The State of Solutions

Broken Politics

and

"We should be aware of course of falsely idealizing how politics used to be in this country, there never was any Golden Age, but we should equally steer clear of the lazy assumption that 'it's always been this way', it hasn't, it's worse now.“

-Andrew Coyne

Evidence-based Policymaking

“War isn’t about who’s right, it’s about who’s left.”

“We have said that government regulation may not target the general gratitude a candidate may feel toward those who support him or his allies, or the political access such support may afford. “Ingratiation and access . . . are not corruption.”

-Decision from McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission

“That is why in 2013 we will continue our commitment to grow the economy and create jobs by keeping taxes low and through measures like major new investments in research and development. However, while we are focused on helping the economy grow, the NDP wants a $21 billion carbon tax which would cripple our economy and put Canadians out of work.”

-MP Lawrence Toet

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. (p1)”

-Edward Bernays

Ken Boessenkool

Brian Topp Don Guy

“Even though the provincial debt had expanded on [the Liberals'] watch, the issue still played to their perceived strength and the underlying weakness of any social democratic party.”

-Gary Mason,The Globe and Mail

Ken Boessenkool

Brian Topp Don Guy

“They say that we try to portray Ignatieff in our ads and so on as a weak and flailing professor,” the war room staffer said. “No, that’s how we portrayed Dion. Dion was weak, you know, Dion was ‘not a leader.’… Michael Ignatieff, in our narrative, is a political opportunist who is calculating, who will do and say anything to get elected.”

-Conservative staffer to Andrew Coyne

“Here is an opportunity to actually muster up some support for our team but instead we will ignore it and go out and find some way to give the Indians more money which doesn’t get me one vote! I am very tired of this kind of nonsense.”

- then-Agriculture Minister Pat Pimm in leaked email.

Thank you for your time.