10 Things the 2015 Campaign Will Be Remembered For

There are a myriad of ways that the 2015 Federal Election has been one of the most interesting in Canadian history. Sure, during every election, candidates and pundits tell us that this is the most important vote in our lifetime, but this year there is truly a sense that something historic is afoot. What exactly that means is still anyone’s guess. But as we enter the final week of this long election period, let’s look back at 10 of the things that stick out in our memory. From the weird, to the humourous, to the devastatingly tragic, here are 10 things that this election will be remembered for… Continue reading “10 Things the 2015 Campaign Will Be Remembered For” →

Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 15, 2015

This week on Open Sources Guelph we wrap up our campaign coverage with part 7 of 7 of our interviews with the candidates running in Guelph this election. [Insert ka-ching sound effect here] To our beloved listeners, we hope this series has been informative, and that in some small way assists you in making your decision on Election Day, or assisted you when you voted in one of the advance polls earlier this week. [Insert ka-ching sound effect here] But still, there’s one more interview to go, and it should be a good one. [Insert ka-ching sound effect here] Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 15, 2015” →

Reefer Madness and These Desperate Times

I’ve already commented on Stephen Harper’s apparent segue to prop comic while campaigning in this election, and it’s enough to make you wonder if given the polls he’s pondering his post-prime ministerial career. Perhaps as a game show host. Compounding the silly season move to campaign with a comically-exaggerated, old-timey cash register is a growing sense that Harper, while losing the race, is losing his mind, because why else would he be slamming the Liberal plan to decriminalize marijuana on the one hand, while appear at an event with a known drug user and his alleged drug dealing brother on the other? Continue reading “Reefer Madness and These Desperate Times” →

What’s Up with NDP’s Fuzzy Math?

The Liberal surge in the polls have meant that the NDP must face the possibility that their governmental ambitions maybe only seen in the rearview mirror, but Tom Mulcair has no intention of going gently into that good night. While campaigning over the weekend, Mulcair, his candidates, and NDP staffers are now submitting the message that if Canadians want to get rid of Stephen Harper, the NDP is the best alternative because the math is on their side. Yes, the NDP say that they need only 35 more seats to defeat Stephen Harper, but what does that mean? Continue reading “What’s Up with NDP’s Fuzzy Math?” →

Why is Stephen Harper Campaigning Like Howard Hampton?

Going into the final week of the 2015 election, it seems as though the pressure may be finally getting to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Conservative leader was in Kitchener today doing campaign-y things like going to KW-Oktoberfest and taking in a Kitchener Rangers OHL game, but in between that he wanted the voters in a strategically vulnerable area for the incumbent government to know just what exactly a Liberal government, if elected, was going to cost them. To do that, Harper made the unusual decision to become a prop comic at the dawn of the last week of the campaign. Continue reading “Why is Stephen Harper Campaigning Like Howard Hampton?” →

Facepalm Moments on the Campaign Trail

Approaching Day 70 of this federal campaign, and with less than two weeks to go, it was inevitable that things were going to get silly. Coming the day after the announcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, and its very serious implications for Canadians and Canadian economy, it seems like a number of Conservative candidates, including the Minister of National Defense himself, is looking to shake things up with a bit of foot in mouth. Continue reading “Facepalm Moments on the Campaign Trail” →

What’s in a Niqab?

And to think, when this campaign started some 17 years ago, we thought it was going to be all about the economy, Duffy, and whether or not you’ll ever be able to get to vote without having to fight through an army political operatives. What a difference 60-plus days make. Now it seems that the race is all about whether or not the government should have the ability to tell a statistically nearly non-existent group of people what not to wear at citizenship ceremonies, and that’s just how the Conservatives like it. Continue reading “What’s in a Niqab?” →