If I ever had the chance to sit down and chat with Randy Hillier, I doubt I would have much to say to the libertarian Progressive Conservative MPP recently permanently ousted from his party’s caucus for reasons that appear contrived. He is alleged to have said “yada yada yada” (the
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Politics and its Discontents: What Fair Taxation Could Achieve
From the print edition of the Toronto Star comes this response to a recent column by Linda McQuaig, a response that strikes me as eminently reasonable: Re Debunking billionaire claims of heroic capitalism, McQuaig, March 14 Linda McQuaig is right on the money. Since1980, the top federal tax rate has
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Different Kind Of Terrorism
While I have written extensively on Omar Khadr in the past, the former child combatant has not been much in the news of late, and so I assumed he has more or less settled down into a normal life. However, such an attempt, it would seem, is fated to be
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The OECD Is Not Impressed
While many are trying to minimize the significance of allegations that the Trudeau government tried to subvert the course of justice in the SNC-Lavalin affair, there is one body that is taking them very seriously: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development working group on bribery said in a statement
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Going Off Half-Cocked
In the best of circumstances, measured, critical thinking is hard work. And as the antics of the gun lobby group the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights amply demonstrate, thinking while foaming at the mouth is well-nigh impossible. A Toronto trauma surgeon arguing for stricter gun control is being targeted by
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Hysteria Surrounding Alleged SNC-Lavalin Job Losses
I was watching The National ((aka The Whore of Babylon among those who reflexively defend all things Liberal) last evening, and was surprised to learn that there seems to be no basis for the claim that 9,000 jobs could be lost should SNC-Lavalin register a criminal conviction that would bar
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Your Wednesday (Rueful) Smile
If you have been following Ontario politics lately, you will probably appreciate the latest from Theo Moudakis: Meanwhile, Brad Blair, the OPP whistle blower, calls his firing a reprisal by Doug Ford: “It is patently clear to me that this is reprisal and an attempt to muzzle me,” Brad Blair,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Attack On The National Soul
It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them. –
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Vengeance Is Mine, Sayeth the Ford
In almost biblical fashion, Premier Doug Ford has smote his enemy, aided and abetted by the OPP union. Brad Blair, the OPP whistleblower who complained loudly and very publicly about the sweetheart deal engineered by Doug Ford to install his longtime pal, Ron Taverner, as the head of the police
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: You Probably Don’t Want To Hear This
…. but new research suggests that yet another climate-change feedback loop could be in the offing as we plunge headlong toward disaster: The stratocumulus clouds, the layer of cloud shielding us from the direct rays of the sun could vanish one day. That’s according to a new research by a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Corporate Corruption
With corrupt corporate practices so much in the news these days, thanks to the Trudeau government’s attempts at subverting justice for SNC Lavalin, I couldn’t help but be struck by the naked greed so evident in the practices of a pharmaceutical called Insys Therapeutics. Several of the company’s executives …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Fascinating Rorschach Test
Reading the newspaper this morning, it occurred to me that the reactions to Jody Wilson Raybould’s testimony before the Commons Justice Committee constitute a kind of political Rorschach Test, one that helps reveal people’s values, psychology and moral sensibilities. As one would expect, it demonstrates that the Canadian psyche is
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Dark Underside Of Sunny Ways
Her testimony was riveting, her aura of integrity palpable. One could only come away from the testimony of Jody Wilson-Raybould into the SNC-Lavalin scandal drawing at least two conclusions: politics really is a dirty game, and it is one that a person of principle cannot easily navigate while holding on
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Cowardly Silence
Human nature is a strange, wondrous, and sometimes shameful thing. For every Nelson Mandela who takes a stand against arbitrary authority, there are countless millions who will simply go along to get along. If an edict, no matter how obviously wrong or unethical, is issued in the name of authority,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Following The Trail Home
Letter-writers in today’s Star ask questions that demand to be answered. The first makes a point that occurred to me early on when SNC-Lavalin averred that bribery and fraud charges were the result of rogue employees, an oft-used disclaimer by those seeking to evade criminal responsibility: Re PM loses top
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: For What It’s Worth
I would like to use this post to comment on one of the questions swirling around the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, one that came up yet again on last night’s At Issue panel: Why did Wilson-Raybould wait until she was was moved to Veterans Affairs to resign from cabinet? The
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Dissecting Justin
The first cut, they say, is the deepest. And now, for something completely different: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Breaking News: Gerald Butts Resigns!
For those who claim the SNC-Lavalin affair is much ado abut nothing, this is certainly an interesting development: OTTAWA—Gerald Butts, Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary and long-time friend, has resigned amid allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office interfered to prevent a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. In a statement, Butts unequivocally denies
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Mike Pence’s Very Bad Day
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Vice- President Mike Pence quickly realized that things were not going as planned. The rest of the world can, I hope, rejoice at the strong message he receives in the following: Speaking to a security conference in Munich, Pence tells his audience
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The ‘Evolving’ Story Of Justin And Jody
Evolving is one of those words I have never particularly cared for. It can, and should, of course, most be used when pertaining to the growth and change over time of various forms of life. Too often, however, it is used as a weasel word, one that is employed to
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