Liberals and New Democrats Holding Uber-Secret Merger Talks

Late this afternoon I received an email news alert from the CBC that said the federal Liberals and the NDP insiders are actually talking about a merger of some sorts. Apparently senior insiders with the federal Liberals and New Democrats have been holding secret talks about merging their parties to form a new entity to take on the [...]

Are the Federal NDP the Election Spoilers?

When I have too much time on my hands I get to pondering things. This weekend I got to pondering the Canadian federal party system. And specifically, I got to pondering the Liberals and the New Democrats. I distilled my pondering down to a couple key questions. The first question; do the federal Liberals and New [...]

Carole James Introduces Campaign Finance Reform Bill

This will be interesting to watch; New Democrat Leader Carole James has tabled a campaign finance reform bill that would change the way B.C.’s political parties are financed. The key change? Only citizens will be able to contribute to political parties. And that means that unions and corporations cannot contribute. “We have the opportunity to [...]

The Evidence is Mounting; Did the BC Liberals Know About the Size of the Deficit?

When I was studying at SFU I took a course in American Literature. One of the assigned novels was Joseph Heller’s classic, Catch 22. At one point in that novel the narrator, John Yossarian has the task of censoring mail destined for anywhere outside Pianosa where their military base is located. Yossarian tells of censoring what [...]

NDP Convention Elects Moe Sihota as New Party President and…

The New Democrat’s biennial convention has come and gone. Being a political junkie, I was drawn to the convention like a moth is drawn to the brightly burning flame. And like the moth drawn to the flame, I can’t say I got much out of the event. Sure there were policy debates and resolutions were [...]

BC NDP Convention Day 3, Moe Sihota elected as new party president

Walked into the convention this morning to hear the final points being made on the Resolution G2009-01 Regular Leadership Review. After the final comment I heard, the familiar refrain, “Call the question.” The question was called, and carried. So in two years, at the next convention, there will be leadership review. You have to wonder of [...]

BC NDP Convention Part 2; Leadership review policy

I managed to have a chat with Harry Bains, MLA for Surrey-Newton and I asked him about the move to having regularly scheduled leadership reviews. His response was that it is a healthy move to have regular reviews of the leadership because that takes away the drama and intrigue about whether there should or should [...]

BC NDP Convention 2009

10:10 AM At the NDP provincial convention in Vancouver. Just had Carole James introduced…audience standing, clapping in unison. Will this last through the debate about the potential leadership review? Introductions of the elected NDP MLAs. Some drawing bigger cheers than others…Carole gets all screetchy trying to speak over the clapping. Burnaby Deer Lake MLA Kathy [...]

The Left Coast set to live-blog NDP Convention 2009

The Left Coast is registered to attend the BC New Democrat’s 2009 convention as a blogger. We will be bringing you live up-dates as the excitement unfolds. As most convention attenders realize, at times, live-blogging a convention is like live-blogging your lawn’s growth. However, we will find our own material to blog about as things unfold at the convention. [...]