http://www.patheos.com/ When it comes to evaluating the recently announced federal surplus, it’s wise to remember that Stephen Harper has been waging a decade long war
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Something Doesn’t Compute
http://www.ctvnews.ca/ Stephen Harper began the week by crowing about his surplus. He fancies himself a magician; and so, nothing he says or does
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: God’s Agent
https://www.flickr.com/ Stephen Harper doesn’t talk about his evangelical religion. But its footsteps are all over his policies. Andrew Nikiforuk writes in the Tyee:
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Bottom Feeders
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/ Like the other lies crafted in the PMO, the Harperites are trying to sell the idea that they are tough on crime. As part of their campaign, they have
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Spitting Into The Wind
http://364daysofthanksgiving.com/ Last week, Stephen Harper pulled an Australian rabbit out of his hat. Up until now, he’s been a pretty successful magician. He’s created diversions to distract his audience from what he’s really doing. The diversions are called wedge issues. But his show has been on the road for
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Does She Have Her Own Room?
http://www.cbc.ca/ Chris Alexander is only the latest Harper attack dog to be sent back to his kennel. Rick Salutin writes that there
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: It Couldn’t Happen To A Nicer Guy
ipolitics.ca The wheels are falling off the Harper campaign bus. Michael Harris writes: No wonder Jenni Byrne is folding like a $3 dollar suitcase. Reform-style loons have broken out of their shallow graves and are once more shambling across the landscape. And how did Stephen “He’s Not Perfect” Harper
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Alexander’s Ragtime Rant
http://www.tvrage.com/ Politics, Robin Sears writes, is about dialogue: Successful politicians know how to listen, to respond respectfully and through that dialogue, learn. Some Canadian politicians’ increasing fascination with steely message discipline at the expense of listening or respectful response is dangerous for democratic dialogue — and, often, for their
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: His Record Is Abysmal
http://www.pioneerspost.com/ We’re officially in a recession. And, next month, we may be officially out of it. But that doesn’t mean, Jim Stanford writes, that the Canadian economy is in good shape. In three specific areas, the economy has been limping along for years: Investment: For years Canada relied on
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: And Little Children Die
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ Stephen Harper works hard to control people. But he can’t control events. And events are catching up with him. At the beginning of the week, events caught up with his economic policy. And, two days ago, events caught up with his immigration policy. The picture of
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: What Happens After October 19th?
http://askgeorgie.com/ The outcome of this election is uncertain. But regardless of who wins, Andrew Coyne writes, what happens after October 19th is uncertain: So it’s an unusually unpredictable election. But that doesn’t begin to describe how uncertain the outcome is. Because it isn’t just the results
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Time To Get Out Of The Box
http://smartstorming.com/ The recession is here. It may be short and it may be shallow. But it underscores a simple message: Stephen Harper’s main claim to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Watching the Sunset
In the 1980’s, America’s economy began to rust out. Ronald Reagan told the unemployed in cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Garry, Indiana that they should move out of town and seek work in one of the burgeoning McDonald’s franchises. Michael Moore chronicled the fate of the newly unemployed in his
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Singing From The Same The Same Songbook
Last week, Tony Turner — who wrote the protest song Harperman — was suspended from his job. Turner is a federalist scientist, whose job is to track migratory bird species. He knows what’s been happening at Environment Canada. Michael Harris writes: I have it on good authority that Turner, an
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Are 30% Of Us Fools?
http://www.quotesvalley.com/ Jeffrey Simpson writes that Stephen Harper’s core of support is six percent: After all, Conservative bedrock support is reckoned to be about 30 per cent, or maybe a trifle higher. So if only 6 per cent of respondents said the trial improved their opinion of the
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Fundamental Realignment
www.youtube.com Justin Trudeau, Tom Walkom writes, has done the country a favour. For the last two decades, the word “deficit” has been synonymous with “doom.” But the two words are not synonyms. And now
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: They’ve Read Leo Strauss
http://www.buzzquotes.com/ Stephen Harper has become a law unto himself. The evidence, Michael Harris writes, is incontrovertible: The evidence from the near past is damning enough: Found
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Why Would Any . . .?
http://www.quickmeme.com/ In his latest column, Tim Harper recounts his frustrated and frustrating attempts to talk to Conservative candidates across the country: I never met Mike Little, the Conservative candidate in the key riding of Burnaby North-Seymour. I met every other candidate but Little had personal considerations
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: No Ordinary Election
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ This is no ordinary election. Ralph Surette has been around quite awhile and he’s seen a lot of governments. And, he writes, the Harper government
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Not A Smart Man
http://www.livememe.com/ We learned last week that the Prime Minister ignored the advice of his in-house lawyer. Alan Freeman writes: When Perrin was asked by Harper’s
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