The Globe and Mail - Jeffrey Simpson Columns

Quebec's young Liberals are being thrown to the wolves

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 01:14 EDT

How can any candidate win with almost no help from the national party?

Quebec's young Liberals thrown to the wolves

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:00 EDT

Marcos Simard turned 21 yesterday. A bright, engaging young man, he is dressed in a dark suit and patterned tie, chatting with a composure that belies his youth, in a room with one telephone, one computer and black-and-white pamphlets that look like they were run off on a stencil machine.

Incremental man

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 02:37 EDT

Stephen Harper is a leader few people really know, one who prefers pragmatism to passion, results to vision

Incremental man

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 00:00 EDT

Last weekend, Stephen Harper interrupted his determined quest to shape Canada's future and turned his attention to the past.He went to his high-school reunion.Largely eluding the campaign media, Mr. Harper slipped into his old Ontario stomping grounds in a well-heeled part of Etobicoke to pose for snapshots and swap tales with other members of Richview Collegiate Institute's class of 1978. He had a word or two for almost everyone, and the conversation ranged from the rigours of middle-age dieting to memories of his childhood paper route.

All that wooing, but will it win Quebec's heartland?

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 00:00 EDT

There's one big man in Trois-Rivieres, Mayor Yves Levesque. He bestrides local affairs like a political colossus. Come to town, and you better see him.If you do, he'll fill your ears with his ambition for a big, multipurpose project along the St. Lawrence, for which his city will need money from the provincial and federal governments. But when Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to town, he didn't pay his respects, unlike Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. Mistake. Moreover - and this is the kind of local politics that resonates - the mayor is annoyed Conservative candidate Claude Durand apparently worked against him in the last municipal election, after denying that she did. Another mistake.

There are some problems Ottawa just can't solve

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00 EDT

Quebec Premier Jean Charest is no Woodrow Wilson, but like the former U.S. president, he's got his Fourteen Points.Mr. Wilson introduced his Fourteen Points 10 months before the end of the First World War. They became the principles on which he tried to negotiate the postwar settlement.

Four-on-one format stacks odds against Harper

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00 EDT

A four-on-one gang-up on Prime Minister Stephen Harper dominated last night's English-language debate. The Prime Minister defended himself as best he could, but the format made it almost impossible for him - as it would for any prime minister - to be given a chance to avoid being pulverized.

There are some problems Ottawa just can't solve

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:53 EDT

Politicians can do a few useful things during the turbulence ahead, but not nearly as much as some of their posturing suggests

Four-on-one format stacks odds against Harper

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:09 EDT

The differences between the four and Mr. Harper were extremely clear on the two central themes of the debate: economic policy and environment.