Roundup: McQuaig’s “lessons learned”

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Former NDP star candidate Linda McQuaig penned a column in the Toronto Star about her “lessons learned” after two unsuccessful attempts at running for office (and no plans to run again), and as one could expect, it’s a little self-serving. In it, she bemoans her loss of freedom to discuss topics thanks to party discipline and central messaging, and the fact that she knowingly walked into a trap about oil sands staying in the ground despite the fact that it went against the party line. Her takeaway: that the rush to avoid complexity and controversy infantilises voters, and somehow the NDP’s apparently popularity over their position on C-51 (despite the fact that it too was facile and unworkable, according to the very same security experts they cited over the bill’s problems) must somehow be an indication of they’re actually hungry to be treated like citizens. It’s a bit of a leap in logic because part of what the issue was when she went against the party line was that after it happened, she went into lockdown and didn’t really talk her way out of what she said, and the spin machine of “you want to destroy the energy industry” filled that silence. It was a self-inflicted wound that could have been managed, but wasn’t. As for her contention that voters are looking for adult conversations on issues, that may very well be true, but the NDP weren’t offering it while the Liberals certainly were better suited for it with their comprehensive platform. What we got from the NDP were some platitudes about “competent public administration” and promises to balance the budget based on fuzzy numbers (and recall that their first “costed” platform document was little more than buzz-words with dollar figures attached that meant nothing). So really, if you think that voters want an adult conversation then provide them with one, not what the disingenuous platitudes being offered (that C-51 could be repealed wholesale, that the NDP “only needed 35 more seats,” word games over the “federal minimum wage,” the aforementioned fuzzy costing documents). Voters aren’t as stupid as the campaign was treating them. Michelle Rempel responds to McQuaig here, while Rob Silver had a few other comments over the Twitter Machine.

Good reads:

  • In advance of the budget, here’s a look at the changing wisdom around spending, Mike Moffatt’s things to watch for, and possible changes to municipal funding.
  • While in New York, Trudeau reiterated their plan to keep the age for OAS at 65, plus the fact that early infrastructure spending will be “unsexy,” and that some Bombardier help may soon be coming.
  • And because he was in America, Trudeau spent the whole time dodging Donald Trump questions.
  • Those supposed “tax amnesties” for the holders of those off-shore tax havens may have broken CRA’s own rules.
  • The Revenue Minister may be called to the ethics committee over the privacy implications of the American FATCA provisions.
  • Davie Shipyards finds the government’s insistence on overpaying and capability gaps in shipbuilding to be bizarre.
  • It’s not just the RCMP – National Defence has also been having major problems with the gong show that is Shared Services Canada.
  • Thomas Mulcair has lost the support of a labour group, and Charlie Angus is also not expressing any support.
  • Chris Selley suggests some new ideas for the Conservatives to consider.

Odds and ends:

It’s already been five months, but the government says they’ll meet their 18-month deadline on electoral reform.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/710531964994871296

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