Professor Emeritus Richard Johnston says allowing “none of the above” as a ballot choice would actually worsen political apathy
“Elections are about choosing governments, that’s the bottom line. We should not be in the business of encouraging people to engage in throwaway, cheap talk,” Professor Emeritus Richard Johnston said. It could encourage people to do no research on the political parties and just show up, tick a box then leave without truly participating in democracy, he argued.
Former justice minister Wilson-Raybould’s tell-all book on SNC-Lavalin affair not likely to swing voters: Prof. Maxwell Cameron
Prof. Maxwell Cameron said he doesn’t believe the information outlined in the excerpts from the book will have a great effect on voters’ intentions toward the Liberals in B.C. or in Vancouver Granville, other than to reinforce attitudes toward Trudeau that already exist.
Lecturer Kenny Ie explains Canada’s electoral systems in a guide to the federal election by The Ubyssey
“It’s important to recognize that at the most basic level, voters are not choosing a government, they are choosing a candidate who is going to represent the district that they are voting in,” lecturer Kenny Ie explains.
‘An invitation to sound bites’: Professor Emeritus Richard Johnston breaks down Canadian election debate
“It’s always going to be difficult when you have so many people on the stage,” Johnston explained. “Canadian debates have been predominantly terrible for about 20 years now.”
“Canada is a global carbon bomb,” Postdoctoral fellow Amy Janzwood tells Ricochet
Recent research shows Canada’s anticipated oil and gas production from 2021 to 2050 would exhaust about 16 per cent of the world’s remaining carbon budget. “Building new fossil fuel infrastructure, like this mega oil sands pipeline that locks in fossil fuel expansion, is wildly inconsistent with reducing our emissions,” Janzwood says.
The federal NDP may pay a price for the perceived sins of its provincial counterparts, says Prof. Kathryn Harrison
“What can happen in federal elections is that people’s frustration with a provincial government can spill over into the vote,” Professor Kathryn Harrison said. “And one of the challenges I suspect for Jagmeet Singh is that there are a lot of Green voters who are unhappy with the John Horgan government right now.”
Professor Emeritus Richard Johnston on whether election day be a holiday or held on a weekend in Canada
It remains far-fetched that Canada’s federal election day would be made a public holiday, Professor Emeritus Richard Johnston says, but the idea of holding a weekend election could be possible — if MPs ever have the will to explore it.
Liberals face loss of progressive votes in bid for Vancouver-Granville riding, Prof. Gerald Baier says.
“It’s not just the legacy of Wilson-Raybould with the Liberals, but (Noormohamed) has to run against the likelihood there are progressive voters in the riding now who have a more obvious progressive choice in the form of an NDP candidate,” Prof. Gerald Baier said in an interview.
Prof. Gerald Baier says social media campaigning not enough to get people out to vote.
“Young voters often don’t turn out to vote,” Prof. Gerald Baier explained. “You have to knock on doors and get people out to vote, and I think that will be even more important this time around when turnout is expected to be low.”
Prof. Kathryn Harrison comments on whether GHG emissions have risen under Trudeau
“It is very likely that [emissions] fell from 2019 to 2020, because of economic contraction during the pandemic — but we don’t have that data yet,” Professor Kathryn Harrison told CBC.