The Agenda Blogs

Steve Paikin

Getting Ready for The Call September 5 2:28pm

The Dangerous Mix of Families and Politics September 4 4:54pm

If you saw Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota last night, you no doubt have a ton of questions around how her family participated in the extravaganza.

The media (both mainstream and online) have become a target because of some of the things reporters and pundits have said or unearthed about Gov. Palin's past, including the revelation that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. 

How much of this is fair game? It's always been an unwritten rule in covering politics that families --- and children in particular --- were off limits. 

But that may have been before Barack and Michelle Obama put their adorable little girls on television to be interviewed on a tabloid TV show. 

And it was certainly before the Palin family (including the new son-in-law to be) paraded on stage in St. Paul last night, to show Americans just how blessedly normal they are. 

For years, politicians have used their spouses and children to help them get elected, advance agendas, etc. In which case, how much of this are we allowed to cover? And how much are we expected to ignore in the interests of good taste? 

Tune in tonight at 8 pm as we debate this with a mix of former political types and journalists. If you miss 8, check the repeat at 11 pm, or of course, online. 

Just Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again September 3 6:51pm

The Fifth Column

Green Screen sourcing September 5 3:06pm

So, many of those videos that are popping up were submitted to the Colbert Report's latest Green Screen challenge. McCain walked into something interesting here. McCain has stumbled into one of the most interesting incidents of crowd involvement and voter-generated content I've seen. It's like they've been given a John McCain action figure to play with, and act out whatever exciting adventures they can dream up.

The Vogue clip was brilliant. Others make him seem lovable. . .

Republican attacks on the media continue September 5 11:18am

How it works: some McCain videos and how they were able to do it September 5 10:58am

Hi internet,

Take a look at this here:

The Inside Agenda

The Election to Come September 5 6:18pm

So... it's official. The Prime Minister's Office released this notice to the media earlier today, confirming the biggest open secret in Ottawa.

Canadians will be heading to the polls on Oct. 14, neatly inserting an entire election campaign between the American nominating conventions and the U.S. vote three weeks after our own.

The polls seldom remain the same during a campaign, but they haven't moved all that much since the last federal election in January, 2006, when the Conservative Party of Canada eked a narrow minority... one that has lasted for an unexpectedly long time.

If the polls hold and the Conservatives come out of this election with another minority government, it will be only the second time in Canadian history that a political party has won back-to-back minorities.

Tonight on the show, a look at the political landscape on the eve of a federal election, the issues that could dominate the campaign, and the regional battlegrounds upon which that campaign will likely be fought.

We will also ask Patrick Monahan, the dean of Osgoode Hall Law School to offer his legal opinion on this weekend's controversial election call - controversial because the Prime Minister is provoking the dissolution of Parliament more than a year earlier than mandated by his own fixed-election-date law.

Election Excitement September 4 5:16pm

I can admit it: I'm a sucker for American politics. I eat it up. I have been absolutely enthralled by the American presidential election, and am eagerly anticipating Tuesday, November 4.

The speeches at both the Democratic National Convention last week and the Republican National Convention this week have been, for me at least, must see TV.

I can't recall a longer election campaign than the one we're seeing down south. It seems like it has been going on forever. Are you suffering from U.S. election coverage fatigue?

If you are, or have been, brace yourselves. It seems our loveable neighbours might not be the only ones making their way to the polls this fall. The Toronto Star is reporting that on Sunday Prime Minister Stephen Harper will ask Governor General Michelle Jean to dissolve Canada's 39th Parliament. Mark October 14 on your calendars, folks. It will likely be election day.

So, is this Canada's attempt to steal the Americans' thunder? I don't think so. But for political junkies like myself, I can't imagine it gets much bigger and better than this.

Tonight on The Agenda we are joined by Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson, who is in the Twin Cities for the RNC, and who was in Denver to watch Barack Obama accept his party's nomination. He'll weigh in on the highly controversial selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as vice-president, and give his take on both the Canadian political process and the American political process, as he's covered both countries extensively.

Speaking of Sarah Palin, check out Mike Miner's The Fifth Column for analysis and reaction to her "amazing speech" - according to Joe Biden - last night. Leave a comment to let Mike know how you think she did. I thought she hit Obama and the Democrats hard, and certainly got the crowd at the RNC excited, something they didn't seem to be through the convention's first two days.

But what about you - are you excited about a potential Canadian election?

Do Canadian politics excite you as much, or more, than American politics?

I leave you with one final link from The National Post. It's a very interesting look at how Canadians will be watching both elections on the tube, and here's a telling excerpt:

"After deducting local news watching from the total, and accounting for the coverage of U.S. elections on Canadian TV news, my projections show that Canadians will be watching an approximate average of 90 minutes of TV about U.S. elections per week -- and only 45 minutes about Canadian elections. It is probable that Canadians will see the McCain vs. Obama grudge match on TV twice as often as they will see Messrs. Dion, Harper, etc., and that’s without accounting for appearances by U.S. politicians on comedy and talk shows"

Your voice on the economy September 3 5:36pm

By historical standards, Ontario's economy is in pretty good shape.

Not so bad...but not so good

According to TD Economics, our economy is scheduled to grow only 0.3 per cent this year. But compare that to Ontario's last recession in the early 1990s, when, in the span of one year (1990-1991), our GDP fell by 8 per cent. 

Still, there is a Jimmy Carter-esque malaise hanging over the province. The traditional backbone of Ontario's economy, the manufacturing sector, continues to shed jobs. Fears about what the troubles in the U.S economy might mean for Canada continue to persist. And there's a sense that Ontario, used to being the big fish in the Canadian economy, is losing ground to its provincial counterparts.

The problem in discussing the economy, though, is that it's so complex: You can pour over as many numbers you want, but at the end of the day it's an aggregate of millions of individual personal situations that tells the story. And just as there are always some people struggling in the best of times, there are also at least some doing well in the worst of times. 

Tell your representatives what to do 

Tonight we will have six MPPs on the program to discuss the state of Ontario's economy. It's a kind of preview to the series of five on-the-road specials The Agenda will be conducting in the next several months on where this province's economy is headed, from the factories of Windsor, to the mining and forestry businesses of the North, to the farms of Ontario's heartland, to the innovation economy of Waterloo. 

So tonight you'll hear plenty about what our elected representatives think should be done about the economy. What I would like this blog thread to be is a way for you to tell them...

A. What part of the province you live in and how the economy is affecting you and your community (for good or bad); and

B. What you think our elected officials should be doing about it (if anything). 

Add your thoughts and I will be sure to alert the offices of the six MPPs to the comments posted here.