On April 30, the Manitoba provincial government will present its budget for the coming fiscal year. You can be sure that within the budget package the government will trumpet the tax savings that it has bestowed on Manitoba wage earners over the years. You can be equally sure that there will be no mention of…
Manitoba Liberal leader Rana Bokhari has come under fire for not doing enough to capitalize on the governing NDP’s turmoil. An editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press called her performance “underwhelming” (twice, to make it very clear) and another column questions whether she has the “determination and intellect” to turn the party into a viable…
A year ago, mysterious full-page ads appeared in the local newspaper. The ads, from a group calling themselves Manitoba Forward, criticized the provincial government’s ambitious development plans for Manitoba Hydro. As I documented in an earlier blog post, there was very little information on the internet about this group called “Manitoba Forward”, forcing one to…
UPDATE: The Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that the cost to the city will now be $7.25 million — up $3 million over the initial budget. That means that Hydro is covering $18 million of the project in the name of infrastructure renewal. There are a few questions that a person might ask at this…
I once had a conversation with a person from an obscure political party who’s platform involved holding a referendum on every major economic or policy decision. “What could be more democratic than that?” he asked. Nothing, I suppose, but the point of a democracy isn’t to put every individual decision in the hands of…
I have decided to post my impressions and rankings of each candidate. Warning: some of my impressions may be misguided. I have not been following every debate or reading every news release. However I know the names of all the candidates, and a few things about where they stand. I even live tweeted a debate…
With long time Councillor Dan Vandal moving on to bigger and better things, the race to represent St. Boniface at Winnipeg city hall is wide open. Though four people are running, one — Matt Allard — is the clear favourite. Who are the other three, and what are their ideas? I decided to interview a…
With long time Councillor Dan Vandal moving on to bigger and better things, the race to represent St. Boniface at Winnipeg city hall is wide open. Though four people are running, one — Matt Allard — is the clear favourite. Who are the other three, and what are their ideas? I decided to interview a…
Door-knocking is so old fashioned. The internet is where you want to be if you’re a candidate for Mayor, or anything else. It is inexpensive, has a wide reach, and can be an effective tool to engage voters. How effective it is depends on how you use it. I have devised a scorecard based on…
Today, the novel Manitoba Forward/United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg 2014 Winnipeg Mayoral Election crowd-funded survey results were released. And even though the results were already plastered all over the internet while I was still at work, I am still proud to have been a sponsor of this poll. As a sponsor I feel I should…
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