Stephen Harper’s enemies list grows ever longer. But, Gerry Caplan writes, the list includes not only persons but nations as well. When asked last week if Canada would support a UN peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic, Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to John Baird told the House: “Of
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Free Trade Is Not Fair Trade
Stephen Harper has been travelling around the world, signing “free” trade deals like a hockey player signing autographs. But those deals have been particularly detrimental to Ontario’s economy — and The Great Recession has put the province’s manufacturers on the ropes. Tom Walkom writes: The North American economy is being
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Sleeping Through The Drama
Thomas Picketty’s new book, Capital In The 21st Century, is generating a flurry of interest south of the border. Paul Krugman has praised the book’s scholarship and its conclusion that we are living in a second Gilded Age. And the central theme of the book — economic inequality — has
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Europeans Get It
Stephen Harper refuses to speak to the UN. Perhaps that’s because he fears that, on his way to the podium, he would be booed. Karl Nerenberg reports that the Bertelsmann Foundation — based in Germany — has given the Harper government its seal of disapproval. In a recent report: It
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Rob’s Ghost
Rob Ford, we’re told, is somewhere in rehab. But his ghost haunts the Ontario Election. John Barber writes that his absence may, for the time being, be a blessing: Would NDP Leader Andrea Horwath have had the nerve to bring down Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals had Rob Ford not been whisked
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Out Of Control
Yesterday, Peter MacKay renewed his attack on Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. Andrew Coyne writes: Watching the Harper government stumble from one needless controversy to another — picking fights, settling scores, demeaning institutions and individuals alike in the pursuit of no discernible principle or even political gain — one has had
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Making Of A Banana Republic
Michael Harris doesn’t mince words. Canada, he writes, is at a watershed moment: What’s it going to be: a modern democracy or a Steve’s banana republic of the north? The train wreck of the Harper government continues to roll down the mountainside, crushing body after body, yet no one utters
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Things Could Get Very Nasty
Kathleen Wynne has three opponents in Ontario’s election — Tim Hudak, Andrea Horwath and Stephen Harper. Her budget represents everything that Harper abhors — government spending to stimulate the economy, an expanded pension plan and higher taxes on the wealthy. Mr. Harper immediately dismissed the Ontario Pension Plan. And, yesterday,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Mr. Harper And The Judge
You can add Beverley McLachlin’s name to Stephen Harper’s Enemies List. In case your memory needs refreshing, Errol Mendes reviews some of the prominent names on that list: The growing range of individuals that have had to endure such smears have included: academics (myself included); environmental groups labelled as extremists
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Tolerating Rot
As Rob Ford heads off to rehab in Chicago, Carol Goar writes that Canadians are besotted with shameless politicians: A casual lawlessness has crept into the high offices of the land. It is not outright criminality, punishable by fines and jail time (at least not yet). It is an attitude
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Labour Racketeering
There has been a lot of sound and fury of late about the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. Terry Glavin writes that the program was set up in 1974 to ease bottlenecks in the labour markets. But, in 2002, the Chretien government instituted the “Pilot Project for Hiring Foreign Workers in
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Someone Else Will Pick Up The Tab
The Harperites promised Canada’s Afghan Veterans a National Day of Honour. But they’re not going to pay for it. Tim Harper writes: Corporate Canada and True Patriot Love, the charitable foundation that is raising the money to get families to the capital to be properly honoured, deserve credit. They have
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Big Dog
It really is time to bury the notion that Stephen Harper is a brilliant strategist. Andrew Coyne writes: We are so heavily invested, we media types, in the notion of Harper as master strategist, able to see around corners and think seven moves ahead and what not, that we tend
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Real Face Of The Conservative Party
In his eulogy for Jim Flaherty, Stephen Harper said, “It is a fact that Jim, as fiercely partisan as he was, was also genuinely liked and respected by his opponents, liked by his enemies. That’s something in this business, something I envy – I can’t even get my friends to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Perhaps It’s Just Stupidity
In at least one way, Stephen Harper is absolutely consistent: He is the author of his own misery. That was apparent in 2008, when he almost brought his government down by removing public funding for political parties. It was apparent again last week when the Supreme Court reminded Harper that,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: It Takes Sunny Ways
Yesterday — for the second time in a month — the Supreme Court reminded Stephen Harper of two truths about Canada. The first is that, as prime minister, he is obliged not to make the rules but to follow them. The second is that this country is a federation. Harper
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Lies and Damned Lies
Mark Twain wrote that there are “lies, damned lies and statistics.” The truth of that aphorism was proved once again this week after the New York Times reported that the Canadian middle class was in better shape than the American middle class. Jason Kenny went all a twitter. Justin Trudeau
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Corrrupted Party
Linda McQuaig writes that there is no better contrast between what the Conservative Party used to stand for and what it stands for now than the contrast between Douglas Roche and Stephen Harper. Roche represented Edmonton between 1972 and 1984. He was appointed to the Senate in 1998. He retired
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: An Ugly Blast From The Past
It’s not news to note that the Harper government is fixated on the past. From dropping the word “progressive” from the party’s moniker to building a resource based economy — with the focus on one resource — the Harperites are detemined to make the clock run backwards. And the “Fair”
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: How’s He Doing?
This week marks the first anniversary of Justin Trudeau’s ascension. Lawrence Martin writes that the Harperites are filling the air with polls. They have tried to make hay in the aftermath of Jim Flaherty’s death, pushing the meme that he — and they — have been superb economic managers. However,
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