Sunday Afternoon Links

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- Pay no attention to mere pesky Nobel laureates with their baseless concern about Canada's consumer debt levels and housing prices. As long as Stephen Harper is sitting at a desk feigning concern, what could possibly go wrong with Canada's economy?

- Meanwhile, the Star tears into Harper over his party's contempt for Canada's election laws:

The Conservatives only invite more scorn by persisting with their threadbare claim that they are the victims of an “administrative dispute” and differences over “interpretations” of the law. As Liberal Dominic LeBlanc slyly noted in Parliament, “Mr. Speaker, there will be a lot of people in federal prisons tonight who will think they had an ‘administrative disagreement’ with the federal government.”

A party that campaigned to restore ethical governance cannot be comfortable being likened to criminals in denial, with election speculation in the air. Harper would do better to cut his losses, bow to Elections Canada’s better judgment, and accept responsibility for a sad chapter in the party’s history. This just gets worse.

- In case anybody was operating under the illusion that the Cons' Senate interference with the will of elected MPs was a one-time problem, no such luck:

Supporters are now optimistic the bill will pass when it comes to a vote Wednesday. The New Democrats and Bloc Québécois are solidly in favour, as are most Liberals and even a handful of Conservatives.

That doesn’t mean it will become law, however. MP Glen Pearson, the Liberal critic for international co-operation, says Conservatives have told him it will be killed in the government-controlled Senate. It could also die if there’s an early election.

But that should serve as reason to turf the Cons as soon as possible - since the longer they have to stack the Senate, the more time it will take for any alternative government to be able to actually pass legislation.

- Finally, great news out of my home riding of Wascana, as U of R professor Marc Spooner has put his name forward as the NDP's candidate for the next federal election. There's plenty of work to be done in both winning over votes which currently default to Ralph Goodale and working to boost turnout in parts of the riding which see woeful participation at all levels of government, but Spooner's profile and focus on housing issues should make him an ideal candidate for the effort.

On advancement

A couple of notes worth mentioning in Saskatchewan's NDP circles...

First, the Saskatchewan NDP's provincial caucus has named Stephen Moore as its new chief of staff. And aside from congratulating Stephen on the hiring, I'll note that the move has some interesting ramifications both provincially and federally.

On the provincial level, the hiring looks to be an astute one, as Moore's party commitment, progressive bona fides and base of knowledge and skills figure to be major assets for the provincial caucus as it charts its next course. But of course, that comes at the apparent cost of someone who I'd hoped would continue to carry the party banner in my home riding of Wascana - opening up another Regina-area seat for potential new contenders.

Speaking of which, one prospective campaign in the most promising of those ridings looks to be off to a good start. Noah Evanchuk hasn't yet unveiled an official website, but he's already working on fund-raising in advance of a formal launch.

Of course, Evanchuk was already doing well in his Facebook support at over 300 and counting. But it's the more the merrier for both public endorsements and fund-raising to support his campaign as it develops - so feel free to stop by and show some support for what looks to be the best chance of pulling Palliser out of Con hands and into those of the NDP.

On deep benches

Since I posted last week about Noah Evanchuk's intention to seek the NDP nomination for Palliser, there's been a flurry of discussion about impending nomination possibilities. So let's take a closer look at what we might see in Regina's other ridings.

To start with, it's worth noting that at least two of the three other local ridings have strong 2008 candidates who (to my knowledge at least) haven't ruled out running again. In Regina Qu'Appelle, Janice Bernier held onto the 32% share of the vote won by former MP Lorne Nystrom in the previous two elections, and won nothing but accolades as a committed and adept campaigner. And in my home riding of Wascana, Stephen Moore likewise earned nothing but praise personally in holding the NDP's share of the vote at 15% despite a fevered battle between the Libs and Cons over Ralph Goodale's riding.

I'll assume for the moment that Fred Kress won't take another shot at Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre after stepping in at the last minute for Moe Kovatch in 2008. But even there, his success in similarly holding the NDP's share of the vote - despite his starting late, and facing a Liberal star candidate who crashed and burned - should make him a strong possibility if he does want to run again.

From that starting point, the question is how much turnover there might be before the next set of nominations. And more than a few people are tossing out suggestions.

Yens Pedersen in Regina Qu'Appelle? Doubtful, as everything I've heard suggests that he'll stick to the provincial scene, and I'd expect him to want to run in either a riding with a strong prospect of success or one where coming up short won't be seen as a mark against him. (In that respect, in an ideal scenario where the NDP made the federal scene its sole priority, it might be interesting if Pedersen were to say "yes" to Wascana: would a high-profile three-way race finally push Goodale to his tipping point, or even open the door for him to be beaten without going voluntarily?)

"Meili folks" in Regina Qu'Appelle and Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre? While I don't see Buckdog's post as actually making this suggestion, it could reenergize the party's Regina base in a hurry. That said, though, I wonder whether the Meili movement might be best focused on a couple of adjacent ridings rather than spreading itself into most or all of the ridings - allowing for the Meili supporters to put in a concentrated effort in the west or south of Regina, while freeing up the NDP's existing support base to work the other two ridings.

Putting all of the above together, the ideal scenario based on the names and ideas now in play might be something along the lines of Evanchuk in Palliser, another Meili stalwart in Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre, and Bernier and Moore each taking a second shot at their respective ridings. But there's every possibility that other top candidates might surface from among Dwain Lingenfelter's personal connections, or be brought in thanks to the federal party's increased organizing efforts.

The question then would be how to fit that kind of talent into an already-strong slate. Which, needless to say, is not a bad problem for the NDP to face going into the next federal campaign - and hopefully it's one that will only get more complicated next time out thanks to the addition of incumbencies to the mix.

(Edit: fixed wording.)

That listeria has got to be here somewhere

A couple of follow-up points on Impolitical's post on Tony Clement this morning.

First, the Globe and Mail link doesn't list any details other than the name of the writer of the letter to the editor. But barring a surprising coincidence in names, the author of what was indeed an excellent letter should be familiar to those paying attention to the race in Wascana.

Second, Tony Clement's joke about food safety seems to remind me of some similarly classless attempt at non-humour where a party tried to make light of an ongoing tragedy for which he bore responsibility. Now if only I could remember exactly what that was...

Update: More from pogge.