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Category: Politics

2019 PSE Platforms-NDP

One of the tricky things about evaluating platforms in this election is that there is no way for anyone to know when a party is “done” with its announcements. They all get the PBO to cost bits of their platform, and that’s great. They can even, as the NDP has done, release a set of “commitments” (uncosted) and a vague “fiscal plan” (which basically says the party is going to stick to the Liberal formula of decreasing the deficit over

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October 7, 2019 No Comments

2019 PSE Platforms – Liberal Party

The governing Liberal Party released its entire platform all at once on Sunday (the costing document is here), and there are a bunch of interesting things pertaining to PSE.  Let’s dig in. (For those of you looking for extra thoroughness, you may want to review my assessment of the Liberal record over the past four years first.  Finished?  Ok, onwards.) Without question, the most disappointing thing in the platform is the scientific research plank.  It consists of a $30 million commitment for pediatric cancer research

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October 2, 2019 No Comments

2019 PSE Platforms – Green Party

Today’s blog will be the first in a series looking at the various federal party election platforms on post-secondary education, skills, and science. First up: the Green Party. I opened this year’s Green Party Manifesto with some trepidation because, well, the 2015 platform was such a dumpster fire. And, wouldn’t you know it, the 2019 platform is also a dumpster fire. Quelle coincidence! This is not merely an issue of bad policy; it’s about policy incoherence. Prior to the writ,

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September 30, 2019 No Comments

Canadian PSE History Through Election Manifestos: the 2010s and a Historical Perspective

This is part five of a five-part series.  Just showing up now?  See Monday (1949-62), Tuesday (63-74), Wednesday (79-93) and Thursday (1997-2011) to catch up. I dwell much on the 2015 election today.  Most of you probably remember it reasonably well, and if you don’t, then you can click on these links to see details on that year’s Liberal platform, Conservative platform, NDP platform, Green platform, the various science platforms and an overall analysis here.    What was maybe a bit surprising in historical perspective about the 2015

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September 27, 2019 No Comments

Canadian PSE History Through Election Manifestos: 1997-2011

This is part IV of a series.  Catch up with Part I, Part II and Part III.  We have arrived at the modern, post-Redbook manifesto period, where promises get costed, fiscal frameworks are explicit, and parties hew more closely to their promises.  At least in theory. During the Chretien-Martin years, the Liberals were, well, inconsistent.  In 1997 they talked small (their only real promise was the introduction of a small set of grants for students with dependents) but in office

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September 26, 2019 No Comments

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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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