Roundup: Stampede politics

Posted on by

It’s Stampede time in Calgary, and all of the party leaders are headed out there to play the part. Curiously, all of them will be there at the same time rather than spacing their presence out a bit as they have in previous years, and both Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau are putting in appearances in the Stampede Parade. Speaking as a former Calgarian, Stampede is a peculiar kind of phenomenon – long-time Calgarians will try to flee the city for it because it’s so much insanity (much of it alcohol-induced. It’s no secret that post-Stampede you see a spike in sexually transmitted infections, and a baby boom nine months later). But because Calgary is one of those cities with a large in-migration population, it becomes this exercise in conformity, where people will shell out hundreds of dollars in order to get the right wardrobe to participate, and subject themselves to awful country music in order to fit in and show that they’re really Calgarians. It makes for a very interesting political contrast as well – last weekend you most of the party leaders in the Toronto Pride Parade, which is all about diversity and difference (and congratulations to the Conservatives for finally opting to participate this year); this weekend they’re at Stampede, which is about looking the part in order to fit in. Both are seen as necessary stops in order to show themselves off to those different political bases. That each leader gets judged on how well they can dress for Stampede is also an interesting exercise (and a far less forgiving one than the suits that they normally wear). It shows how strange the Canadian political landscape can be, and the summer barbecue circuit – particularly during an election campaign.

Good reads:

  • Bank of America says we’re already in recession, and that the Loonie could tumble to 70 cents US, which could have a big impact on the election.
  • CSIS and CBSA are sharing information with little political oversight. CBSA has no independent oversight, despite calls for it.
  • Ralph Goodale says that the Build Canada Fund is being used as campaign fodder for the Conservatives.
  • Leaked test combat data shows that F-35s are terrible in a dogfight, which is bad news if we want them for interception duty.
  • New accusations about extrajudicial killings in Colombia’s civil war raise concerns about Canada selling LAVs to that country.
  • Aaron Wherry notes that none of the parties have offered specific plans on how to reduce 291 megatonnes of carbon emissions in 15 years.
  • Pundit’s Guide finds more problems with the Fair Elections Act, which is why the Quebec-oriented Jean-François Party is running a candidate in Peterborough.
  • Kevin Milligan muses about direct democracy and taxation after the BC transit tax plebiscite failed.
  • Irwin Cotler writes about Canada legalising same-sex marriage ten years ago this week.

Odds and ends:

Quebec’s anti-corruption unit is sending investigators to Panama to make sure that Arthur Porter is really dead.

A US court granted a $134 million US lawsuit against Omar Khadr after his lawyers didn’t contest it.

John Crosbie sounds off about his son’s rejection as a Conservative candidate, and blames Senator David Wells for it, which Wells denies.