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Flora! Deserves The !
The just-released (auto)biography of the eminent Canadian politician Flora MacDonald – Flora!: A Woman in a Man’s World is an inspirational presentation of a life of great achievement and feminist trail-blazing. Not only that, but the book launch sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre, now posted on YouTube, is the most enjoyable book…
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Previewing Party Narratives in Ontario
Ontario’s next election will be held on June 2, 2022. There are no limits on spending by parties on advertising before November 2 so we are now seeing the first round of the ad war. The parties are previewing their narratives for the campaign that will officially begin next May. Ontario has a competitive three-party…
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Winning a Teaching Award
I’m delighted to announce that I won the 2021 Pierre DeCelles Award for Excellence in Teaching, given by the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) and Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). CAPPA is the national organization for post-secondary programs in public administration, so this is a national award. The late Pierre…
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Defending Taiwan
The recent incursions by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) air force into Taiwan’s air space, coupled with Premier Xi’s rhetoric hinting at unification by military force, have the Taiwanese and their western supporters worried. A New York Times analysis argues that China’s military is now so strong that the US might be reluctant to…
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Forward and Backward: Security and Taxes
The aftermath of the recent election is an appropriate time to reflect on political narratives of the last three elections and assess their impact on the outcomes. In addition, I will be revising the chapter of Public Representations on election narratives. To simplify, I will focus on the two major parties. A Clear Win In…
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Ms. Meng for the Michaels: Why the Timing?
Stuff happens during an election campaign, and it can affect the results. During the 2020 presidential election, President Trump contracted and recovered from Covid – 19, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to replace her. During the recent Canadian election Premier Kenny admitted the failure of Alberta’s approach…
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The Counter-Narratives Prevailed
Yesterday’s nearly identical repeat of the 2019 election makes clear that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives achieved their desired outcomes: no Liberal majority government, no Conservative government. The outcome, as well as the prevalence of negative messaging by each party about the other party and its leader, demonstrates that the counter-narratives prevailed. Fear and…
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Missed Narrative Opportunities
I’ve been keenly watching the Liberal and Conservative ads on broadcast television, YouTube, and Facebook. Now that it is Election Day and the campaign is over, I see some opportunities both parties have missed. O’Toole’s Delayed Introduction I criticized the Conservatives for doing too little to introduce Erin O’Toole right after he was elected party…
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Explaining My Vote
I voted at the advance poll just after the debates. Primarily as a matter of reflection and self-justification, rather than an attempt at persuasion, I will explain my vote. The Wrong Time First, I think that the middle of the fourth Covid-19 wave was the wrong time to call an election. In the absence of…
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Strategic Voting: Left and Right
A first-past-the-post multi-party system is rife with strategic voting. Usually, supporters of smaller parties vote for the centrist party closer to their preferences to prevent the centrist party they dislike from winning. On the left, the Liberal Party has long encouraged NDP and Green adherents to vote strategically to defeat the Conservatives. What is new…
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Power of the Counter-Narrative
Every narrative has a counter-narrative that subverts, inverts, distorts, or parodies it. In politics, the counter-narrative to a political leader’s heroic narrative may be developed by their opponents or may be the result of their own behaviour. Examples of the latter include the proponent of family values carrying on an extramarital affair or the proponent…
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Compel or Persuade?
In his film about the conflict between Pierre Trudeau and Rene Levesque, The Champions, documentarist Donald Brittain refers to “the awesome weapons of office.” That attention-grabbing phrase brings to mind what politicians are fighting over and which of those weapons they would use if elected. A consistent difference between the Liberal (LPC) and Conservative (CPC)…
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Erin O’Toole: Just an Ordinary Canadian?
I have long argued that a political party needs both a heroic narrative about its leader and narratives of incompetence, self-seeking, or incapacity about its opponents’ leaders. It is particularly important for a newly selected leader to advance their heroic narrative – tell their own story – quickly, because, if they do not, they are…
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Liberal Death-Wish?
The Conservatives continue to climb in the polls, with a lead of 2.5 percent in the latest CBC Poll Tracker and an average seat projection of 132, very close to the Liberals’ 138. Not only are Conservatives expected to maintain their big majorities in the west, but they will pick up marginal seats in suburban…
- I am Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Toronto, having retired in July 2020 after a 45-year academic career.
- My latest book, Public Representations: Screen Stories, Narrative, and the Public Sphere, co-authored with Beth Herst, was published in April 2026 by University of Toronto Press (open access).
- On this website I post blogs about politics, narrative, and my life experiences.
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