On May 2nd, Canadians — well, at least 24% of them — thought they were voting for stability. They might begin to rethink that proposition, although it really is too late now. What Mr. Harper called “bickering” in the House of Commons will now shift t…
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: The Calm Before The Storm
Lawrence Martin, in this morning’s Globe and Mail, makes a strong case for the ascendancy of Stephen Harper. Rarely have the stars aligned themselves so thoroughly in a Prime Minister’s favour. He controls the House; he controls the Senate; he has abs…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Face Of The Conservative Revolution
Two stories this morning — one in The Globe and Mail and the other in The National Post — put the Conservative Revolution in perspective. In The Globe, John Ibbitson claims that the Conservatives still see themselves as underdogs. Their summer strate…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: It’s Not Just The Young
It’s not just the young who understand what Brigette Depape’s protest was about. There are members of my own generation who understand what has happened in the last thirty years. Some — like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich — keep trying to deliver th…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Times They Are A Changin’
Elizabeth May and Carolyn Bennett think it was “inappropriate.” But what Brigette Depape did yesterday is not a one day story. Her generation has the most to lose from a Harper government — and they know it.They also know that the Harper government co…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Headed in the Wrong Direction
On the day that the U.S unemployment rate went up for the second month in a row, Paul Krugman wrote that: “To be sure, things could be worse — and there’s a strong chance that they will, indeed, get worse.” History is repeating itself. Unfor…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Sense of Balance
In his recent book, A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada, John Ralston Saul writes of this country’s deep aboriginal roots, which have profoundly influenced how Canadians view the world and themselves. One of the values Canadians cherish, Saul w…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Seeing the Future
Robin Sears has an interesting piece in this morning’s Huffington Post. Those who are predicting the demise of the Liberal Party should read it. Sears’ take is particularly interesting, given his deep roots among New Democrats:It is facile to suggest t…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Pap The Republican
The news that forty Republican senators have announced their support for Paul Ryan’s budget plan is not surprising. But, when you review what passes for the usual Republican boilerplate these days, what is surprising is how much the Republicans sound l…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Jet Set
Last week in Washington, as the Senate discussed the F35, the red flags were everywhere. Robert Haddick, in Foreign Policy, reported that:The troubled and long-delayed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program came under renewed scrutiny this week. The Air Fo…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Rae To The Rescue
The Liberals have chosen wisely — although there are those who wonder if Bob Rae has been equally wise. His is a daunting task. For the immediate future, he leads a party which was decimated at the polls, is woefully short of resources and — when the…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Where Are The Woodwards and Bernsteins?
Lawrence Martin has a timely column this morning on the the state of Canadian journalism. Martin writes of the late James Thomson, who warned that the biggest occupational hazard for journalists is being co-opted by the powerful. Martin then turns to …
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Austerity Myth
At last summer’s G20 Conference, Stephen Harper worked hard to get all the participants to buy into the Austerity Myth. That myth is based upon the belief that, in Paul Krugman’s words, “sound money and balanced budgets [are] the answers to all probl…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Broken System
Angelo Perischilli and I share few opinions. But this morning, I find myself heartily agreeing with him. In today’s Toronto Star, he writes that Ruth Ellen Brosseau can “take credit for exposing the inconsistencies that are weakening the Canadian polit…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Manufacturing Renaissance
On the day after Chrysler announced that it was repaying the U.S. Treasury $7.5 billion in debt, Paul Krugman wrote that manufacturing was making a comeback in America:Crucially, the manufacturing trade deficit seems to be coming down. At this point, …
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Who Are the Real Opposition?
Those who are looking to the NDP to provide counter arguments to the Harper juggernaut should take a look at this morning’s National Post. In a blistering comment on yesterday’s festivities in Ottawa, Scott Stinson writes that those who are really furi…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Triumph of the Philestines
The news in this morning’s Globe and Mail that John Baird will become Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs is truly depressing. A graduate of Queen’s University, Baird is not stupid.The problem is that he is uniquely unqualified for the job. He prove…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: There Is Nothing So Powerful
Lawrence Martin sees difficult times ahead for the NDP. He writes that, even with their considerable numbers and their beach head in Quebec, the left has dreams, Harper has the cards. The evidence is compelling:Just like the Liberals, the New Democra…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: On The Subject of Fiscal Stewardship
Only time will tell what kind of opposition Jack Layton’s New Democrats will become. But four days after the Conservatives abandoned their pledge to balance the nation’s books by 2015, Haroon Siddiqui examined Stephen Harper’s claim that his party is t…
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Making The World Safe For The Wealthy
The pledge was pretty straightforward. This, after all, was the government of the “steady” hand. The Conservative platform proclaimed that: “Through accelerated reductions in government spending, a re-elected Stephen Harper government will eliminate t…
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