Wednesday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your midweek reading.

- Thomas Walkom ponders the possible outcome of an election whose core message is whether or not to give the Cons a majority:

(G)iven the mood of the country, an NDP-Liberal coalition properly arranged ahead of time (with, for instance, common candidates) might win the next election — which, for politicians, is what matters.

With their anti-coalition propaganda, the Conservatives have already defined this coming contest in dualistic terms — good versus evil, us versus them.

If voters truly believe that they face a stark choice between Harper and the forces of Anti-Harper, the Conservatives could be unpleasantly surprised.

Now, I still don't see common candidates in advance of an election being a viable option (as distinct from a willingness to work together afterward). But if the Libs would allow the "Harper vs. Anti-Harper" them to develop rather than insisting that the latter will be ignored if they don't agree to do Michael Ignatieff's bidding, I'd agree with Walkom that we'd be likely to see a result that would disappoint the Cons.

- Meanwhile, anybody looking to speculate on when the next election might take place will want to take a look at Alice's handy guide.

- David McKie notes a disturbing drop in the use of access to information requests by journalists:

perhaps it's time for journalism schools and newsrooms to wake up and use a law that provides access, albeit difficult access, to important information. To be sure, journalists are using the act to tell stories, such as an excellent behind-the-scenes account last fall in The Ottawa Citizen that provided a window in the chaos that resulted after an earthquake shook the foundations of buildings in Ottawa and surrounding towns and cities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. The story was one of mind-numbing confusion that left some federal officials red-faced and embarrassed. But more importantly, the story also provided a useful example of why it's important for governments to be prepared for catastrophes and what can result if they aren't.

Stories like this need to be told. We must know the true cost of prison reform. We have to know the real impact of the government's stimulus spending. We need to have a meaningful discussion about the future of health care. Many of the records that help shed light on these and many other issues can only be pried loose with the help of access to information. Going through the process is not for the faint of heart. But neither is being a journalist facing a federal government bent on spin and obfuscation and a bureaucracy that is justifiably scared, and many times forbidden from talking to journalists. So let's all get cracking. There's too much at stake for journalists to be on the wrong side of a downward trend.

- And finally, The Real News features Tom Ferguson on the dangers of big-money, low-turnout politics: