Regina Qu'Appelle Valley - Steve Ryan Nominated as NDP Candidate

Another of the NDP's noteworthy nomination contests came to a conclusion last night, as Steve Ryan won the race to serve as the party's candidate in Regina Qu'Appelle Valley. By all indications, Ryan ran an extremely strong nomination campaign - and he'll now have a full year's head start before next year's election to win votes back into the NDP's column in what was one of the province's closest ridings in 2007.

The nomination leaves Regina Wascana Plains as the lone constituency in Saskatchewan's capital without a nominated NDP candidate for 2011. And while the 2007 results may make the seat seem like a long shot, Doreen Hamilton managed to win it in each of the four previous elections - which should make it worth keeping an eye on who decides to pursue the nomination.

Tuesday Morning Links & Events

Content goes here.

- For those who missed Stephen's post on the criminalization of dissent in Canada is this weekend's must-read.

- Lawrence Martin is the latest to tear into the Cons' guilt-by-association standard:

Canadians have gained a reputation as a fair-minded people. There have been exceptions through our history, but, by and large, we have been seen as a moderate and tolerant country.

We didn’t do guilt by association, for example. But that’s what so distressing about the character of today’s Conservatives. They revel in it.
...
There are countless examples of the intolerant streak that marks this government. Canada opposed the Iraq war, yet we won’t allow a haven to Americans who opposed fighting in that war, as we did with Vietnam. We’re probably the only G20 country that tried to bar George Galloway, at the time a British MP, from coming to speak. Minister of State Diane Ablonczy was stripped of some of her responsibilities for her support of Gay Pride week. Those criticizing aspects of our Afghanistan policy are berated for not supporting our troops. If a bank executive like Ed Clark criticizes government economic policy, he’s pilloried for supposedly being motivated by politics rather than economic expertise.

The tolerant Canada of old would have allowed Omar Khadr his basic Charter rights. The tolerant Canada of the past would have allowed our federal scientists to express their views, not have them vetted by political operatives. It would allow sophisticated research at the Justice Department to see the light of day even if it contradicted government sentencing policy, and it would give full wing to data collection by Statistics Canada.

One of the more remarkable observations by our Prime Minister came with his dumping of Linda Keen, the head of the Nuclear Safety Commission, after she shut down the nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont. The PM had reasonable grounds for arguing for a different course, and he was within his rights to dismiss her. But he then gave away his deeper motivation – he suspected she was secretly doing the handiwork of the Liberal Party. “Since when does the Liberal Party have a right, from the grave through one of its previous appointees, to block the production of necessary medical products in this country,” he said.

Guilt by association. It’s a hallmark of the modus operandi, a cheap instrument of attack politics that tarnishes the image of all Conservatives.

- Meanwhile, Murray Dobbin points out the dangers of the Cons' economic dogma:

Harper and Flaherty have set the country up for its biggest spending cuts since Paul Martin's blitzkrieg through federal social spending in 1995. Martin had the advantage of a huge existing deficit and debt, and years of media-driven deficit hysteria. The Harper government has had to create its own crisis. With his five-year, $60-billion tax cut program launched in 2007, Flaherty has taken tens of billions out of government coffers yearly, at exactly the same time that the opposition parties forced the Conservatives into stimulus spending. They now have the perfect numbers to go on a deficit cutting rampage.

A campaign against the planned austerity budget is not difficult to construct -- but it's tough to imagine anyone leading it. The key to turning back the Conservatives' austerity plan is a call for a return to a sane level of income taxes. We will have cut corporate taxes virtually in half over the past 10 years once Flaherty's program is complete. The super-rich in Canada have enjoyed a decline in their tax rate of eleven percentage points, while 95 per cent of Canadians averaged a decrease of one percentage point. The wealthiest five per cent of Canadians increased their share of the income pie by a staggering 20 per cent between 1992 and 2004.

The case for tax increases, especially a couple of new tax brackets for the rich and super-rich, are clearly justified and not just from a fair tax perspective. Countries with greater income inequality are the countries with the poorest performing economies overall.

As for bringing corporate taxes back in line with the norm in the G8 and OECD countries, there is no credible evidence that lower corporate income taxes have any positive impact on investment decisions -- either domestic or foreign direct investment. If there is no new demand for products and services, there will be no new investment, even if the income tax rate is zero.
...
The Canadian economy is running on empty, a faux consumer-led recovery based on unsustainable debt. This will be Flaherty's legacy. So far he has just been bloody lucky.

- Finally, let's note that the Saskatchewan NDP nomination schedule is in full swing, with meetings set for Thunder Creek (tomorrow night in Moose Jaw), Regina Qu'Appelle Valley on the 19th, Moose Jaw Wakamow on the 20th and Saskatoon Silver Springs on the 30th (to be followed by four more meetings set for early November).

Regina Qu'Appelle Valley - Tracy Rogoza Seeking NDP Nomination

The NDP's nomination race in Regina Qu'Appelle Valley now has a second entrant: Tracy Rogoza, an insurance broker with a strong background in swimming and volunteer work - as well as some key family connections as the daughter of longtime Regina mayor Doug Archer.

Between Rogoza and Steve Ryan (who has launched a website of his own), the NDP boasts two strong young candidates who should each have an excellent chance to topple the Sask Party's Laura Ross in a riding which was home to one of the province's closest races in 2007. Which means that whether or not any more contenders throw their hat into the ring in the Regina Qu'Appelle Valley, this should be a nomination contest to watch.

Regina Qu'Appelle Valley - Steve Ryan Seeking NDP Nomination

I've been wondering for quite some time how long it would be before a nomination race started up in Regina Qu'Appelle Valley, which was the NDP's closest Regina loss in 2007. Now James Wood has the answer, as Steve Ryan has put his name forward:

Steve Ryan, a former University of Regina Rams football player and brother of Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, announced this week he would run for the party's nomination in Regina Qu'Appelle Valley.

Ryan was drafted by the NDP to run in Wood River in 2007 after the party's original candidate dropped out. He lost to long-time Sask. Party MLA Yogi Huyghebaert.

While Ryan's 2007 result isn't exactly one he'll want to point to (as he received the lowest vote total of any NDP candidate in the province), it's certainly to his credit that he was willing to put his name on the ballot. And he's had some public involvement in the meantime as well which bodes well for his dedication to the NDP's efforts.

Of course, it'll be a surprise if there aren't more candidates yet to come. But Ryan's entry in the race should help push them to make up their minds as well - so we should have another strong nomination contest heating up just as the current ones in Regina South and Regina Coronation Park come to a close next week.