Northern Reflections: They’re In The Money

“In Ottawa,” Michael Den Tandt wrote last week, “money sloshes around like water in a tub.” Things have gotten worse since Stephen Harper ditched Jean Chretien’s modest attempt to provide some public funding for elections.  Some defend the status quo; but voters are furious. They demand transparency: Some will lament

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Northern Reflections: Creative Destruction?

The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter wrote that capitalism encouraged “creative destruction.” Tom Walkom writes that The Great Recession has been all about destruction: In Canada, we are said to be doing well. The official unemployment statistics show Canadian joblessness at a high but tolerable level of roughly 7 per cent.

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Northern Reflections: With Friends Like Harper, You Don’t Need Enemies

                                                                    Rob Moore The Grace Foundation, the New Brunswick charity which complained last week about Justin Trudeau’s  speaking fee, now says it’s “deeply distressed” by the way things have turned out. Ian Webster, chairman of the foundation’s board, is upset. Supposedly private correspondence was made public:  “There was never any

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Northern Reflections: Sneaky Steve

You have to admit, the phrase has possibilities, partly because of its alliterative panache. But, Michael Harris writes, the real strength of the phrase comes from its accuracy: Sneaky politicians are a plague on democracy — the dark avenue to something sinister. The prime minister of Canada is the Wayne

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Northern Reflections: Things Fall Apart

Humpty Dumpty is teetering on his wall. Michael Den Tandt writes in the Postmedia papers: Edmonton MP Brent Rathgeber’s resignation from the Conservative caucus, which dropped inside the Ottawa bubble like a little concussion grenade late Wednesday, represents more than the loss of a single MP among the 164 Tories

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Northern Reflections: Rebellion On The Right

Stephen Harper’s most loyal supporters are deserting him. Tom Walkom writes in The Toronto Star: The latest stress point is a damning critique of Harper’s economic policy by the head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a right-of-centre organization that is usually friendly to, if not always onside with, the federal

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Northern Reflections: Stepping In It

All political parties have their own manure machines — propaganda shops, whose task is to sell their program. But, under Stephen Harper, political propaganda has been redefined. It’s now all about ad hominem attacks; and it’s non stop, all year round. The Harper brand of  manure relies on several carefully

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