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

How Donald Trump has taken over Ottawa’s agenda

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 06/12/2017 - 08:52

The challenge facing Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government this summer has come like a bolt of lightning. It has come out of nowhere – or out of nowhere foreseeable when Trudeau was elected in October 2015, from a direction that was barely foreseeable as recently as 12 months ago.

The challenge can be stated in two words. No, those two words are not “deficit spending” or “electoral reform” or “Syrian refugees” or “gender parity” – words that now seem so 2015. The two words are simply “Donald Trump.”

APSA's Seymour Martin Lipset Best Book Award for Negotiating the Deal!

Submitted by Christopher Alc... on Thu, 06/08/2017 - 09:54

Dear Canadian Politics Section members,

I have received the report of this year's S. M. Lipset Book Award committee, and am delighted to share its decision with you. This year's committee was chaired by Professor James McCormick, Iowa State University. His colleagues on the committee were:

Trump makes himself, and Washington, a laughing stock to the world

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 06/05/2017 - 09:07

Donald Trump claims he is making America Great Again.

He is doing no such thing. What he is doing is just the opposite. He is surrendering American leadership abroad, frightening allies with erratic pronouncements and encouraging his enemies with a lack of consistent resolve.

Scheer is a safe choice for the Conservatives, but can he beat Trudeau?

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Tue, 05/30/2017 - 10:08

In the early months following their 2015 election defeat, there was a sense among Conservatives that they were facing two terms in opposition. They knew the patient Canadian electorate generally grants new governments a second term, unless they screw up royally in their first one.

Does incumbency, salary, and district magnitude affect the decision and ability of women and visible minorities to win municipal office?

Submitted by Christopher Alc... on Wed, 05/24/2017 - 08:55

That's the research question of a new paper that Zac Spicer, Michael McGregor, and I have published in the latest issue of Electoral Studies.

Winning is just the beginning for a new Conservative leader

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Tue, 05/23/2017 - 09:21

The Conservatives will get a new national leader this coming weekend. Assuming the party’s computer system can handle the complicated preferential ballots with 14 names (Kevin O’Leary being on the ballot still), the Canadian electorate should know on Saturday who will be on offer if they choose to rid themselves of Justin Trudeau and don’t warm to whomever the NDP chooses.

Why no one is paying attention to the Conservative leadership campaign

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 05/15/2017 - 09:52

The party that Stephen Harper built will choose a new leader in just 12 days’ time, and it has a big problem.

Normally, leadership campaigns serve to do two things – to excite the party faithful and to attract at least the interest of the electorate at large. There is no sign, however, that this Conservative campaign has done either.

Deciphering scandals: which ones are real and which are faux?

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 05/08/2017 - 09:27

There are at least three varieties of political scandals – real scandals, maybe (or maybe not) scandals and faux scandals.

In the category of real scandals, I would put the Sponsorship scandal in which an estimated $100 million in taxpayer money disappeared to into the bank accounts of friends and supporters of Jean Chrétien’s Liberals. Another real scandal was the Airbus affair in which former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney secretly accepted $300,000 in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber, the Airbus lobbyist.

What will the Conservatives do without their “Mr. Wonderful?”

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 05/01/2017 - 10:26

When “Mr. Wonderful” left the stage so abruptly last week, he sucked all the air out of the Conservative leadership drama.

Kevin O’Leary’s candidacy had thrilled and distressed Conservatives in roughly equal proportions. Every conversation about the party leadership turned inevitably to the star of Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank.

A Majority of Canadians Are Willing to Renegotiate NAFTA… Until You Mention Trump

Submitted by Timothy Gravelle on Sun, 04/30/2017 - 10:12

After months of disparaging the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a “disaster” for American workers while making Mexico the primary focus of his criticisms, U.S. President Donald Trump has recently trained his sights on Canada. Specific grievances have included Canada’s supply management system for dairy (though not part of NAFTA) and the long-running softwood lumber dispute. Throughout, Trump has reiterated his commitment to renegotiating NAFTA to better suit American interests, and failing that, walking away from the pact.