Insight

Growing up in the 1960s, we learned about Canada’s ‘two solitudes’ defining our national identity – and our national division – the French in Quebec and the English in the rest of Canada.

Why does demographic change matter to politics? Different demographic groups are not hard-wired to vote differently.

Justin Trudeau has declared his candidacy for the leadership of a party has been desperately seeking a saviour for years. As one leader after another has failed to connect with Canadian voters, many Liberals have longed for "a new Trudeau."

It seems every day Canadians awake to another sober message from a bank economist or cabinet minister – one part scolding, one part warning, all very serious. We are spending too much relative to our earnings.

The first rule of fight club was don’t talk about fight club. The first rule of Canadian hockey seems to be never stop talking about it.

After 41 years of Progressive Conservative government, Albertans appear to be in the midst of a political shakeup. The polls show a more competitive election than most would have expected even a few months ago.

In many countries, conservative political parties are seen as hostile to immigrants. Right-of-centre parties in the United States and Europe tend to be more nationalistic than their left-leaning counterparts, and this pride in country can sometimes manifest itself in xenophobia.

The Canadian media have been almost obsessed with hockey these past couple of weeks. Although global events have occupied some of our attention, domestic matters (namely Sidney Crosby's concussion and Max Pacioretty's fractured vertebra) have forced reputedly peaceful Canadians to meditate on violence in our unofficial national sport.

A few pollsters caused a stir recently when they suggested political polls are polluting Canadian democracy. The ensuing debate, which has bizarrely pitted pro-polling pollsters against anti-polling pollster-pundits, has largely been a tempest in a teapot.