Being an admirer of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, I read with interest a recent column of his in The New York Times about the Palestine situation. One thing that particularly caught my attention was his reference to a phrase in the original platform of Likud, the political party led by
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
Views from the Beltline: Are Canadians surrendering to climate change?
Maybe federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is on to something. He shows little interest in the overarching issue of the day—climate change—while trashing the carbon tax, a key instrument in dealing with it. And the popularity of his party continues to grow. The Conservatives now lead the Liberals by 11
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: C-58, a victory for workplace democracy
People have fought for rights in their workplaces as long as there have been workplaces. The first labour strike in recorded history took place in Egypt in the reign of Ramesses III (1184-1153 BC) when tomb-builders at a site in Western Thebes, frustrated at delays in receiving their wages, laid
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The two-state fallacy
The Hamas attack on Jewish settlers in Israel has evoked a cascade of sympathy around the world, for the victims and for Israelis and Jews generally, and rightly so. How could it not? But there are exceptions. One group of Israelis that deserves no sympathy is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Catherine Tait’s vigorous defence of the CBC and good journalism
Conservatives on the House of Commons Heritage Committee are upset with the CBC for its newsroom’s longstanding practice of not referring to attacks by non-state groups or their perpetrators as “terrorism” or “terrorists.” When the president and CEO of the CBC, Catherine Tait, appeared before the committee this week, they took
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Can unions restore a stable America?
A stable US is important to all of us. A very imperfect democracy but nonetheless by far the most important, it is the central pillar of global liberty. Recently that pillar has been looking shaky. The election of the neo-fascist Donald Trump in 2016 and the threat of his return
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Public health and corporate iniquity
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have sued Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, accusing it of using features that hook children to its platforms even as it claims its sites are safe for young people. According to Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general, “Just like Big Tobacco
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: A Gaza-Canadian analogy
Reading about the circumstances of the Palestinians in Gaza, I was reminded of a piece of our own history: the infamous pass system. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Indians of Western Canada signed treaties with the Canadian government yielding control over their territories. They believed they
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: A loss for illiberalism, a gain for democracy
Generations of Communism is not the best training for democracy. So perhaps we shouldn’t have expected that when the Soviet Union collapsed under its own dead weight, the countries that emerged would quickly become functioning democracies. Actually some have done very well, others not so much. Russia and Belarus, riddled
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Are our hands clean?
One of the best articles I have read about the Hamas-Israel war is The New York Times “There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive” by Peter Beinart. Beinart is a Jewish-American professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Jewish wisdom; Gentile folly
Reading The New York Times, as I do every morning (the world’s best newspaper), I have encountered a number of articles on the current hostilities in Palestine. I couldn’t help but notice that the articles with the most rational, most compassionate, and wisest analyses were written by Jews. This might
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Limits of the free market
Whenever I do those quizzes that purport to reveal where you fit on the political/philosophical spectrum, they insist I’m a social democrat. This rather surprises me because I tend to think of myself as more of a liberal. Whatever. I am a strong supporter of the free market. In fact,
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: A woman’s world
Some years ago I wrote a book based on the theme that women are better designed for the modern world than men. (Visit this page for a free copy.) Men were well-suited for the hunter-gatherer societies we evolved into, but then civilization appeared and we have come a long way
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Terrorism—weapon of the weak?
Hamas’s invasion of Israel has once again brought attention to the Palestine problem. The routine of Israel oppressing the Palestinians while simultaneously stealing their land has once again been interrupted by outright war. For over 75 years our government, parroting the United States, declares that a Palestinian state can only
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Why are we less polarized than the U.S.?
Witnessing the current state of affairs in our great neighbour to the south, the word polarization leaps to the tongue. In a previous post I suggested what we call polarization is really the right-wing of the conservative movement running off the rails into extremism. The current behaviour of the Republicans
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The West takes on an orange hue
With the big victory for the NDP in the Manitoba election on Tuesday, the western provinces are now bookended by social democratic governments. In between are two conservative governments but even here the NDP form the opposition. I think it would be fair to say The Orange are now the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Precariat jobs could be good jobs
What is a good job? In most people’s minds I assume that would be something that pays well and provides good benefits, steady employment and satisfying work. In the post-war period that described manufacturing jobs. They weren’t good because of the benevolence of the free market. Quite the contrary. They
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Trump simply never grew up
There seems to be no limit to the incendiary statements ex-US President Donald Tump is capable of. Earlier this week he made an egregious attack on General Mark Milley, recently retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accusing him of treason and saying he should be executed. Trump is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: India—too big to hold accountable?
The world isn’t a fair place. The rule of law doesn’t apply globally. Might is often right. This reality overarches Canada’s accusation that the Indian government orchestrated the murder/assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar as he left his temple in Surrey. If the evidence is there, then PM Trudeau
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: What polarization?
Do conservatives like democracy? That may seem like an unfair question. And for many conservatives it may be. Bur it seems there are many who don’t, and they are very much in the news these days. As the premier example, I offer those American Republicans that have rejected the 2024
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