During any political debate, voters and the media are always looking for the knock-out punch. Brian Mulroney famously destroyed John Turner in one debate in 1984, and Jim Prentice notoriously told Rachel Notley that “math is hard” in 2015, which backfired badly. So, was there a knock-out punch in the
Continue readingAuthor: Maurice Tougas
In This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 13: On GSAs, Mueller and JWR’s illegal wiretap
We all know that Donald Trump is a dirtbag, but is he a worse dirtbag than Justin Trudeau? An Ipsos poll on Thursday gave Trudeau an approval rating of 40%, lower than Donald Trump’s approval in the U.S. Seriously, people. Lower than Trump? Man, that’s cold. It was another bad
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 12: It’s the RNP vs. the UCP
Finally, after weeks of a pre-election posturing, the real posturing has begun. Here in the People’s Republic of Alberta, Rachael Notley recalled the legislature, had the Lt. Gov. read a speech from the throne that was almost entirely a recap of how wonderful the Rachael Notley government has been, then
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 11. The real world comes to New Zealand
We don’t hear a lot about New Zealand. Peaceful, stable countries don’t tend to make the news. Tragically this week, Australia’s little brother was thrust into the world’s spotlight for the worst possible reason. On Friday, a man went on a shooting rampage at a pair of mosques in Christchurch,
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 10: Do you SNC what I SNC?
It was another week of developments, and non-developments, in the ‘Lavscam’ scandal/affair. Where to begin? Let’s start with Jane Philpott. Remember her? She was the minister of something who resigned from office in solidarity with Jody Wilson-Raybould (again, heretofore to be referred to as JWR). Was this the start of
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 9: Justin Trudeau’s very bad, awful week
If only he weren’t so sanctimonious. If only he hadn’t presented himself as a paragon of virtue in a corrupt, fetid political swamp, then maybe we’d cut him some slack. I’m speaking of Justin Trudeau, inclusive, feminist, “sunny ways” prime minister who finds himself embroiled in a scandal that threatens
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens, IV: The Reckoning, week 8: It’s Oscar Sunday … zzzzz
Well, it’s Academy Awards Sunday. Remember when that used to be a big deal? As a longtime movie fan and pop culture junkie, I’ve always watched the Oscars with varying degrees of interest. This year, it’s off the charts – in the wrong direction. Interest for me is near zero.
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV: The reckoning, week 7: Tru-d’oh!
I think it’s safe to say that the second week of February, 2019, was the worst week of Justin Trudeau’s leadership. And with the House of Commons returning to action this week, it may become only the second-worst week of the Trudeau era. The Judy Wilson-Raybould affair or scandal (some
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 6. The Trouble with Trudeau
This was not a good week for Justin Trudeau. The coming weeks may not get any better. The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that Justice Minister Judy Wilson-Raybould had resisted pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a directive to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to shelve court
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 5. Breaking news: Winter is cold
Millions of Americans and not a few Canadians made the shocking discovery this week that winter can be very cold. Baby, it’s cold outside. Or are we not allowed to say that anymore? It was impossible to tune into any American newscast (and the me-too Canadian news) without seeing breathless
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, Week 4: The kid in the MAGA hat
There was a time, not long ago, when the mainstream media drove the agenda. Newspapers decided what was news, TV news copied whatever was in that day’s paper, and that’s what we all talked about. Of course, those days are gone. Thanks to Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and whatever
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens, The Reckoning, Week 3: Canadians pawns in game of Chinese checkers (yes, I know that doesn’t make sense)
I believe there is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes: don’t mess with China. China, a country we are trying desperately hard to establish firm trading ties with, is still PO’d about their Huawei executive being arrested on Canadian soil. They have already arrested two Canadians on trumped up, if
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, Week 2: Trump TV
I really did not want to write about Donald Trump, at least not in the second week of the year. But the Glowing Orange Menace decided that eating up 90 per cent of the air in the news universe was not enough. He wanted it all, and what better way
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Happens IV: The Reckoning. Week 1, when not much happened.
I’m back. Did you miss me? No? Well, some of you did. Mostly nice family members who idly asked me at Christmas dinner why I didn’t write my weekly news roundup anymore. As you may or may not remember, I started writing it in 2015 as Stuff Happens, followed by
Continue readingIn This Corner: George H.W. Bush: A wimp is rehabilitated
Nothing improves a reputation like dying. Last week, former U.S. president George H.W. Bush was laid to rest after 94 remarkable years of life. The praise for Bush was effusive, and mostly well deserved. Consider the guy’s public service record: eight years as Ronald Reagan’s vice president, two terms as
Continue readingIn This Corner: Robyn Luff speaks the truth
Until yesterday, I had never heard of Robyn Luff. Not many people have, even though she is an elected member of the Alberta legislature. Luff, as you may know by now, is one of the anonymous seat fillers that was elected, pretty much by accident, in the Orange Wave that
Continue readingIn This Corner: Deluged by fraudsters
Remember something called a ‘land line’? In the days before cellular telephone machines, a land line was simply called a telephone, because there was no other option. Today, none of my three grown (chronologically, anyway) sons have a land line. To millennials, using a land line is roughly the equivalent
Continue readingIn This Corner: Golden age of TV has passed the networks by
When I was a kid, I was a hopeless TV addict. My mom called me a “TV bug”. If anyone wanted to know what was on TV at any given hour of any given day, they could ask me. I was a walking TV Guide (which I subscribed to). That’s
Continue readingIn This Corner: How $1.34 turned into $76.13
I don’t know where you are, but here in the Great White North’s most northerly metropolis, it was a lovely summer. Until smoke from B.C. forest fires began to blot out the sun for days on end, we had a great string of warm, sometimes even hot, weather. In my
Continue readingIn This Corner: Nuttiness in the Great White North
This week, two examples of Canadian craziness. First, let’s go east, to Ontario, where the poisoned fruits of the Trump tree have fallen and taken root. (Man, that’s good writin’.) In June, the good people of Ontario elected corpulent doofus Doug Ford as their premier. Ford is, of course, the
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