Roundup: Defining recession

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While I fear this may becoming a quasi-economics blog over the course of the campaign, it’s numbers yet again in the national consciousness as we learn today whether or not we’re in a technical recession, though there’s a bunch of political dispute over what a recession means. Jason Kenney was on Power & Politics on Sunday trying to broaden the definition to say that it would need to be over a number of sectors rather than just the energy sector as we seem to be seeing in Canada, and while that may be a perfectly reasonable explanation if it was anyone else, it was however his own government who put the definition of two quarters of shrinking GDP into their “balanced budget” legislation just a couple of months ago. Oops. To that end, Rosemary Barton writes about deficit and recession politics on the campaign trail, while Mike Moffatt calculates the projected federal deficits for the next few years based on current economic indicators. And Stephen Gordon gives us some food for thought:

On the campaign:

  • Stephen Harper refused to give a definition for a recession, then went to a Tim Horton’s, but didn’t want to handle the cash.
  • Thomas Mulcair promised more funding for women’s shelters, and reiterated his promise for an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
  • Justin Trudeau didn’t have any events.

Good reads:

  • Justice Rothstein retired from the Supreme Court yesterday, so here’s a look back at his nine years, and six rulings that may point to his thinking.
  • Former Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie will begin his arbitration of Senate expenses mid-September.
  • The government is hiring a barge to refuel and resupply a navy exercise in the Arctic.
  • A government database that’s overdue and over budget? You don’t say! I’m pretty sure this is run of the mill, and not an indication of political will.
  • The “average family” that the Conservatives are targeting? Are a two-income family that makes more than $120,000 per year. So, not really that average after all.
  • Andrew Coyne wants to see the fine print on the NDP’s balanced budget pledge.
  • Stephen Gordon writes about the need for real trade liberalization to deal with our flagging productivity.

Odds and ends:

Less than five percent of Conservative candidates responded to interview requests from the Ottawa Citizen (which leads parliamentary coverage for the whole Postmedia chain).

The NDP refuse to respect copyright on the image of Dean Del Mastro in handcuffs as they use it in attack ads.

Does it not concern anyone that this “Harperman” protest song is not just a dialogue on the neutrality of the public service, but a step on the road to a partisan civil service like in the States?