Gerry Nicholls

As we all know by now, the vast majority of political pundits (including yours truly) completely misread the recent Alberta election.

We all thought the Wildrose Party would bloom; but instead it got cut down by the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party lawn mower and thrown onto the compost heap of...

When it comes to political communication, the advent of YouTube and other video-sharing websites has been a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, YouTube allows both political campaigns and advocacy groups to inexpensively and quickly get their messages out to a potentially wide audience.

In other words, TV is no...

For the first time since 1960, Canada's federal New Democratic Party is really new.

And when I say "new" I mean "different."

In electing the fiery Thomas Mulcair as their leader over the weekend, the New Democrats dramatically changed the nature of their party.

Just think about how his victory...

A lot of people expected the so-called "robocall scandal" to inflict some serious damage to the Conservative government's standing in the polls.

As NDP MP Pat Martin put it, "This is the kind of thing that brings governments down."

And it's easy to see why Martin and others...

A lot of people are wondering if the upstart Wildrose party can win the upcoming Alberta election.

I think it can.

But to win the Wildrosers will need to do three things.

First, they absolutely must stick to their conservative principles. It's the party's ideological orientation, after all, which distinguishes...

Canadian democracy is in grave danger.

Or so say lots of pundits, journalists and academics who keep warning us about how the politicians in Ottawa are slowly eroding away our traditional parliamentary democratic institutions.

They point out, for instance, how the Conservative government is severely limiting parliamentary debate, and how...

It's Christmas season, a time of joyous fun and festivities.

And if you believe that then you have clearly been duped by multinational corporations, working in conjunction with the Tea Party, the CIA and Fox News.

In reality, Christmas, with its crass commercialization, is a nightmare of capitalistic exploitation, decking...

Better polish your jackboots and practicing goose-stepping because Canada is in the grips of a democracy-hating, military-glorifying, censorship-loving right-wing reactionary.

Or so implies columnist Lawrence Martin, who recently warned about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's brand of "right-wing nationalism."

Martin says Harper's brash ideological style "contributes to fears of...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is not just a Conservative politician; he's also a counter-revolutionary.

Or at the very least, he's extremely sympathetic with Canada's counter-revolutionary movement.

And yes, believe it or not, we do have counter-revolutionaries in Canada. The revolution they seek to counter...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper used to believe in free political speech.

Back in the days before he was prime minister, while he was still serving as president of the National Citizens Coalition -- I worked with him for five years -- he vehemently opposed government attempts to...

Canada's cultural elitists are getting mighty nervous these days.

Why?

Because word has it the Conservative government may trim the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's budget.

Now for regular TV consumers, who mainly watch non-CBC programming, the possibility a CBC budget cut probably ranks somewhere below getting a hangnail on...

Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hébert recently pondered the federal Liberal Party of Canada's future or lack thereof.

As she put it, "Watching the receding Liberal tide, one can reasonably wonder whether the party as a major national presence has reached the point of no return."

Well she...

Contenders in the upcoming federal NDP leadership campaign will all face a similar problem.

And that problem has to do with "applause lines."

Applause lines are those bits in a speech designed to get an audience cheering and clapping with approval.

It's also the part of the speech you hope...

Jack Layton might be gone but he won't soon be forgotten.

In fact, I dare say Layton's legacy will dominate Canada's social democratic movement for years to come.

After all, the circumstances of his death -- his popularity, his courageous battle against cancer, the outpouring of adulation, his famous last...

Military strategists like to say no plan survives contact with the enemy.

The same is true in politics.

Political tactics must always be modified and adapted.

Case in point is the election plan for Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party.

Going into the provincial election the PCs had a simple strategy,...

My son and I love both love the sport of baseball but unfortunately we don't love it in the same way.

And for me that's a cause for real grief.

To understand what I mean, you need to know I am a baseball zealot. And when I had a son,...

In Ayn Rand's famous philosophic novel, Atlas Shrugged, leading entrepreneurs and businessmen go "on strike" as a way of protesting socialism.

Eventually this strike causes the economy to collapse which in turns causes politicians to finally understand the true value of those who actually create wealth and prosperity.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says when (if?) he balances the budget, he will move next to "flatten" taxes.

As he recently put it, "I think we should be moving toward a flatter personal income tax system because it encourages economic activity ... it encourages entrepreneurial activity in Canada."

In case you ever wondered, (and I am sure you haven't) American actors Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep, all "speak French, very well."

I learned this while visiting the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

So by now you are probably asking...