Nothing good ever came from the politics of resentment.
Last week, several colleagues at the University of Calgary undertook a post-mortem of the federal election.
Two of our recent PhD graduates, David Coletto, now CEO of Abacus Data, and Paul Fairie, a principal with Centrality Data Science, provided a fine-grained analysis of what had been a two-part campaign. Part one: Canadians decided that the Conservatives would not have another term. In the much shorter second part, they decided that the Liberals were agents of change.
Were they? Lisa Young wondered whether 2015 was a “pivotal” or “critical” election, the way 1993 was. Then, the first two parties, led by Quebecers, and the third, Reform, led by Preston Manning, gained 191 seats.
The fourth and fifth parties, the NDP and the PCs, lost 189 seats. After 1993, federal politics consisted of a series of responses to fragmented conservative parties until the Conservative minority government a little over a decade later. Perhaps 2015 meant a return to the “brokerage politics” prior to the Mulroney government.
Everyone agreed this was not an election about interests. Canadians thought the Conservatives had done a good job managing the economy. As Tom Flanagan remarked on another occasion, quoting Hunter S. Thompson, it was about fear and loathing, where loathing of Harper trumped fear of leaving the country hostage to profound inexperience.
more sunny ways story
Cooper: Canadians fall prey to the politics of resentment | Calgary Herald
Last week, several colleagues at the University of Calgary undertook a post-mortem of the federal election.
Two of our recent PhD graduates, David Coletto, now CEO of Abacus Data, and Paul Fairie, a principal with Centrality Data Science, provided a fine-grained analysis of what had been a two-part campaign. Part one: Canadians decided that the Conservatives would not have another term. In the much shorter second part, they decided that the Liberals were agents of change.
Were they? Lisa Young wondered whether 2015 was a “pivotal” or “critical” election, the way 1993 was. Then, the first two parties, led by Quebecers, and the third, Reform, led by Preston Manning, gained 191 seats.
The fourth and fifth parties, the NDP and the PCs, lost 189 seats. After 1993, federal politics consisted of a series of responses to fragmented conservative parties until the Conservative minority government a little over a decade later. Perhaps 2015 meant a return to the “brokerage politics” prior to the Mulroney government.
Everyone agreed this was not an election about interests. Canadians thought the Conservatives had done a good job managing the economy. As Tom Flanagan remarked on another occasion, quoting Hunter S. Thompson, it was about fear and loathing, where loathing of Harper trumped fear of leaving the country hostage to profound inexperience.
more sunny ways story
Cooper: Canadians fall prey to the politics of resentment | Calgary Herald
