your own: 1. The Accountability Act that isn’t 2. Negative advertising (puffin poopers unite) 3. Afghanistan… Do you trust the man who unfixed his own fixed-date election legislation to bring the troops home in 2011? 4. […]

The pollster who once claimed Haligonians were eager to have the 2014 Commonwealth Games now wants us to believe Nova Scotians want to elect more Stephen Harper’s Tories. Don Mills of Halifax-based Corporate Research Associates told Halifax’s Metro newspaper that his company’s latest public opinion poll showed “a big positive change” for the ruling Tories […]

Question number one. “Stephen Harper has been prime minister for almost three years. Under his strong and focused leadership, do you think Canada is on the right track?” “Yes.” “No.” Uh … Question number two. “Stephane Dion has been leader of the Liberal party since December 2006. Some people say Mr. Dion is a weak […]

Did you know that the first week of Stephane Dion’s federal election campaign went so “poorly… several senior Liberals have expressed serious concern that (it) could be the sign of an electoral disaster to come?” You’d certainly know that if you’d read the front page of Monday morning’s Globe and Mail. Or its strange-bedfellow matching […]

“Uh…Uh….Mmmm-mmm… (Silence)… Uh… Um…” Rob Batherson’s monosyllabic musing had gone on for at least 15 seconds before I thought to look at my watch, and lasted another 33 before he finally didn’t answer my question. It wasn’t a complicated question, and it was one for which Batherson obviously knew the correct answer. I just wanted […]

The search for Alexa McDonough’s successor is off to a rocky start. And the party has yet to nominate its candidate. But it isn’t clear what—if any—effect a messy misunderstanding between the Nova Scotia federal NDP campaign office and wannabe-standard bearer Irvine Carvery over membership fees might have on the upcoming campaign and/or —and perhaps […]