There are unpopular wars, and then there are really, really unpopular wars. The Afghan war falls overwhelmingly into the latter category. According to a CNN/ORC International survey released this week, 90 per cent of Americans supported the war in early 2002, now 82 per cent oppose it. This dramatic change
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
My persons of 2013
If Time Magazine can choose a person of the year, I can choose two: a man and a woman. The woman, of course, is Malala Yousafzai, the courageous young Pakistani champion of education. Malala started speaking out—blogging actually—about education at the tender age of 11. In 2012, she paid a
Continue readingChristmas? I do Xmas
One of the traditions of the holiday season is lamenting about the corruption of Christmas by commercialization or by foreign cultures that have invaded our pristine Christian shores. I have always been amused by these complaints, first because in my family’s tradition, Christianity has never intruded on our celebration and
Continue readingRebuilding the American middle class
When you consider that the United States is the richest country in the world, the state of its working class is shocking. The country now has the highest proportion of low-wage workers in the developed world. Fifty-two percent of fast-food workers’ families receive public assistance in an industry that last
Continue readingProducing the wrong oil?
The Joint Review Panel has ruled on the viability of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and the result is as expected. The panel, established by the National Energy Board and the federal environment minister, has determined that the pipeline, which would carry bitumen from Alberta’s tar sands to the B.C.
Continue readingCanadians becoming downright peaceable
Stats Can has released Canada’s crime statistics for 2012 and the country continues to look increasingly like the peaceable kingdom. Crime overall continued the decline it began in 1992, with the overall rate dropping three per cent from 2011. The murder rate dropped nine per cent, reaching its lowest level
Continue readingGermany’s Grand Coalition—a lesson for Canada?
Germany now has a government that represents a solid majority of the German people. With three-quarters of Social Democrat party members voting to join a coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, the chancellor and her cabinet will now be sworn in. In September’s national election, the Christian Democrats got 41.5
Continue readingAlberta creates a Minister of Renewable Energy
Occasionally a spark of hope interrupts the dreary flow of environmental news. Such a spark occurred in Alberta last week with the announcement by Premier Redford that Donna Kennedy-Glans would be the new Associate Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy. The ministry will be the first of its kind in
Continue readingThe man from Goldman Sachs comes to Canada
U.S. President Obama has nominated another one of his major fundraisers as ambassador to Canada. Like David Jacobson, the current ambassador, nominee Bruce Heyman was a “mega-bundler” for Obama’s presidential campaigns, helping to raise millions of dollars. Unlike Jacobson, a lawyer, Heyman is Wall Street all the way, having toiled
Continue readingDagenais illustrates why women avoid politics
“If you can’t stand the heat, etc.” … the usual justification when one politician objects to the boorish behaviour of another. And no doubt MP Charmaine Borg heard a lot of that when she objected to the recent attack on her by Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais. The heat you are expected
Continue readingAmericans opt to mind their own business
For the first time since it began measuring the statistic 50 years ago, the Pew Research Centre reports that a majority of Americans believe the U.S. should mind its own business internationally. The primary reason suggested for this new-found humility is “war fatigue.” They would also like more focus on
Continue readingShould women run the world?
Scientists at at the University of Pennsylvania have once again confirmed what we have always known intuitively. Men’s and women’s brains are wired differently. Maps of neural circuitry from one of the largest studies of brain wiring showed that connections in women’s brains tended to be stronger across the left
Continue readingPembina praises Ontario’s new energy plan
The Pembina Institute, one of the country’s leading environmental advocacy organizations, has good things to say about Ontario’s new long-term energy plan. In a press release this week, the Institute praised the province for wisely investing in conservation. According to Tim Weis, Pembina’s director of renewable energy and efficiency policy,
Continue readingOmar sues
Justice has to date miserably failed Omar Khadr. It simply has not been a match for the vindictiveness of Washington and the callousness of Ottawa. Consequently his life continues to waste away in a federal maximum security prison. But justice may yet have its day. Tagging along behind the relentless
Continue readingCanada-Australia climate axis—greatest threat to global security?
Prime Minister Harper once announced that the greatest threat to global security was terrorism. That was nonsense of course—every year, malaria kills approximately 660,000 people, mostly children, and AIDS 1,700,000 people. Terrorism is a trivial threat compared to the big killers. And the biggest of all, if we don’t act
Continue readingU.S. feeds Japanese militarism
China, with its paltry aid to the Philippines and its announcement of a new air-defense zone over the East China sea, has not been making friends in its region these days. But the country to worry about in the Far East is not China. It is Japan. Countries such as
Continue readingIf you’re a democrat, instruct your MP to support Chong’s Bill
An opportunity to strike a blow for parliamentary democracy has suddenly arisen and all democrats should take advantage of it. On Thursday, Michael Chong, MP for Wellington-Halton Hills, will introduce a Bill in the House that would dramatically devolve power from party leaders to MPs and constituency associations. The Bill,
Continue readingThou shalt not have an economy of exclusion and inequality
I am no fan of the Roman Catholic Church, nor can I avoid cringing at some of Pope Francis’s views, particularly on women, but occasionally I do have to applaud the old boy. Such was the case with his recent apostolic exhortation when he criticized the world economic system, referring
Continue readingParliament needs a science watchdog
Science has never been more important to the human race than it is today. We are faced with the two greatest threats in our history: catastrophic climate change combined with exhaustion of the Earth’s resources. We must rely on science to lead us out of the crises we have created
Continue readingDoes Canada’s knee-jerk loyalty benefit Israel?
Right on cue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the new nuclear deal with Iran hardly before the ink was dry, calling it a “historic mistake,” stating he was not bound by it, claiming the world had become a “more dangerous place,” and reiterating his threat to use military action
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