Friday Evening Links

This and that to end your week.

- Jeffrey Simpson discusses how the Cons have diminished Canada's place on the world stage:

For those who care about Canada's international reputation and Canada's ability to influence others in the pursuit of Canada's self-interest, these are discouraging days.

Everywhere, there is penny-pinching that makes no sense, a hectoring tone not appreciated by others, and a misunderstanding about how international affairs really work. For a government that has proclaimed Canada is “back” on the international stage, what is actually happening would be funny were it not serious.
...
Canada has retreated into an anglospheric worldview coupled with a focus on trade deals, but lacking any sense of a wider conception of international affairs.

Hectoring and lecturing undoubtedly appeals to the Conservative Party's core voters. It does not impress other governments, including friendly ones.

- Andrew Coyne does well in highlighting the importance of the opposition's stand against the Cons' abuses of democracy. But his turn as a self-proclaimed judge of political seriousness doesn't much help matters when it comes to trying to encourage people to notice what's gone wrong.

- Alice sorts out how votes shifted between the 2008 and 2011 federal elections. And while it may not be the largest block of voters moving, I'd think it's worth highlighting this rather remarkable factoid:

The Green Party held less of its own 2008 vote in 2011 (30%) than defected from them to the NDP (33%).

- Finally, Paul Dechene points out that Regina's latest evidence of painfully low housing availability is nothing new at all - and that in fact the glaring lack of rental accommodations has been festering for upwards of three years without a hint of action from the city or province.