In a world increasingly obsessed with Imperial Dreams, we must remember the cost of those dreams. Image: Saugeen Times
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Will It Be Carney?
People are talking about Mark Carney. Max Fawcett writes: Over the last week, two things have become abundantly obvious to anyone watching Canadian politics. First, Justin Trudeau is in deep, deep trouble — deeper even than the SNC-Lavalin scandal or the revelation of his Blackface photos in 2019. And second,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Post Trudeau
Justin Trudeau is in trouble. But so are the other leaders of Canada’s three major parties. Michael Harris writes: Canadians are getting the picture: none of the major leaders can be taken at their word. Canadians know that things are not as rosy as the Liberal government claims, not as
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Another Self Inflicted Wound
The cost of living is on everyone’s mind these days. In an effort to make things a little easier, the Trudeau government decided to remove the tax on home heating oil for three years. For a government that has been trying to ween Canadians off oil, it was an extraordinarily
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Big Question
We have lived with a catastrophic myth for a long time. We have believed that we live outside nature. Derek Lynch writes: Globally, we have entered the Anthropocene, with humans the dominant force driving change in all ecosystems. Through our overwhelming influence on the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, no ecosystem
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Best People?
The Republicans finally have a Speaker of the House — someone they all voted for, someone nobody knows anything about. The internal communications of Republicans reveal a lot about who they are. Dana Milbank writes: “Let’s get our poop in a group, people. We’ve got to figure this out,” Rep.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Truth And War
Truth has always been the first casualty of war. The journalists who cover a war have a difficult task. Michael Harris writes: War triggers a tribal impulse to take sides, to live in a world of black and white, to kill rather than communicate, and to turn on anyone who’s
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Will We Get Pharmacare?
Last week, at the NDP Convention, the delegates insisted that the Liberals deliver a pharmacare program by 2025 or their deal was off. Susan Delacourt writes: Their arrangement clearly states that a “Canada pharmacare act” must be passed by the end of 2023, and that deadline is looming ever closer
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: At Our Worst
The Israel-Hamas War is a case of humanity operating on its worst instincts. Eric Ifill writes: I am embarrassed by the leadership of this country who have polluted what it means to be a human being, and it’s up to us to push back at the one-sided nature of their
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Going Your Own Way
We live in difficult times. The Israeli-Hamas War is only the latest in a long series of crises. Susan Delacourt asks: What happens to a government that’s constantly in crisis mode? There are a couple of obvious answers, none of them great: burnout, distraction and exhaustion. Trudeau and his government,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Wisdom In That Notion
Taking her inspiration from Rene Levesque, Danielle Smith suggests that Alberta should separate from Canada. Max Fawcett writes that — for the rest of Canada — that might be a good idea: On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada will rule on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act that
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Party Is A Fraud
The Republican Party can’t do anything right. Ruy Teixeira writes: What is with the Republican Party? At a moment when they seem to have so much going for them, Republicans again are working overtime to throw it all away. By the numbers, this should be their moment. President Biden is
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Times They Are A-Changin’
The new speaker in the House of Commons is a black man — Greg Fergus. He’ll have his hands full — because he’ll have to deal with Pierre Poilievre. Susan Delacourt writes: Poilievre welcomed Fergus’s election with a partisan slam against the Liberal government — standard fare for the Conservative
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Walking the Walk
Pierre Poilievre claims he’s a friend of the working man. But he doesn’t like workers when they’re on a picket line. Linda McQuaig writes: The Conservative leader fumes relentlessly about today’s “affordability” crisis, and he correctly points out that workers are struggling to pay for groceries, rent, mortgages, etc. Yet
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Road To Hell
Canada and Canadians are deeply embarrassed. The applause a former Nazi received in the House of Commons has left us all red-faced. Michael Harris writes: Yesterday Justin Trudeau apologized for unwittingly honouring a former Nazi in Canada’s Parliament. He apologized to the Jewish community, the Ukrainians, the Roma and everyone
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Dancing To A Madman’s Tune
Donald Trump just skipped the second Republican debate. He figures the nomination is in the bag. E.J. Dionne explains what is happening: Trump wants his foes to stay weak. By not showing up, he reduces them to squabbling bit players trying to bring each other down while the major contenders
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Clouds In The Future
Politics isn’t just about elections. It’s also about what happens between elections. Doug Ford made that abundantly clear yesterday when he reversed his decision to build houses on Ontario’s Greenbelt. Despite the change, the editors of The Toronto Star were not impressed: Let’s be crystal clear. There is no redemption in
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: We Should Be Ashamed
The news services are abuzz with Justin Trudeau’s accusation that the Indian government was involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen. But, on that subject, something happened in the House of Commons yesterday that should concern us all. Erica Ifill writes: On Monday, Trudeau rose to address Parliament and
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Mike Roman
In Georgia, a guy named Mike Roman has been indicted in the case involving Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the election in that state. Michael Harris writes that Roman has been a Republican dirty trickster for decades: Roman’s backstory is a tangled tale, but one worth telling.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Don’t Be Fooled
Global News reports that in 2018 Doug Ford instructed his Environment Minister, Rod Phillips, to make environmental legislation ineffective: When Ontario Premier Doug Ford first took office in 2018, his first environmental minister was given a simple yet central task: get climate legislation out of the way of business. The
Continue reading