Mar 24 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — During the 1981 bitter battle over the Charter of Rights an NDP MP was accused of leaking a confidential set of amendments to a Liberal colleague on the committee, wrestling with daily comma by comma confrontations. He narrowly escaped expulsion from a divided caucus. When Brian Mulroney polled in the low teens, he regularly had […]
Mar 17 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — In the U.K., the U.S. and Canada we may have seen the first cracks in the partisan walls that guarantee caucus discipline in each place. In the U.S., 12 Republican senators defied a presidential demand they support his “national emergency” to shift money from defence spending to his wall. This is a first in his […]
Mar 10 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — It had been an ecstatic election. Canadians made a decisive change, rejecting a shaky Conservative government, choosing an untested political star. He offered a bold vision on Indigenous Canadians, new social policy, and a Canada open to more immigrants and refugees. The Conservatives had fielded a leader who seemed out of sync with the “new […]
Mar 3 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — It is not easy to remain confident about the ability of parliamentary democracy to effectively check executive power in Canada, when the PMO is more all-powerful than ever. Harder still to remain confident about American institutional checks and balances, when the awesome power of the presidency is in the hands of a man described by […]
Feb 24 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — It has become a basic truth among a generation of campaigners who grew up with social media that the only campaign strategy and tactics that deliver votes are nasty. Starting with the Harris government, continuing through the Harper years, to their several provincial cousins today — some of different parties — campaign planning today is […]
Feb 17 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Politicians of all stripes love whistleblowers — until they are in power. Then the offending civil servant, public employee, or angry citizen becomes a “disloyal, illegal leaker!” Of all the many hypocritical hobby horses in political life there are few that can match this dichotomy. The Ford government was badly bruised this month when their […]
Feb 10 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Some politicians and cyber experts have been raising the alarm about cyberattacks and social media lies as threats to democracies, to mostly indifferent reaction, for years. The lies and attacks are already happening in Canada: Here’s the tally of just the past two weeks:
Feb 3 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — The day before many polls said “Too close too call,” election night saw a near 50 per cent majority in the crucial Nanaimo byelection. Why? It has become routine to trash pollsters for their forecasts, often widely divergent from real election outcomes. Less common is to hold pundits to task for their equally poor hit […]
Jan 27 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — There have been a few breakthrough elections in bringing young voters to the polls: Obama in 2008, Trudeau in 2015. There have been elections where young voters stayed home even more than usual, with disastrous results: the Brexit referendum in the U.K. However, most years 1-in-3 voters between 18 and 24, turnout. In Canada this […]
Jan 20 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Canada have risen to become the most powerful leaders in the G7. Not having any real separation between the executive branch — Prime Minister’s Office/Privy Council Office, cabinet, federal agencies and departments — and the legislature — the House of Commons and Senate; and with iron fisted caucus […]
Jan 13 2019 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Benjamin Franklin was right. Death and taxes are the only certitudes. But in electoral politics it is usually, “Why so much tax and for what!” that drives decisions, not mortality angst. No one expected 1988 to become “the free trade” election. Even fewer thought “sunny ways” would leap to the top of the charts. Guessing […]
Dec 9 2018 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Among the craziness that has slowly taken over democratic politics in this century is the conviction that in campaigning, policy-making, and in governing itself, it is always and necessarily a zero-sum game. “I won because you lost, sucker!”
Dec 2 2018 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — The sudden slide of MPP Amanda Simard into the purgatory of “independent” MPP was sad to see — whether self-imposed or shoved. There are few roles more barren of meaning or consequence in our heavily whipped caucus management politics. She avoided a worse choice, however — defecting. Those who cross the floor betraying their political […]
Nov 25 2018 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Hong Kong is Canada’s 15th largest city. Nearly 400,000 Canadians live here — only slightly smaller than Halifax — more than any other city in the world. It is more importantly, Asia’s only world metropolis. But it is enduring wrenching change as its forced integration with China gathers pace.
Nov 18 2018 — Robin V. Sears — Toronto Star — Once a decade or two Canada gets to play a much bigger role on the global stage than our scale would normally merit. At the creation of the UN, NATO, and peacekeeping, on Suez and killing apartheid, Canadians played essential bridge-building roles between the great powers. We may have arrived at a new such moment. […]