On Tuesday, at the Museum of Civilization, David Frum argued in favour of the proposition that Pierre Trudeau was “Canada’s most disastrous prime minister:”Pierre Trudeau was a spending fool. He believed in a state-led economy, and the longer he lasted…
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Northern Reflections: The Contempt Continues
After last spring’s election, the optimists among us hoped that — with a secure majority — we would see a kinder, gentler government. Those optimists hoped for more mutual respect among the parties. But Jack Layton’s death was a harbinger of things t…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Marching Backward
When it comes to foreign policy, Canada has traveled a great distance since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister. Lester Pearson would not recognize his country.There was no greater supporter of Israel than Pearson. But the man who won the Nobel Prize …
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Not Seeing The Trees For The Forest
Paul Krugman’s analysis of the European Debt Crisis, in this morning’s New York Times should be required reading — not just for the movers and shakers in Europe, but for our own so called wise men. Krugman’s critics on the right accuse him of fi…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Black Is White
Janice Kennedy has accurately described what has happened to Canada during the Harper years. She writes that “a good country is being turned into a sad joke.” Reviewing Stephen Harper’s immigration policy, his military swagger and his “tough on crime” …
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Righteous Are In Charge
Someday, historians will cite what Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said this week as the Harper Government’s Mission Statement. Nicholson declared that, “We’re not governing on the basis of the latest statistics. We’re governing on the basis of what’s r…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Rich Have Declared That The Poor Are The Enemy
When President Obama proposed higher taxes on the very wealthy this week, Republicans were apoplectic. Once again, they screamed, “Class Warfare.” A look at the numbers exposes that lie. Paul Krugman writes in this morning’s New York Times that:D…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The New Normal
Lawrence Martin has an interesting rejoinder to Stephen Harper’s claim that — economically speaking — Canada is at the head of the G8 pack. If you look at Canada’s economic record from an historical perspective, there is little to applaud:In an…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Just Society?
The phrase was Pierre Trudeau’s, and it caught on. Canadians like to think of themselves as citizens of a Just Society. Certainly, they believe, things are better here than in the United States. But, Carol Goar wrote recently, we have been emulating ou…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Triumph of Incompetence
Lawrence Martin weighs in this morning on the subject of Bob Dechert and the company he keeps. John Baird’s parliamentary secretary, writes Martin,showed such poor judgment in entering into that kind of relationship [with an agent of the Xinhua News Ag…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: And So It Begins
As The House of Commons opens its doors after the summer recess, John Ibbitson writes in this morning’s Globe and Mail that:Nothing on the fall agenda should surprise anyone. Most of the bills have been introduced before, only to be beaten back b…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Stupid Party
The late Irving Kristol — the godfather of Neo Conservatism — once referred to the Republican Party as “The Stupid Party.” In today’s New York Times, Maureen Dowd uses the same epithet to describe a party which has been thoroughly Kristolized.The pre…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Top Down
The central tenet of trickle down economics is that the benefits of strong support for those at the top of the system will eventually drip down to those at the bottom. The late John Kenneth Galbraith, who grew up on a farm on the northern shore of Lake…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Death Of "Compassionate Conservatism"
When George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, he proclaimed that he was a “compassionate conservative.” This week, during the second Republican candidates debate, it became clear that the party — post Bush — has rejected that moniker. When…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing
What is truly remarkable about the politics of the early 21st century is how the difference between a cost and an investment has been undermined. This week, the Institute on Research for Public Policy released a report which estimated that it would tak…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: How Long?
In the wake of this past weekend’s 911 memorials, Lawrence Martin asks a question which some might consider heresy:How long is America going to be held hostage to what happened that day? How long, owing to our modern dial-a-threat form of so-called war…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: This Is An Economist?
Like Stephen Harper, Tim Hudak has as Master’s degree in economics. But, as Jim Stanford points out in his latest publication from The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Hudak’s economics don’t pass the sniff test:This detailed statistical review…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Them!
The paranoia of the 1950’s is perhaps best captured in the 1954 film, Them!, a ninety-four minute saga which turned on two common themes of the day — nuclear Holocaust and Communist subversion. In the film, a species of gigantic irradiated ants threat…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Ten Years Later
This weekend, as we remember what happened ten years ago, our first thoughts should — of course — be for those who died at the World Trade Center. Many met horrible deaths. Those whose careful planning caused those deaths illustrate humanity at its m…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Obama On Jobs
This morning,Paul Krugman finally has some words of praise for President Obama :I was favorably surprised by the new Obama jobs plan, which is significantly bolder and better than I expected. It’s not nearly as bold as the plan I’d want in an ideal…
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