The Final Report of Alberta’s Provincial Electoral Boundaries Commission Contains a Clumsy Conservative Gerrymander


Even this American representation of gerrymandering presumes the equality of population between the various electoral districts.

The Reports in 2025-2026

The Lieutenant Governor-in-Council established the commission for the 2020s on 28 March 2025 and made Justice Dallas K. Miller the chair. Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party, nominated John Evans and Julian Martin, while Naheed Nenshi, leader of the New Democratic Party and the Opposition, nominated Greg Clark and Susan Samson.[1]

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Rob Lantz Re-Becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island


In December, I chronicled the corrupt bargain between Justin Trudeau and Dennis King whereby King resigned abruptly as both leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and Premier of Prince Edward Island on 21 February 2025 so that Trudeau could name him Canada’s ambassador to Ireland one week later, on 27 February 2025.[1] This kicked off a farcical succession crisis in the birthplace of Confederation which only ended this week, after nearly one year. Continue reading

Posted in Appointment of PM, Crown (Powers and Office), Fixed-Date Elections, Lieutenant Governors | 3 Comments

My New Bookchapter from the University of Adelaide Press


Bowden, J.W.J. “The Greater Son of a Lesser Sire: The Executive Authority of the Crown of Canada versus the Crown of the United Kingdom.” Chapter 2 in Executive Power and The Royal Prerogative in the Commonwealth, edited by Samuel White and Matthew Stubbs, 9-31. University of Adelaide Press, 2025.

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Posted in Crown (Powers and Office), My Published Works | 1 Comment

The Progressive Conservative Succession Crisis and the Oscillating Premiership of Prince Edward Island in 2025


Introduction

Dennis King became Premier of Prince Edward Island on 9 May 2019 as the head of the first single-party minority government in the Island’s history.[1] Little did he know then that his tenure as head of government would coincide with some the greatest calamities and disruptions in a century. He abruptly declared on 20 February 2025 that he would resign as both leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and Premier of Prince Edward Island the following day. He said in his official press release that his six years as premier “felt like a lifetime” and noted the “global pandemic, two hurricanes, cyber-attacks, trade wars, and so much more” that he weathered during his tenure; quite understandably, he sounded like he was suffering from what we used to call nervous exhaustion.[2] Less understandable, however, remains his decision not merely to announce his resignation as premier to take effect within a few weeks or months after the Progressive Conservative Party had elected a new leader but instead with near-immediate effect and on only one day’s notice, which set off a chain reaction that continues to produce strange outcomes in December 2025. Continue reading

Posted in Appointment of PM, Crown (Powers and Office), Formation of Governments, Lieutenant Governors | Leave a comment

“The Natural Governing Party:” A Canadian Political Meme Misquoted or Morphed


Peter C. Newman seems to have originated a famous meme of Canadian politics by quoting Jack Pickersgill, a former Clerk of the Privy Council, Liberal cabinet minister, historian, and literary executor of William Lyon Mackenzie King’s estate. In 1968, Newman quoted Pickersgill as having referred to the Liberal Party of Canada as “The Government Party.”[1] But by 2010 and 2011 in his later books, Newman quoted Pickersgill as having called the Liberals as “the natural government party” (Newman’s emphasis),[2] and Canadian politicos since at least 1991 have often referred to the Liberals by a slightly different variant, as “the natural governing party” (my emphasis).[3]

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Posted in History of British North America | 2 Comments