Worth Reading – July 3, 2014

On June 30^th four by-elections were held in Ontario and Alberta. Turnout was abysmally low. Alice Funke breaks it down. 

The 2014 Ontario election appears to have divided the ONDP. Martin Regg Cohn talks about Andrea Horwath’s (ONDP – Hamilton Centre) approach to result of the election as a triumph. 

Believe it or not public transit has to balance a number of demands: area of service, frequency of service, and social service. Transit agencies may have abandoned their social service aspect to appeal to wealthier neighbourhoods in effort to gain support. 

Tim Harper in the Toronto Star writes about how the results of the Trinity-Spadina by-election may have no impact on the 2015 general election. (Obviously).

The Toronto Star profiles Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly and how he has brought sanity back to Toronto’s City Hall in the absence of Rob Ford. 

The Globe and Mail has an interesting piece about Canadian politics in World War I and the impact on the present. 

Martin Regg Cohn, again, talks about the Progressive Conservative and how the party needs to move away from the harsh tone and wedge politics. 

More controversy from my hometown! What pride I feel. The city has given out over $1.1 million in contracts without proper tender, breaking its own by-laws. 

Andrew Coyne in the National Post talks about Stephen Harper’s (CPC – Calgary Southwest, AB) recasting of Canadian history and how silly this conflict is. 

Last story for this week. From the Northern Journal, Yellowknife is asking the Supreme Court if the electoral boundaries redistribution violates the charter rights of residents. This is an argument between representation by population against local representation. At first I sided with Yellowknife in this dispute but reading an editorial definitely caused me to rethink the issue, which sadly I cannot track down. Perhaps more on this on Tuesday.