Modern conservatism has been repeating the same balderdash for three decades — that unions are bad for the economy. The Fraser Institute, predictably, has jumped on the bandwagon. Andrew Jackson writes in The Globe and Mail: A new study by the Fraser Institute argues that introduction of anti-union “right to
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Buyer’s Remorse
Even as Stephen Harper repeats his mantra that he knows best how to manage the economy, the ground is shifting under his feet. The Hill Times reports that: The Conservatives are bleeding support from older voters, Ontarians and ethnic Canadians who helped the party win a majority government in 2011,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Memory Serves
A generation has passed since Sally Field won an Oscar for her performance in Norma Rae. Most people have forgotten the film. They have forgotten the battles auto workers waged against Henry Ford. The have forgotten the Asbestos Strike of 1949, and the battles miners waged against the Quebec Provincial
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Artic Shadow
Michael Byers, the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, writes that during his recent Arctic Tour Stephen Harper tried to look like Vladimir Putin: Photos showed Harper standing awkwardly in front of a campfire made of logs that must have been
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: No Simple Answers
The United States and France appear ready to attack Syria. If that happens, Iran says it is ready to attack Israel. And Israel has atomic weapons. Bob Rae wrote this week that: A couple of years ago I had the chance to meet Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres, Israel’s prime
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Not Dead Yet
After the last election, Peter C. Newman offered the opinion that Michael Ignatieff had presided over the death of the Liberal Party of Canada. But Michael Den Tandt writes from Prince Edward Island that the party is showing signs of life: Eighteen months ago, at the party’s biennial convention in
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Making Duffy An Enemy
John Ivison compares Senator Mike Duffy to Kevin Spacey’s character in the recently released film House of Cards: Frank “The Whip” Underwood was speaking from experience when he said: “Friends make the worst enemies.” Kevin Spacey’s menacing character in House of Cards is intent on bringing down all those on
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Separating The Parties
Quebec is a French island in an English ocean. That’s undeniable. The question has always been, “How should Quebecers react to that fact?” There have always been those who have argued that, to survive, Quebecers must look inward and erect political and cultural bunkers. Others have argued that Quebec must
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: He’s Got To Be Kidding
Peter MacKay has accused Justin Trudeau of committing a criminal offence by smoking pot. But, as Althia Raj, of The Huffington Post, writes: While it is illegal to grow, traffic or possess marijuana, smoking weed is not a criminal offence. University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran has written to the
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: No Economic Geniuses
Scott Clark and Peter Devries write that the stated focus of Jim Flaherty’s seventh annual “national policy retreat” was job creation and economic growth. The Harper government likes to repeat that those two objectives are — and always have been — its reasons for being. But all that talk has
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: They Know A Phoney When They See One
The folks on the Rock are very good at spotting poseurs. The Toronto Star has reprinted an editorial from the St. John’s Telegraph which captures what Stephen Harper’s trip to the North illustartes: Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in virtual campaign mode as he began his regular summer trip to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Refusing to See Them
Stephen Harper’s Northern Tour was supposed to be a political triumph. He delivered red meat speeches about the “vacuous” and “dangerous” opposition. And he announced that he was running in the 2015 election. But, yesterday, the tour ended with a vivid picture of the prime minister’s definition of power. Michael
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Can We Take Him At His Word?
When asked this week if he would run for re-election in 2015, Stephen Harper answered, “Of course, yes.” It was a pretty flatfooted statement. But Tasha Kheiriddin, one of the prime minister’s most steadfast supporters, writes that his answer is open to interpretation: Some surveys have found that the public
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Founding Fathers Would Weep
Chris Hedges writes that, with the sentencing of Bradley Manning, the United States is now a penal colony: There are strict rules now in our American penal colony. If we remain supine, if we permit ourselves to be passively stripped of all political power and voice, if we refuse to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Gutless
Stephen Harper insists that proroguing Parliament is a “completely normal” procedure. But not even The Globe and Mail is buying that line. It editorializes today that: Yes, this will be a more routine use by Mr. Harper of the royal prerogative to prorogue than in the past but it is
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Check Out Time
Stephen Harper confirmed yesterday that he intends to run for re-election in 2015. Michael Harris at ipolitics gives ten reasons why Harper should retire. Consider three of Harris’ reasons: First, Harper is tempermentaly unsuited for the job. He is a politician who doesn’t like people: And as strange as this
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Frozen In Time
With the Senate scandal taking its toll, and the Lac Megantic disaster still fresh in the public mind, you would think that Stephen Harper might be engaged in a re-think. But, if one is to judge by the rhetoric he has been employing on his tour of the Far North,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Keep Your Mouth Shut
Clayton Ruby writes that the federal and Alberta governments want to pipe bitumen through Enbridge’s already constructed 9B pipeline. They also want to increase the pipeline’s capacity from 240,000 barrels a day to 300,000 barrels a day. And, to make sure that the oil industry gets what it wants, the
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Oh, What A Tangled Web
Things are starting to get interesting — and potentially nasty. John Ivison reports in The National Post that Mike Duffy is unhappy: Mr. Duffy’s lawyers have barred him from speaking to the press but he has told friends that he feels he has been thrown under the bus and that
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Piffle About Taxes
Four years ago, Stephen Harper declared: “I don’t believe that any taxes are good taxes.” We’ve come to expect that kind of piffle from the prime minister. But, Devon Black writes, these days all politicians are singing from the same hymnal: The “Read my lips — no new taxes!” approach
Continue reading