The Wizard Of Austerity
Like Dorothy and her companions, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals are skipping down that yellow brick road, hoping that the Wizard of Austerity will take them back to…
Owen Gray
Whose Sacred Cow?
Lawrence Martin writes this morning that Canada is about to take a sharp right turn. In the process, several of the country’s sacred cows will be sent to the abattoir:…
Shining A Light On ALEC
Paul Krugman writes that one of the consequences of the Trayvon Martin shooting is that people are beginning to focus on so called Stand Your Ground Laws and the people…
The Native Son
Yesterday the NDP chose a native son — a Quebecer born and bred. In fact, the final choice came down to two native sons. One of the differences between Mulcair…
And The Winner Is . . .
Who knows? Lawrence Martin writes this morning that: Just a little more than a week ago, Mulcair was riding a wave of endorsements from party members and media pundits. Now…
The Icredible Shrinking Mayor
A cautionary tale is unfolding in the city of Toronto.Yesterday, for the second time in recent memory, Toronto City Council told Mayor Rob Ford to take a walk down to…
While We Were Sleeping
Some pretty fundamental — and frightening — changes have gone on while we were sleeping. The voter suppression scandal is only the latest in a long list of abuses which…
Swiftboating His Opponents
The central problem the opposition parties have with Stephen Harper is that he defines the terms of the debate.He does that, first and foremost, by conducting an eternal campaign. His…
The Party Of Illusions
Whatever else the Harper Conservatives are, they are good magicians. They are in the business of selling illusions. They claim to be the party of prosperity, when they are, in…
Healing Divisions
The Toronto Star has endorsed Thomas Mulcair for the leadership of the NDP. So has Gerry Caplan. Ed Broadbent has his strident doubts. What’s going on? Broadbent’s outburst was unexpectedly…
Mitt And The Common Man
Maureen Dowd has a column in this morning’s New York Times about the problems Mitt Romney has admitting publicly to the tenets of his faith. I have never been too…
So Let’s Talk About Guelph
It was almost comical yesterday to watch the Conservatives frantically insist that any election fraud was limited to the riding of Guelph — and that it was purely accidental: Conservative…
Harper’s War On Government
Stephen Harper has invited comparisons with Richard Nixon ever since he came to Ottawa. Lawrence Martin has admitted that the genesis of his latest book, Harperland, came from Rick Pearlstein’s…
The Price Of Loyalty
The Conservatives have thrown Michael Sona under the bus, despite his protests that he had nothing to do with the voter calling scandal. He was an easy scapegoat. His behaviour…
The New Solitudes
Gerry Nicholls writes that there are two Canadas. Not the two solitudes Hugh Maclennan described seventy years ago — although reaction in Quebec to the recently passed omnibus crime bill…
What’s In a Name
When Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay agreed to their marriage of convenience nine years ago, they dropped the word “Progressive” from the party brand. It was a momentous omission and…
Grecian Formula
Almost a year ago, Stephen Harper travelled to Greece to encourage Greek prime minister George Papandreou to screw his courage to the sticking point and go further down Austerity Road.…
There Are None So Blind
The Manning Centre came to Ottawa this weekend to celebrate Conservatism Triumphant. And it demonstrated, yet again, the party’s fatal flaw — its garrison mentality. Richard Ciano, head of Campaign…
By Whatever Means Necessary
Consider what has happened in the last three elections: In 2006, the Harper Conservatives — in their quest for a majority — broke Canada’s campaign finance laws. In 2008, they…
What Did He Know, And When Did He Know It?
That was the question Senator Howard Baker asked as the United States Congress moved toward its decision to impeach Richard Nixon. And that is the question Lawrence Martin asks this…