Oct 21 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — In politics, there are two factors — over which you have no control — that determine your fate: timing and luck. In running for office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have taken his father’s advice that “the essential ingredient of politics is timing” to heart.
Oct 15 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — In an age of social media and intense global competition, “brand” has become more important than ever. While it was once the exclusive domain of consumer-focused companies, now individuals, organizations and nations alike have become acutely aware of the image they project and the benefits that come with successfully building brand equity.
Oct 7 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks at the political landscape across the country, he must be reminded of just how true is the political axiom that time is your enemy. When he won a majority mandate just two years ago, the country was in the midst of what could best be described as a love […]
Sep 30 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The more things change, the more they stay the same. In spite of the acute attention paid to the ongoing negotiations week after week, the NAFTA narrative remains fundamentally the same: meetings take place, another “all-nighter” makes headlines, and so-called deadlines evaporate into thin air.
Sep 23 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Ask any Canadian conservative about federal politics during the mid-’90s, and you will be met with a grimace. Just when right-of-centre provincial parties were making substantial headway across the country, the Reform, Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties were insisting on a futile battle for voter support that saw them languish in second, third or even […]
Aug 12 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — When political parties, who have spent years wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of opposition, eventually come to power, they are often counselled by their new advisers to pause and take a moment to catch their breath. This advice is offered not just with the best of intentions, but for good reason as well: campaigns are […]
Jun 24 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this month’s Pride celebration doesn’t still matter. For the young lesbian woman living in Northern Ontario who travels to Toronto for the first time and finds a community of over a million supporters. For the closeted refugee who sneaks off to Pride because his family does not accept […]
Jun 17 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The fact Doug Ford won a majority government is now old news, so let’s turn to why he won. In the days after the polls closed, my firm, Navigator, undertook a research study to determine why voters made the choices they did. The research was based on a simple premise: If we could figure why […]
Jun 10 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — A deeply revealing moment occurred just minutes after having led the PC party to a large majority government after years in the political wilderness, Doug Ford was declared the next Premier of Ontario. Traditionally, the political party leaders speak in order of their placement. With Premier Wynne and the Liberals placing a distant third, it […]
Jun 3 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Here we go again. Yet another article penned on the generation that’s most fascinated with itself: millennials. A source of endless interest for a media transfixed by this new generation that has vastly different interests and expectations than the generations before them.
May 27 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — As the Ontario provincial election race careens into its final weeks, there is already one clear winner: Toronto Mayor John Tory. After decades in and around political arenas at the national and provincial level, Tory has hit his stride as the leader of the fourth-largest city in North America. After decades as a partisan politician, […]
May 20 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The fairy tale that best fits this Ontario election: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The voters, playing the role of Goldilocks, find the Liberal porridge has grown cold and, for many, Doug Ford’s Conservative bowl a trifle hot. That leaves Andrea Horwath and the NDP an opportunity: to serve porridge that is exactly right temperature […]
May 13 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — Anyone who believes the adage that “you dance with the one who brung ya,” must be taken aback by the latest developments from Doug Ford’s campaign. Justifying his decision to bounce Tanya Granic Allen as candidate, Ford declared that “her characterization of certain issues and people has been irresponsible.” Those “certain issues” include public-voiced anti-Muslim […]
May 6 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — The daily outrages have grown tiresome. What was once shocking has become less and less interesting. U.S. President Donald Trump’s behaviour, the craziness surrounding his office — porn stars, law enforcement raids on his personal lawyer’s office, the bald-face lies — has become the “new normal.” But even as we all grow numb to the […]
Apr 29 2018 — Jaime Watt — Toronto Star — While most Ontarians are enjoying the first beautiful days of spring after what seems like an especially long and dark winter, the campaign teams of Ontario’s political parties are squirrelled away in dark editing suites putting their advertising campaigns together. The pressure is on. And for good reason. It is generally conceded in modern elections […]