Want Some Real Election News? You'll Have to Visit The Tyee.

This week The Tyee is chock full of helpful opinion pieces on our curious federal election and what it means to Canadians.

It begins with a report on how the Conservatives could kill off British Columbia's shipyards.

In two British Columbia seaside ridings fears of job loss stem from a move by the Conservatives some see as a gambit to shore up support in Quebec leading into this election.
 
The concerns arise from a $35 billion contract the Conservatives promised to two shipyards -- a contract B.C. shipbuilders fear they won't get, spelling the end of the province's industry. 

Murray Dobbin laments "Our Wounded Democracy" in which voter apathy has paved the way for Stephen Harper to run roughshod over democracy in Canada.

What does it say about our democracy when the prime minister can with impunity demonstrate contempt for it and repeatedly violate its rules, conventions and the independence of its institutions and agencies?

Combined with a trend towards disturbingly low turnouts in federal elections, there is reason to start using the term crisis in describing Canadian democracy.

Visiting scribe Aleeza Kahn offers a "compare and contrast" piece on Britain's Conservative prime minister David Cameron and our own Conservative PM Harper.


While Cameron is desperate to be seen as fresh, Harper lumbers like a dinosaur of Canadian politics. He's ruthless, old fashioned, someone you wouldn't particularly want to have a beer with but wouldn't mind running the country. Bluntly put, he's dull. And has Lego-man hair.

Crawford Kilian examines "Tom Flanagan's Playbook for Ultimate Harper Victory."


The key lesson: Fear works. Raising money to support Harper's leadership campaign taught him to follow "the time-honoured advice for raising money by direct mail -- make people angry and afraid, and set up an opponent for them to give against."