Sorted by Month: January 2010

In our inaugural podcast, Ron Guirguis, Blake Johnston, Paul Monlezun and podcast host Mark Blevis explore the distinction between public affairs and public relations — with some tangents about the role of digital in public affairs.
Click the play button, below, to listen.Read Post »

Things just continue to get more interesting for Alberta residents, those who want to represent us, and those who want to invest/do business here.
Tuesday’s high profile announcement by Liberal MLA and energy critic Dave Taylor that it makes sense to sit down and “break bread” with the oil and gas industry was complemented by an [...] Read Post »

As my colleague Kevin pointed yesterday, President Obama did raise some salient points in his State of the Union address. Obama made statements that were relevant to both American and Canadian audiences about taxes, but I must admit I was more impressed by Prime Minister Harper’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, [...] Read Post »

A couple of takeaways from President Obama’s speech last night:
First on climate change. With a nod to his opponents, Obama argued that while there is serious disagreement on the science, working on clean energy is still good policy. As he put it, “even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy [...] Read Post »

There was an interesting poll out over the weekend from Ipsos- Reid’s Darrell Bricker. The horserace numbers are in keeping with other recent polls that show a considerable tightening of the race between the Conservatives and the Liberals, with the Liberals rising at the expense of the NDP/Greens/other voter pool. If these numbers hold it [...] Read Post »

I was struck by a radio ad as I drove to work this morning. It talked about a “cover up” and was paid for by the Liberal Party. The ad said the prorogation of Parliament allowed the government to hide knowledge of torture in Afghanistan.
In case anyone reading this doesn’t know it already, I am [...] Read Post »

It’s difficult to decide whose face is less recognizable than the original, reality star Heidi Montag’s or the Ontario cabinet’s. As a Toronto Star editorial this week pointed out, just nine months ago Ontario’s inner sanctum at Queen’s Park featured the likes of Michael Bryant, David Caplan, George Smitherman, and Jim Watson.
Of the [...] Read Post »

When Prime Ministers decide to shuffle their Cabinets, much of the media commentary focuses on the past – who is being cast aside because of missteps or underperformance. From inside government, however, the real story is what a shuffle tells us about the future. Where the steady performers in Cabinet are assigned, what responsibilities they are given and who stays put says a great deal about the government’s preoccupations and agenda going forward.Read Post »

Like many Canadians, I’ve been watching the membership grow in the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP) Facebook group over the last few weeks. There was speculation in the office as to when the group’s membership would break 200,000. And it did, yesterday. Brian put up an excellent post questioning whether a digital gathering that large [...] Read Post »