Once again, Chris Hedges has returned to the Pequod as a metaphor for North American society. The ship and crew in Melville’s Moby Dick are doomed because they have willingly supported one man’s mad quest. And like them, Hedges writes, we are teetering on the edge of collapse: Our financial
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Steve, Neil And The First Nations
Neil Young is now on Stephen Harper’s enemies list. Michael Harris writes: In the thug state Stephen Harper is busily constructing, Young has become Stephane Dion with a guitar, or Michael Ignatieff with a tambourine – just another opponent of the prime minister to be torn down. In Harper’s one-opinion
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Perfect Ponzi Scheme
Last week, Thomas Perkins complained that governments were treating the very rich like Jews in Nazi Germany. Paul Krugman writes that such plutocratic paranoia is not an isolated instance: There are a number of other plutocrats who manage to keep Hitler out of their remarks but who nonetheless hold, and
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Canada’s Herbert Hoover
Some people rejoiced last week, when Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz announced that interest rates would remain where they are. But Scott Clark and Peter Devries write: Reading between the lines suggests that the Bank does not expect a strengthening in employment growth and any significant reduction in the
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Failed Economist
As Lorne over at Politics and Its Discontents noted yesterday, there has been much gnashing of teeth as the Canadian dollar has slid down to 90 cents (U.S.) But Tom Walkom writes this morning that the dollar can and should fall farther: With luck, it will end back up at
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Hot Air
Stephen Harper likes to crow about his government’s management of the economy. But the facts are out of synch with the hype. Two days ago, Alex Roberts tallied up the record after eight years of Conservative stewardship. The report should be read in full. But consider just a few excerpts:
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Liberal Paradox
Tom Walkom writes this morning that the public celebration of Jean Chretien’s 80th birthday underscores the paradox which is the Liberal Party: The Liberals are a paradox. They build institutions and then demolish them. They insist they walk the middle line even when they don’t. They pride themselves on their
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Something To Think About
Stephen Harper has pledged unwavering support for Israel. That pledge sounds hollow coming from a man who has a long history of abandoning friends and allies when they become inconvenient. Consider a few names: Preston Manning, Garth Turner, Tom Flanagan, Mike Duffy, Nigel Wright. And now, Lawrence Martin writes, you
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Ignorance Personified
Stephen Harper claims that criticizing Israel is a new form of Anti-Semitism. Of course, he defines Israel as the Netanyahu government. But, as Gerry Caplan writes, there is so much more to Israel than the Netanyahu government: But it’s not Israel that he supports. It’s the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Fundamentally Wrong
Stephen Harper, we are told, has received a rock star welcome in Israel. Leaving aside for the moment the diversion it creates from scandal at home, one should be very uncomfortable about what Harper is stirring up in the Middle East. Jeffrey Simpson writes that, while successive Canadian governments have
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Candian Snow Job
While Neil Young was reminding Harper and Co. that they had obligations to Canada’s native peoples, John Baird was in Washington, trying to extract a promise from Barack Obama and John Kerry that the United States would build the Keystone XL pipeline. But Mr. Obama and Mr. Kerry were unmoved.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: An Information Holocaust
Andrew Nikiforuk has been documenting the closure of government libraries and the wholesale destruction of their contents. The process has been chaotic and blind: “The fact that many materials were thrown away or given away [most of the books at Saint Andrews Biological Station] is heartbreaking to those of us
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Afraid Of People
The Conservatives have introduced a bill to “reform” the civil service. Lawrence Martin writes that, essentially, it is a directive that non conservatives need not apply: Call it the Loyalty Act. According to the bill brought forward by MP Mark Adler of the York Centre riding, if the disclosures turn
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Hole We’re In Gets Deeper
Yesterday, the Supreme Court was put in the embarrassing position of deciding whether or not to approve one of its potential members. The reason was another of Stephen Harper’s attempts to get his way. The arguments in front of the course were legal. But the real question was — and
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Tale Of Two Countries
When it comes to oil, Mitchell Anderson writes, Canada and Norway have written two different narratives: A recent news item showed that Norway’s massive pot of petroleum of money, now totaling CA$909.364 billion, has made every citizen a millionaire in Norwegian kroner. That works out to about $178,000 for every
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Taking Goebbels’ Advice
The CBC reports this morning that the Harper government spent $2.5 million to promote its non existent jobs program: CBC News has also learned that that advertising cash came from an $11-million fund set aside last year for Employment and Social Development Canada to promote the government as a job
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A War On the Poor
As Republicans and Democrats argue about whether they should extend unemployment insurance to the long termed unemployed, Paul Krugman writes that the Republican argument is part of a war on the poor: Right now Republicans are doing all they can to hurt the poor, and they would have inflicted vast
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Here He Comes
So you thought the election was in 2015. And now, like Humphrey Bogart — who went to Casablanca for the waters — you discover that you have been misinformed. The election campaign has begun. Don Martin writes: Stephen Harper photo-ops are being booked across the country. Advance squads deployed to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Unadulterated Stupidity
In the wake of yesterday’s news that Canada lost 46,000 jobs in December, it’s instructive to consider what Henry Ford did one hundred years ago. He raised his worker’s wage to five dollars a day — double the going rate. Tony Sanger writes: Ford was virulently anti-Semitic, anti-union and paternalistic,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Reliable Stooge
One of the reforms Michael Chong wants to implement is open riding nominations, free from the interference of party leaders. That proposition is currently being tested in Calgary West, where Rob Anders is being challenged for he nomination. The riding’s recent history is interesting. Lawrence Martin writes: Mr. Harper represented
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