If any political party ought to oppose Bill C-51, it’s the Liberal Party. After all, it’s liberal values that the Bill threatens to erode. And yet, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau has decided to support it. He wants some changes, and if the Conservatives don’t make them, he will …
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
Harper fails Conservative citizenship criteria
Over the signature of Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander, the Conservative Party of Canada recently emailed a petition to its supporters, rallying them against face covering during citizenship oaths. Apparently Conservative ire was raised by a Federal Court of Canada decision that struck down the ban on Muslim
Continue readingWhere is the outrage about the RCMP’s witch-hunt?
At one time I instinctively assumed that government agencies were apolitical, servants of the people, not the servants of any particular philosophy or party. That, it increasingly seems, was the good old days. Recently I, like many others, have the distinct impression that the Canada Revenue Agency, for example, is
Continue readingISIS and the grand imam—not so different
That ISIS is a scourge of major proportions is agreed on across the globe. Driven by some religious mania, they persecute other religions, behead infidels, burn enemies alive—all with sickening zeal and an obsession with publicity. Other Muslims are as outraged as any of us. A host of Arab governments
Continue readingOf course Netanyahu "rules in Washington"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to address the U.S. Congress next month has created quite a stir. President Obama, apparently not informed of the visit beforehand, is fuming. At least a dozen Democrats, including the outspokenly pro-Israel Vice-President Biden, have announced they will not attend. Even many American Jews
Continue readingDid he really say that?
How does he get this stuff out of his mouth? Pope Francis, I mean. In a recent audience in St. Peter’s Square, he declared that couples who choose not to have children are “selfish.” He went on to pontificate that, “A society with a greedy generation, that doesn’t want to
Continue readingFrench hold most favourable views of Jews and Muslims
How the French view their minority populations after the violent events earlier this month will probably take a while to sort out. But a poll conducted last year suggested they were about the most tolerant in Europe. Eighty-nine per cent of French men and women hold a favourable view of
Continue readingWhy are Americans so frightened?
If you were asked what the American people’s top policy priority was, what would you answer? The economy perhaps? Immigration? Global warming? You would be wrong. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans’ top policy concern is terrorism, with 76 per cent ranking it as a top priority, just edging
Continue readingA sales tax for Alberta?
Alberta Premier Jim Prentice recently committed heresy. Faced with plummeting oil prices and the possibility of a $500-million deficit, the premier actually encouraged discussion about adopting a sales tax. “I don’t think Albertans generally advocate a sales tax,” he said, “but I’m prepared to be educated and to hear from
Continue readingSo what did Raif Badawi say?
The world is now aware of Saudi Arabia’s satanic punishment of blogger Raif Badawi—ten years in prison and a 1,000 lashes for saying things unacceptable to the country’s powerful religious establishment. But what exactly did he say? A lot of sensible things, as it turned out. For example, here is
Continue readingThe pope’s diminished freedom of speech
Did the pope just display an iota of sympathy for the zealots who massacred Charlie Hebdo staff? In response to a question about the attack, he replied, “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” The pontiff justified his position by stating that
Continue readingAI—will they keep us as pets?
It isn’t as if we don’t have enough BIG things to worry about—global warming, resource depletion, nuclear war, for starters—now renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and brilliant entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk are warning about the threat of artificial intelligence (AI). “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end
Continue readingThe House of Saud—they may be terrorists, but they’re our terrorists
During the Cold War, the West made allies out of some brutal dictatorial regimes. A challenge on this often met with the cynical answer, “they may be bastards, but they’re our bastards.” The Cold War is over, but the sentiment and the policy that generated it live on. Western countries
Continue readingHarper’s histrionics
Terrorist attacks are theatre. And what theatre they have been presenting lately. The 9/11 spectacle of planes flying into tall buildings was the most spectacular event ever seen on television. The shooting spree by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau on Parliament Hill put Canada in the global spotlight for days, and the recent
Continue readingAmericans OK with torture
The Pew Research Centre recently released the results of a survey of Americans about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation practices, a report which revealed the agency has engaged in torture. One might expect that the citizens of a nation known for its attention to civil rights would
Continue readingBravo to Baird and Harper on the Cuba file
The United States has finally come to its senses and is normalizing relations with Cuba. It’s taken over half a century but—to borrow the old cliché—better late than never. And to our credit, Canada played a key role. By hosting meetings of officials from the two countries, we obviated the
Continue readingAmericans lovin’ their guns more than ever
Following the slaughter of twenty children in Newtown, Connecticut two years ago this month, many Americans hoped their countrymen and women would finally turn against the gun nuts and demand greater control. And they did … briefly. The support for gun rights that has been creeping up for decades dipped
Continue readingAmerica and the torture chronicles
So the U.S. has finally and formally confessed its sins. Good for the Americans. All nations sin, the better ones own up. That the CIA ran a torture regime isn’t really news but it’s important for the U.S. to officially get the nasty business out on the table, discussed and
Continue readingHuman Rights 365
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Thus reads Article I of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
Continue readingPreston Manning—a real conservative?
As someone on the left I have occasionally wondered how we got lumbered with responsibility for defending the environment. Surely, I would muse, this is the province of conservatives. Conservative, conservationist—practically the same word. Shouldn’t conservatives be those most concerned about conserving? Well, as it turns out, at least one
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