Northern Reflections: Hot Air Isn’t A Defense

Several commentators have suggested that Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump is weak. Jennifer Rubin isn’t so sure. She writes: Any pundits who speculated ahead that the case was weak, misreported the “intent” requirement under New York law or ignored obvious “tolling” arguments putting the charges in compliance with the

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Northern Reflections: What Goes Around

Pierre Poilievre practices the politics of personal destruction. Michael Harris writes that practitioners of that dark art have a limited appeal: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre set the bar low when he effectively called the prime minister a traitor who was covering up alleged Chinese interference in Canadian elections, instead of

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Northern Reflections: The Beginning

Some people believe that the Manhattan D.A.’s case against Donald Trump is small potatoes. Michelle Goldberg disagrees: It is a mistake to treat this indictment — which, according to The New York Times, includes more than two dozen counts — as tangential to Trump’s other misdeeds. The conduct at issue

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Northern Reflections: Extinct

Erin O’Toole has resigned from Parliament and from the Conservative Party — proof that the party is still Stephen Harper’s party. Harper has been offering advice to the Conservatives. Susan Delacourt writes:  Harper, on the other hand, offered this advice when he appeared on stage last week at a big

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Northern Reflections: It’s On

Yesterday, a grand jury in Manhattan indicted Donald Trump. Trump called the indictment “unthinkable.” Apparently not. Jennifer Rubin writes: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg made history on Thursday, indicting a former U.S. president for the first time. The indictment is under seal. From all indications, however, former president Donald Trump

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Northern Reflections: The Right To Repair

Susan Delacourt writes that buried in the Trudeau government’s budget is something called “the right to repair.” What does that mean? It is intended to give Canadians another alternative when faced with broken appliances, electronics or machinery. Too often, the government says, people “are pushed to buy new products rather

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Northern Reflections: A Vast Empty Space

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims that Canada is helping Mexicans invade the United States. Alex Panetta reports: Here’s an attention-grabbing charge: the idea that Canada might be assisting an invasion of the United States by the other country on the continent. Even more surprising? The comment came from a member of

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Northern Reflections: Poor Donald

Yesterday, we got a preview of what Donald Trump will be talking about for the next year. The New York Times reports that: Former President Donald J. Trump spent much of his first major political rally of the 2024 campaign portraying his expected indictment by a New York grand jury

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Northern Reflections: Biden’s Visit

Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa gave Justin Trudeau a boost — precisely when he needed one. Susan Delacourt writes: The entire Biden visit, awash in cross-border warmth, doesn’t rescue the prime minister from his domestic political troubles — the ongoing furor over foreign election meddling, for instance. But it is

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Northern Reflections: Beware The Madness

In Ottawa, politicians are working themselves into a lather over China. It’s the kind of thing that’s been going on in the United States for almost a decade. Glen Pearson writes: There are those occasions when scandals appeal to citizens and institutions alike. The clearest example has been occurring 24/7

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Northern Reflections: Getting It Wrong

Things are not going well for Canada’s oil advocates. Max Fawcett writes: Timing, as they say, is everything. And the timing right now for opponents of the federal government’s much-maligned Impact Assessment Act couldn’t be much worse. Arguments around the constitutionality of the act, which has been widely branded as

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Northern Reflections: A Very Bad Place

Michael Harris writes that populism is destroying our politics: Opposition politics has always been the process of casting the appropriate lights and shadows over the other guy’s record—and the facts. No surprise there.   The job of opposition is to oppose, so the characterization of incumbent governments has almost never been

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