Simulation News from Politics 2230E at King's UC at Western

Each end of term when I teach Introduction to Canadian Government and Politics (Pols 2230E) the class performs a simulation. This term it is a First Ministers' Meeting to establish a coordinated plan to combat COVID-19. Keeping it topical helps them engage and some "simulated" news coverage enhances that. Here is the first edition of the Simulation Times, reporting on the first day of meetings and some of the ensuing negotiations.

Like, many other Canadians, the students in the class have to figure out how federalism works in terms of areas of separate and shared jurisdiction. It is also interesting how often the first response of the group representing the Federal Government is to go with a "draconian" desire for central control, reflecting the real continuing desire of Ottawa to get some sort of control over Confederation. It is an interesting learning moment for them, because without the full hindsight and historical context they don't see using the Emergencies Act as running a chance of creating intergovernmental-conflict that could tear the country apart. However, the unsurprising push back from other groups, quickly brings home the fact that intergovernmental affairs and the federal-provincial balance is a delicate thing and no one really want to open up constitutional negotiations again.

Further, assigning students to groups with which they have little experience, like the northern territories, is eye-opening. Their assumptions that the rest of Canada is the same or very similar to Southwestern Ontario are quickly smashed, and it brings home the nature of regional inequalities in this country.

Plus, it's lots of fun. At the end of next term, we take on the national parliament.

Comments

Is Low Voter Turnout Actually A Good Thing?

[It's a provocative position. I hope my answer is a bit more nuanced. Thinking with a pen, so the views are my own and likely to change as I think about it a bit more.] The big talking point regarding yesterday's municipal election in London is the free fall debacle in voter turnout. Only 25.5% of eligible voters cast a ballot, a significant plunge from the 40% turnout in 2018 (the BRT election) and from the 2014 high of 43% (the get rid of Fontana and the Fontana 8 election). This low turnout is seen as the reason for the rather surprising outcomes in some of the words, namely the defeat of three "incumbents."* Incumbents are considered safe bets because they have name recognition and represent the status quo for voters. Generally, the mass of voters in municipal election have little to guide their votes other than name recognition and a desire not to change things up. However, when that "mass" of voters decides not to show up, that generalized support fo...

The State of Gender Parity in 2019

On December 16, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Gender Index for 2020 based on 2019 country performance. Canada has dropped 3 places in the ranking since the last report a year ago. Since 2006 the WEF has produced annual reports on the progress made toward gender equality using benchmarks based on four thematic dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In the latest edition of Women, Politics and Public Policy: The political struggles of Canadian women, (Newman, White and Findlay, 2020, p. 389) we had this to say of the 2017 report: According to the 2017 report, no country has fully closed its gender gap; four of the five Nordic countries, Rwanda (4th), and Nicaragua (6th) have closed more than 80 per cent of their gaps. And Canada? Canada does not crack the top ten; it ranks 16th out of 144 countries, which is 2 points lower than its first ranking in 2006. This d...

Ur-Fascism: The anti-democratic impulse of Trump's populism

Ur-Fascism: Trump’s Anti-Democratic Populism The King's Hour: Panel Discussion on “The Problem with Trump” King’s University College at Western, September 27, 2017. I have been agonizing for the past week as to what I would say in this address, not because I have nothing to say but because I have too much. How do I frame this in a way to outline coherently my angst beyond a performance of Edvard Munch’s The Scream . As this is the beginning of the school year, in class we focus on first principles or concepts, so it makes sense for me to return to first principles. First, as a common principle, it is safe to say that Nazi’s are bad. The question this raises though, is why are we even having a conversation where we have to preface our remarks with a reminder that Nazis are bad? We are having this conversation because Donald Trump is a “charismatic populist.” Populism can be a progressive force of democracy when viewed in terms of participatory engagement ...

Small P and Large P Politics and the F Word

Search This Blog