This year’s election campaign has been one of the longest in our country’s political history, characterized by the usual kinds of political messaging, policy debates and ethical questions on governance. The campaign seemed a typical…
View More #Refugeecrisis Galvanizes Arab Community
Arab media publications across Canada are providing extensive coverage of the Syrian crisis, often publishing editorials in support of the Conservative Party’s approach to fighting ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also called ISIL…
View More Pulse: Arab Media Tack Conservative
Public opinion surveys over the last week have shown that Canadians are more-or-less in lockstep with the government as it drags its feet on bringing in Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war at home. Despite the…
View More Refugee Arrivals Turn Taxpayers, tooWith the federal election campaign crossing the midway marker, the theatrics are as predictable as ever, with minor distractions. Leaders of all the major political parties are staying on message, spouting lines that sound jaded, throwing…
View More Parties Target Messages to ImmigrantsAs I walked along a Vancouver beach near my home this morning, I reflected on the extraordinary sea change in the Canadian election campaign. From the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the blue Pacific…
View More Syrian Sea Change in Election Campaign
“Did I tell you the time I was called ‘a little girl’?” asks MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan incredulously. Sitting in her election campaign headquarters in Scarborough’s Malvern neighbourhood, the first-term MP is recounting her experiences in…
View More Lone Tamil MP Seeks Re-entry into “White Man’s Club”Former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau notoriously blamed the separatists’ defeat in the 1995 Quebec referendum on money and the ethnic vote. When it comes to money, the Harper Conservatives have a distinct advantage over their…
View More The “Ethnic Vote”: All Over the Map
As we trudge along towards an expected fall election, the race is on to gain votes from the “middle class”. In the midst of an economic downturn, both the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Liberals…
View More Immigrants Excluded from “Middle Class”
The election campaign began in earnest with Tuesday’s budget, Joe Oliver’s first and Stephen Harper’s last before the writ drops in September for the October 19 election. And the crucial battleground is the Greater Toronto…
View More Joe Oliver’s 905 budget: Let the Election Countdown Begin