Today is budget day. Lots of people have tried to capture Chrystia Freeland’s ear. But the young don’t have any representation in the budget process. Max Fawcett writes: They are, after all, getting hosed on any number of fronts right now. That begins with housing, where massively overpriced markets in
Continue readingAuthor: Owen Gray
Northern Reflections: Beware Netanyahu
The United States is not the only democracy where the rule of law is under attack. Michael Harris writes: In Israel, the government is run by a prime minister under indictment for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, offences that could carry a sentence of more than a decade in
Continue readingNorthern 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
Continue readingNorthern 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
Continue readingNorthern 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
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Profiting From Experience
Joe Biden will arrive in Ottawa this afternoon. He and Justin Trudeau will have a lot to talk about during his short visit. Linda McQuaig hopes that Biden will offer Justin some good advice on how to tax the wealthy: Joe Biden is proposing a number of measures, including an
Continue readingNorthern 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
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Why They Hate Trudeau
There are lots of Canadians who have a viscerally negative reaction to the name Trudeau — father and son. Susan Delacourt writes: Justin Trudeau has now said it twice — there are Canadians, he admits, who won’t believe him, no matter what he says. Who are these Canadians? They are
Continue readingNorthern 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
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Same Man The Same Danger
Donald Trump is doing it again. He’s summoning the mob. The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump called for protests Saturday in response to what he claimed would be his imminent arrest in a Manhattan criminal investigation, even as his advisers said Trump’s team does not have specific knowledge
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Problem With Boomers
I referred to a column by Paul Kershaw a while back. His subject was the financial burden we baby boomers are leaving on the young. He returns to that topic in today’s Globe and Mail: Boomers came of age as adults around 1976, when total government debt was approximately $39-billion.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Complete Insanity
Republicans have been threatening to default on the national debt. Developments this week underscore how insane that idea is. Catherine Rempel writes: Recent financial-market turmoil — in regional U.S. banks, as well as some of the larger European institutions — suggests there might be much more fragility in the financial
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Johnston’s Appointment
David Johnston has been appointed special rapporteur to look into the question of whether or not China interfered in our elections. Susan Delacourt writes: His task now is to look at all that’s being alleged about China’s attempts to meddle in Canada’s political process, and to assess whether an inquiry
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: When You Buy A Government
The oil industry is its own worst enemy. Max Fawcett writes: For as long as I’ve lived in Alberta and covered the oil and gas industry — more than a decade now — I’ve been hearing about its supposedly high ethical standard. This is the heart of Ezra Levant’s “ethical
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Black Hole
Republicans are hell-bent on investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop. Jennifer Rubin writes: Right-wing House Republicans have left little doubt that they want to spend the bulk of their time and energy investigating phony conspiracies and made-up scandals. Their main obsession appears to be Hunter Biden, whose very name has become a
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Signs Of Hope
Democracy has been under persistent attack around the world. The man who began the trend — Donald Trump — is still leading the attack. Michael Harris writes: Trump . . . cozied up to democracy-wreckers outside the United States, all of whom were charter members of the Live Dictators’ Society:
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: How Long Will It Last?
Jagmeet Singh is not happy with Justin Trudeau. Althia Rag writes: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had tough words for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week. “It seems like the prime minister is more interested in protecting himself than protecting the electoral system,” he charged in question period. But, so far,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Fatal Disease
Ignorance is a curse. Willful ignorance is a fatal disease. Kevin McCarthy has succumbed to the disease. Dana Milbank writes: Not since the Know-Nothing Party disappeared in the 1850s has a public figure boasted about his ignorance with as much gusto as Kevin McCarthy does. It doesn’t seem to matter
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Dark And Ugly
For the last two decades, we have watched American politics get dark and ugly. The ill wind that emanates from there has blown across our border. Susan Delacourt writes: The fight between Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre was never going to be pretty, but this week both politicians fired off
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Picking Up Our Tab
There are a lot of us aging baby boomers around. Unfortunately, the young are being left to pick up our tab. Paul Kershaw points to the recent healthcare deal between Ottawa and the provinces: Federal and provincial leaders just agreed Ottawa would increase its spending on medical care by $196-billion
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