Michael J. Wigginton

@wigginton.ca

Political Scientist. Nova Scotian turned Quebecer turned Nova Scotian. Unreasonably fond of trains. michael.wigginton.ca

The Gazette did some very interesting work in selecting photos for this article. I have a feeling though that if this (just wildly unconstitutional) proposed bill ever does come to be though, that somehow many of these examples of public christian prayer will be exempted.

Steve Faguy@fagstein.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The Quebec government is planning to pass a law to ban prayer in public, a move so blatantly unconstitutional I'm wondering if it's a joke. www.montrealgazette.com/news/provinc...

Recently I was in a painted bike lane on Beechwood and had a car veer suddenly into my lane (and nearly me) as it prepared for a right turn. Painted lanes absolutely aren't sufficient, and it really doesn't help when they curve around car parking. Once the paint starts to fade the lane disappears

Google maps screenshot of the intersection of Beechwood and Springfield. Shows a painted bikelane which curves to accommodate a lane of car parking.
Post nicht verfügbar.

PSA for people looking to vote this weekend: Elections Canada's data suggests that, unlike on election day, the evening of advance voting days is the least popular time to vote. So waiting until after 4pm might get you a better experience (Election Day is of course also an option)

Elections Canada Graphic: Peak voting times on advance polling days (adjusted for the holiday weekend).

Early morning to 1 p.m.: red arrow indicating busiest period

1 p.m. to 4 p.m.: yellow arrow indicating a busy period

After 4 p.m.: green arrow indicating a low-traffic periodElections Canada Graphic: Usual peak voting times on election day

Early morning: red arrow indicating busiest period

10 a.m. to noon: yellow arrow indicating a busy period

Noon to 4 p.m.: green arrow indicating a low-traffic period

After 4 p.m.: red arrow indicating busiest period

I was recently without my bike for a week and was shocked by how bad my Hull-Carleton U commute was. 1hr by transit vs 30 mins by bike, assuming the bus actually came (it often didn't). And now OC Transpo is cutting that bus altogether. Hard to imagine ridership numbers will increase like this.

Toon Dreessen@toondreessen.bsky.social · last yr.

Totally agree with @brigittepellerin.bsky.social here: we don’t get the service we pay for. 1/ ottawacitizen.com/opinion/oc-t...

I'm lukewarm on strategic voting overall, but if orgs like @smartvoting.ca are going tell people to do it they should be more nuanced about it. Voting 'strategically' to keep the CPC out of a seat they have no hope of winning makes no sense, as does picking one party out of a 3-way statistical tie.

Screencap of Smartvoting.ca's recommended vote in Berthier—Maskinongé. It shows the BQ at 29%, LPC at 28%, NDP at 28%, and CPC at 12%. It advises that the Bloc are the strategic vote choice. 

Available at: https://smartvoting.ca/ridings/federal-2025/24012

Tried out CBC new vote compass and I found some of their indicators this year odd. Multiple Qs on hate speech laws, but none on housing policy? Banning puberty blockers, but no high speed rail? Are these really the salient ballot questions this election? I worry they over-represent the culture war

Vote Compass - 2025 Canadian Federal Election

Use this interactive survey designed by political scientists to calculate your alignment with the candidate platforms.

votecompass.cbc.ca

Assuming that an election happens by the end of April as rumoured, Carney will set a new record for shortest time in office for a PM if the LPC lose government. If they win he'll still be the first PM to never have held elected office when appointed. A future trivia question either way.

Photos and terms of Canada's shortest lived PMs from Wikipedia. 
Text: Canada's three shortest-serving prime ministers, left to right:
Sir Charles Tupper; 68 days
John Turner; 79 days
Kim Campbell; 132 days

"This would be the most incredible country visually." Is the obsession with annexing 🇨🇦 and 🇬🇱 really just about the aesthetics of how the map works? This is literally the logic I use when playing Civ V or Total War - it's terrifying to think that the US president is making geopolitics a video game

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.

Trump: "To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state. We don't need anything they have. As a state it would be one of the great states. This would be the most incredible country visually. If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it."

This proposal is interesting, but I'm not sure it would have the desired effect overall. While knowing that an election will likely be a blowout can depress turnout, knowing it will be close can motivate more voters to show up. Personally, I'd prioritize high turnout in the latter situation.

Should polls be banned ahead of election day? Ontario's chief electoral officer thinks so | CBC News

In the wake of record low turnout for an Ontario election, the province's chief electoral officer is calling for a ban on publishing the results of political polls for the final stretch of the campaig...

cbc.ca