corporate and think-tank researcher

Elections

Harperism

07 Oct '14

Margaret Thatcher transformed British political life forever. So did Ronald Reagan in the United States. Now Canada has experienced a similar, dramatic shift to a new kind of politics, which author Donald Gutstein terms Harperism.

How the media shaped the Vancouver election

17 Nov '11

An Angus Reid poll reported by The Globe and Mail and CTV News a few days before the 2011 Vancouver civic election asked respondents about the issues important to them. Topping the list were: providing good sanitation services, ensuring public safety, enhancing the overall quality of life, protecting the environment, dealing with homelessness and poverty, …

Big Media’s Sway Will Be Tested at Ballot Box

02 May '11

(This article was first published in The Tyee on May 2, the day of the election.) Most corporate news outlets buttressed Harper’s drive for a majority. But has the game changed? Richard Nixon famously declared “I am not a crook” in his televised defence of his handling of the Watergate affair. After that everyone thought …

Will Corporate Media Determine Election Outcome?

27 Mar '11

If most of us still get our information about elections from the corporate media—including the CBC—then the way the media frame the campaign could determine the election’s outcome. Will Harper finally get his long-sought majority, so he can move from incremental change to the blitzkrieg approach perfected by the New Zealand Labour government in the …

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Harperism: How Stephen Harper and his think tank colleagues have transformed Canada

harperism cover

A weakened labour movement – and preferably the disappearance of unions – will contribute to Canada’s economic prosperity
Cutting back government scientific research and data collection will improve public policy-making

The success of Harperism is no accident. Donald Gutstein documents the links between the politicians, think tanks, journalists, academics, and researchers who nurture and promote each other’s neo-liberal ideas.

Donald Gutstein