Uses of the word "productivity" in the last five budgets. Budget 2021 (726 pages): 39 Budget 2022 (304 pages): 18 Budget 2023 (270 pages): 9 Budget 2024 (430 pages): 63 Budget 2025 (490 pages): 131

Pretty sure this *will* draw backlash but *may* decimate university funding.

Not enough people are talking about the actual biggest political story in North America this week. A majority of voters in the Yukon voted (in a non-binding plebiscite) in favour of moving to a ranked-ballot voting system. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Thinking of using this as my ice breaker in my electoral systems class today. Too soon?

The Sunday @nytimes.com Corrections never fails to deliver. #ickyTrump

The Toronto Blue Jays are undefeated in World Series Game 7s.

Dusting this off in anticipation of tonight. #gojaysgo #worldseries

Although it’s a common name, I think I recognize this sense of humour as the former president of the CPSA. What do you think @cpsa-acsp.bsky.social !?

What a fantastic photo by Darren Calabrese in today’s @theglobeandmail.com. It’s giving Alex Colville.

Man did we ever need this.

BLUE JAYS ARE WORLD SERIES BOUND. It’s the first time since 1993 Toronto is headed to the big stage.

Vladdy: "DAAAAAA YANKEES LOSE!"

In the German state of Saarland, a Citizens' Assembly has developed proposals for achieving climate protection targets. The results were presented to the state parliament on 29 September 2025. www.buergerrat.de/en/news/crea... #CitizensAssembly

What a lede! Nice writing, Grayson Haver Currin. From today’s @nytimes.com

How tone deaf do you have to be to say this? Did Pete Hoekstra skip day 1 of Ambassador School?

I agree.

Full of congenial truths or not, Charlie Angus is devastating. youtu.be/9BptD9K1Bu4

"In response to America’s threats, Canada is in the middle of the greatest explosion of nationalism in the country’s history, far more substantial than the nationalism of the 1960s."

They’re making a movie of the Universe.

In January, I published an article about the accrediting organization NASPAA. This article was under investigation for several months. Here's my statement about that. Non-US scholars, especially in the Global South, may be interested. alasdairroberts179720.substack.com/p/someone-wa...

An EU Citizens' Panel on intergenerational justice will begin in September. Interested parties can submit their ideas and visions online until the end of July. www.buergerrat.de/en/news/trea... #CitizensAssembly

Torontonians would recognize the visual identity of Mamdani's campaign as 'Honest Ed chic'

I just can't with this asshole.

Love the summary by @sproudfoot.bsky.social on the juxtaposition of King Charles’s soaring oratory with a side of prosaic policies: “the effect was a bit like hiring a great Shakespeare actor to order for you at the drive-through” www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/8666181...

Why Springsteen's opposition matters: his argument is sharp, powerful courageous. We need more cultural icons to speak out now. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/no-n...

Clever use of zeugma (or syllepsis) on the front page of the New York Times!

This headline must have sent grammar nerds over the edge clutching their style guides. #regretheerror

This shouldn’t be news but telling that it is.

This is a new image from #JWST. The bright points with spikes are stars in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. Everything. Else. Is. A. Galaxy.

I’m glad that Andrew Coyne mentioned that minority governments are not inherently unstable. If you take away Joe Clark in 1979, they last a little over two years on average. A government can get a decent amount of legislation through if they wanted in that period.

It’s early still but it would be a weird parliament if the NDP with nine seats held the balance of power. Would cap off a strange election

Don’t make me tap the sign ….

It is interesting that CBC is not separating leading vs won on their seat totals chyron. Easier to grasp but less reliable numbers.

Elections Canada’s returns site.

Two headlines in the New York Times today.

Excellent op-ed by C. Alcantara and C. Anderson: "The emphasis on STEM education has created a generation disengaged from fields like history, political science and sociology — fields that teach societies how to coexist amid pervasive economic and social divisions." www.thespec.com/opinion/cont...

Sunday read: here’s a thoughtful summary by @saramcknowles.bsky.social of how the Yukon Citizens’ Assembly was a process lead by principles: www.nationalcivicleague.org/ncr-article/...

You had one job… www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...

I suspect the Commission is twice bitten, third time shy. The Commission refused to accredit Rebel in both 2019 and 2021 and both times Rebel got an injunction. The Commission wrote it up a bit here: www.debates-debats.ca/en/report-20... . As for 2025, Justin Ling wrote it up in the Star:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a debate where the takeaway is nothing said at the debate but the press conference that follows it. The Debates Commission has some explaining to do.

Hard to fit 101 years of a live well lived in an obituary but Sandra Martin does a great job writing about John Meisel: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/8666181...

Paul Pierson's mantra to not get distracted by the "snapshots", but to analyze the "moving picture" in politics strikes me as more important than ever. We're still dealing with an authoritarian administration poised to impose their hegemonic aspirations on Canada and others - "one way or the other"

Genevieve Fuji-Johnson’s CPSA presidential address is a model of autoethnography and a compelling analysis of past presidents’ addresses. Both of these themes raise big questions for our discipline. Worth a read and ungated access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Political ads are effective when they focus on association and character. This manages to do both effectively. “Who does that remind you of” is not needed and may take away from the power of the ad. The viewer needs to make that connection in their own mind - and this ad makes it pretty obvious.

Sad news at Queen’s Political Studies. My message to colleagues includes the link to the John Meisel lecture series including a short video about him: www.queensu.ca/politics/eve...

I'm honoured that "The Adaptable Country" has been selected as a finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing @writerstrust.bsky.social . Thanks @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social @eandreweditor.bsky.social @danielbeland.bsky.social for your support! www.writerstrust.com/awards/shaug...

“Worldwide, threats to journalists in conflict zones are increasing. In 2023, a journalist or media worker was, on average, killed or murdered every 4 days. In 2024, it was every 3 days. Most reporters harmed or killed, as is the case in Gaza, are local journalists.” watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/p...

The Chinese century, brought to you by Donald Trump

I don’t see Canada on Trump‘s ‘big boy billboard’. Is this to quell the Liberal party momentum until after the election?

Lots to like about this piece, @smsaideman.bsky.social’s quibble notwithstanding. I think the best part is buried here.