McLeod Group Blog, Sept. 24, 2015
Oh, it’s a long long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
—September Song, Maxwell Anderson, 1938
In May, the NDP published a policy paper entitled ‘Canada cares: Our vision for international development cooperation‘. The overall policy was very good. Among other things, it pledged to reverse the dramatic cuts made by the Harper government. ‘Under the Conservatives,’ the paper lamented, ‘Canada’s ...
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McLeod Group Blog, Sept. 14, 2015
[Third of three McLeod Group blogs about Coalitions]
In a two-party political system, two parties dominate the political scene, and in an election one has the expectation of forming a majority government.
The Canadian two-party system has become something of a fiction, played out in the hopes and aspirations of three different parties and often in majorities that are that in name alone. The Harper ‘majority’ of 2011—54% of the seats—was achieved with only 39.6% of the ...
Continue Reading →AN OPEN LETTER TO AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT
from Ian Smillie
October 29, 2013
Dear Tony Abbott,
The day after you led your Liberal/National Coalition to a landslide victory in September, you announced that AusAID, the Australian government’s aid agency, will be integrated into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Because many have likened this move to what Canada has done in merging CIDA with DFAIT, I thought I might give you some background information on what has happened ...
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