A Perfectly Cromulent Politics Blog
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
Posted by Devin Johnston on October 26th, 2009
Scott Andrews, Kirsty Duncan, Andrew Kania, Dominic LeBlanc, Keith Martin, Alexandra Mendes, Shawn Murphy, Anita Neville, Robert Oliphant, Glen Pearson, Mario Silva, Michelle Simson, Alan Tonks, and Frank Valeriote. Not to mention, of course, the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois.
Honourable mention to Elizabeth May.
Posted by Devin Johnston on October 21st, 2009
Iffy and the Liberals are feverishly at work to close whatever policy gaps remain between themselves and the Conservatives. Today the Liberals announced that they will not support the passage of Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. Environment critic David McGuintly claimed that the Liberals need more time to study the bill, an excuse that rings hollow given that the Liberals have had more than three years to do so already.
Posted by Devin Johnston on July 28th, 2008
Marc Lee has posted an excellent exposition on climate change platforms over at the progressive economics forum. Marc's analysis (as always) is thoughtful, balanced, and well-written. Marc argues that a carbon tax and cap & trade system need not be mutually exclusive and that the oversimplified dichotomy many commentators and politicians rely on hurts the climate change debate:
Posted by Devin Johnston on July 1st, 2008
Stéphane Dion has asked Canadians to engage in an honest discussion of his "Green Shift" carbon tax proposal. I thank the Liberal leader for his maturity in engaging in an open policy discussion of a matter of critical importance to the country, unlike the Conservative government which has adopted the strategy of inaction and denial on the climate change issue, while using immature and dishonest rhetoric rather than substantive policy analysis in opposing Dion's proposal. While I ultimately conclude for reasons to follow that the proposal as it currently stands is bad policy, the potential exists for the Liberals and NDP to come together to create broader-ranging, multifaceted plan that makes better policy sense. I encourage both parties to seriously examine this "third option" instead of allowing their differences to prevent substantial action from being taken (as was the case on the Afghanistan file.)
Posted by Devin Johnston on June 22nd, 2008
Welcome to the first edition of This Week in Politics, a weekly summary of Canadian political news published every Sunday night.
This has been one of the toughest weeks the Conservative government has faced since being elected. The Liberals finally managed to set the agenda in the Beltway this week with the announcement of its "Green Shift" carbon tax policy. Meanwhile, grassroots opposition is mounting to the government's new copyright legislation (Bill C-61, or the "Canadian DMCA"). Despite these headline-grabbing stories, the Bernier Affair continue to have legs. In addition to the main national stories of the week, NDP leader Howard Hampton announced that he will not seek another term as leader, spurring a leadership race. Let's take a look at some of the major stories this week.
