Below is the last in a series of profiles of first-time federal voters by Samara volunteer Jse-Che Lam. Next up, Alexandra Ogden from New Westminster, British Columbia. ***   1. Tell us about yourself.   My name is Alexandra Ogden, originally from New Westminster, British Columbia. I study International Studies and Modern Languages at the University Ottawa and am in F... [More]

Prior to the election, Allan Gregg of Harris Decima and Frank Graves of Ekos made some interesting statements about their own business of political polls: don’t trust them. Election polling is, according to Ira Basen, the “Grey Cup” of market research. It’s where pollsters face off against each other, demonstrating their respective prowess at turning a random sample of a t... [More]

Below is the third in a series of profiles of first-time federal voters by Samara volunteer Jse-Che Lam. Next up, Michelle McCullough, a recent university grad and supply teacher in York Region. *** 1. Tell us about yourself.   My name is Michelle McCullough. I am a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, and am currently working in the York Region as a supply teacher. ... [More]

Today, the Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC) releases its latest report, showing how the rise and popularity of social media are affecting how Canadians get their news—and from whom. The third in the CMRC's series of reports on Canadian news habits, Social Networks Transforming How Canadians Get the News shows that many people now expect the news to come to them, filtered by family, ... [More]

Below is the second in a series of profiles of first-time federal voters by Samara volunteer Jse-Che Lam. Next up, Kathryn Liberta from Montreal, who explains why, despite voting in local elections in the past, she might sit this one out. *** 1. Tell us about yourself.   My name is Kathryn Liberta, I am a 22 year-old student at the University of Ottawa in Art History. I was born ... [More]

Once again, we are thrilled to have a dynamite team of academic advisors working with us on the Democracy Index project, and even more happy to share with you a series of election blogs from another member of our team. André Turcotte is Assistant Professor in Communication at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Behaviour from th... [More]

Below is the first in a series of profiles of first-time voters by Samara volunteer Jse-Che Lam. First up, 19 year old Nicolas Maharaj. ***   1.  Tell us about yourself. My name is Nicholas Maharaj. I am a 19-yr-old student in the city of Toronto. I also a community volunteer who encourages students to report anonymous violence through the Toronto Police Crime Stopp... [More]

With the our federal election less than a week away, like many Canadians, the mind's turns to voting.  A few updates from our corner, in that regard: 1. Liveblogs and voting: Tuesday night, starting at 6pm, we'll be part of a GlobalNews.ca liveblog on youth and voting. Heather Bastedo, the director of our democracy index project, did her PhD in youth political participation, and we're lookin... [More]

The wonderful team at IPolitics.ca invited us to participate in a livechat today - Wed April 20th - at 1pm EST. The topic will be our recently released MP exit interview report,"It's My Party: Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered," which higlights the frustrations that former MPs feel about the way politics is practiced in Parliament. In it, the MPs raise important questions about the the opene... [More]

Samara's co-founder Alison Loat will be discussing Samara's newest MP exit interview report, "It's My Party": Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered, today and tomorrow on local radio stations across the country. Today's schedule: If you're in Saskatoon, listen to John Gormley's show on 650 AM starting at 11:30am. If you're in Kitchener, tune into the Gary Doyle Show on 570 News at noon. If yo... [More]

Today we released the third installment of our MP exit interview reports. Entitled “It’s My Party: Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered,” it highlights the frustrations that former MPs feel about the way politics is practiced in Parliament. The report outlines how the MPs expressed embarrassment at the public displays of politics in the House of Commons, saying that little con... [More]

In our latest MP exit interview report, "It's My Party": Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered, the MPs told us that their own political parties played a role in the dysfunction facing Canadian politics. They said that there were serious problems with they way their own political parties managed themselves, their members, and their work. Political parties play an essential role in our democ... [More]

In our latest MP exit interview report, "It's My Party": Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered, the MPs told us that their most important work was largely done away from the spotlight, in the less publicized and totally private areas of Parliament, such as committee meetings and caucus chambers. What does this mean for Canadian democracy? If the important work is being done behind closed do... [More]

In our latest MP exit interview report, "It's My Party": Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered, the MPs said that they were embarrassed by the public displays of politics on the floor of the House of Commons. Question Period was roundly criticized as being unrepresentative of their work, overly partisan, and an embarrassement. If they were embarrassed by their own behaviour, why couldn't th... [More]

Alison Loat will be a guest on CBC's The Current on Monday morning. She'll be discussing Samara's latest report in the MP exit interview series, titled "It's My Party": Parliamentary Dysfunction Reconsidered. The report discusses the MPs' often uneasy relationship with their parties, and will be available for reading, downloading, and discussing on our website on Monday April 18th. Tune into The... [More]

We are pleased to welcome Kevin Lynch, Vice-Chair of the BMO Financial Group, to our advisory board. Prior to joining BMO, Mr. Lynch had a distinguished career in the Government of Canada, where he served as Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet, and Head of the Public Service of Canada and its 260,000 public servants. He was also an executive at the International Monetary Fund, ... [More]

We are thrilled to have a dynamite team of academic advisors working with us on the Democracy Index project, and even more happy to share with you a series of election blogs from our team. Alex Marland is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Memorial University. He specializes in political marketing, media and politics, and Newfoundland politics. His book, Political Marketing in Cana... [More]

One of my all-time-favourite civics organizations is Student Vote, a fabulous organization that runs parallel elections in schools to help kids learn about democracy and practice the habit of voting. For the coming federal election, there are nearly 4,200 schools signed up across Canada. Tonight at 8pm, I have the privilege of moderating a town hall with candidates Bob Rae (Lib), Peggy Nash (NDP)... [More]

We are thrilled to have a dynamite team of academic advisors working with us on the Democracy Index project, and even more happy to share with you the first of a series of election blogs from our team. Lawrence LeDuc is one of the country’s leading scholars on political behaviour and voter turnout, and he will kick off this series with a piece that outlines the effects on lower levels of y... [More]

The leaders’ debates are upon us, and we can expect them the usual bevy of questions about the economy, healthcare and fighter jets. After all, these policy issues are important, and should be debated. However, while campaigns are about promises, the way Canadians view our politics is shaped as much - if not more - by what they actually see getting done.  In fact, polling suggests one ... [More]