LISPOP | Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy

America’s middle class tax cut myth

Submitted by Barry Kay on Wed, 11/29/2017 - 09:17

One would think that among the easiest policy changes to sell in the United States is a tax reduction. This should be particularly true for a tax cut directed to the middle class, where the majority of voters are found. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump's presidency, one must acknowledge that he has a remarkable gift for marketing and sloganeering. Whether apocryphal or not, the phrases "Make America Great Again," "Drain the Swamp" and "America First" have resonated with a significant slice of the U.S. electorate.

Source:

The Record

The Battle of Ontario is starting to take shape

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 11/27/2017 - 09:23

The Ontario provincial election next June 7 is going to be quite a battle.

The campaign already has most of the elements that political junkies could wish for. To start with there are 15 brand new ridings to fight over – including Kitchener South-Hespeler – as the Ontario Legislature expands to 122 members from 107.

Of cabinet ministers, conflict of interest and “Skippy” Poilievre

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 11/20/2017 - 08:57

When Parliament returns to work today following its week-long Remembrance Day break, one thing is certain: “Skippy” will be back at it again – holding Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s feet to the fire.

Mr. Trudeau escapes from Ottawa

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 09:08

Justin Trudeau is discovering a truth that reveals itself to every new prime minister by the time they have been in office for a couple of years.

Ottawa is a grand place to live and raise kids (which Trudeau can appreciate more than most, having been born there), but it is an even grander place to escape from – to abandon the petty partisanship of Parliament Hill and fly off to meet other world leaders somewhere, anywhere far from the Ottawa bubble.

No Barbies or Walmart greeters among Trudeau’s strong women

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 11/06/2017 - 13:40

Say what you will about Justin Trudeau, but you must concede he is a man who is not afraid to surround himself with strong women. We have seen this in the past week in incidents involving Catherine McKenna, his environment minister, and Julie Payette, the astronaut/scientist whom he chose as Canada’s governor general.

A tale of two senseless and unnecessary political prosecutions

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 10/30/2017 - 10:23

On the face of it, the two prosecutions – of two Ontario Liberal party operatives in the Sudbury by-election affair and of former Conservative Senator Mike Duffy in the Senate expenses scandal – have nothing in common beyond the fact that both involved political figures and allegations of bribery.

There are, however, other similarities.

Both involved charges that should never have been laid, because there was no evidence in either case that offences had actually been committed.

Misjudgment may cost Morneau his political career

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 10/23/2017 - 09:08

Back in the mists of time, a half-century ago, there was a majority Liberal government that went though the same sort of mid-term pain that Justin Trudeau’s government is experiencing today, as its poll numbers slide, ministers stumble, key policies unravel and the opposition, smelling blood, circles impatiently.

Befuddlement ensues when messages are muddled

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 10/16/2017 - 09:27

There are times when a poor befuddled layman wonders whether the left hand knows what the right hand is doing (or vice versa) in government and big business.

Donald Trump is the wild card in Canadian politics

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Tue, 10/10/2017 - 09:28

With two years still to go, the battle lines are already forming for the federal election scheduled for Oct. 21, 2019.

The battle will be led by three men who are the youngest collection of major party leaders in Canadian history. It comes as a bit of a shock to realize that Justin Trudeau, who was the bright young hope of the Liberals when they chose him in 2013 – and who was derided by the Conservatives as being too young to be prime minister – is now the oldest of the three leaders. He’s 45.

Bombardier and Boeing: A rock and a hard place

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 10/02/2017 - 04:34

A few thoughts today about Bombardier and Boeing.

First, Boeing’s complaint to the U.S. Commerce Department about Bombardier and the subsidies it receives from governments in Canada really has nothing to do with the sale of those 75 Bombardier 100-passenger C Series jetliners to Delta Airlines. It has everything to do with Boeing’s determination to defend its turf from foreign competition.