There are two types of by-elections. There is the one that gets a pre-selected candidate into a seat and then there is the scramble version that is almost impossible to forecast. It looks like we have one of those unfathomable ones coming up. The by-election is in Barrie, Ontario on February 1 and it is […]
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay: Justin, what is wrong with FPTP?
Before the arguments about electoral reform get out of hand, everyone needs to back up and understand why we are arguing and what we are arguing about. The demand for a referendum at this stage is specious if we do not know what we are going to vote on or why. One thing for sure […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The indestructible Premier Wynne.
Readers of Babel-on-the-Bay have gotten the impression that we do not approve of the Ontario government of Premier Kathleen Wynne. The truth is there is a small possibility that she might gain some traction with us if she did not call herself a Liberal. As it stands, she has nothing to commend her beyond the […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Celebrating the challenge of Canada.
That is so tacky. In the Toronto Star the other day a reporter decried the misery of the squalid life in Ottawa of 1867 when Canada became a nation. What might have surprised the writer was that most world capitols of the era were no less squalid. Cities were rarely created at that time with […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And one determined dipper.
Over the years we have realized that most of our regular readers of Babel-on-the-Bay are among the more progressive liberals. We certainly enjoy a healthy level of readership and get a good number of supportive e-mails from them. The practice of rabble.ca picking up some of our commentaries has also led to some very interesting […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Canada 2016: Love and Lemonade.
A new year and there are no complaints. The year is much too young and it offers too many opportunities to us. We want to think of 2016 as a lemonade year. Every lemon dealt to you is an opportunity to make better lemonade. Canada is such a beautiful country. It also has a Loonie […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: As the British Empire fades into history.
Despite Her Majesty’s annual message of hope, stiff upper lip and all, and her references to the Christian Bible, we see no future for the British Empire. Elizabeth II has been sending her Christmas messages to the diminishing British Commonwealth for more than 60 years. It is still an anachronism and of little or no […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Harper’s legacy left behind.
In thinking about the legacy of Stephen Harper’s years in the Prime Minister’s Office, you need to consider the people he left behind. Of the 99 Conservatives elected to parliament in the rout of October 19, there were only a few who had the temerity to even contest the interim leadership and former Health Minister […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The measure of Mr. Mulcair.
Like a motorist who has driven into a snow drift, New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair is standing at the side of the road hoping people will offer him a push. And, as he told Maclean’s Magazine recently, he is not going anywhere without a push. To get the push he needs, maybe Mulcair needs to […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Looking Back: Alberta’s Orange Crush?
It was the second most important political turnaround in Canada this past year. It was not so much that the Alberta New Democrats crushed anyone but the Conservatives of Alberta got their comeuppance after 44 years in power. The Conservative dynasty created by the late Peter Lougheed was in a train wreck. There was no […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Odd Couple of Canadian Politics in 2016.
There is something perversely funny about the coupling of two of Canada’s least likely politicians. This thought came to mind in wondering about the impact of this pair on Canadian politics in 2016. They are the two opposition leaders in Ontario and Quebec. They are politician Patrick Brown from Barrie, Ontario and neophyte politician, millionaire […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A wrap for the Liberal’s wonderful year.
Watching Prime Minister Trudeau being interviewed on Global Television on Christmas was like adding spoonfuls of sugar to an already serious sugar high. It brought back to us the years when the Liberal Party’s brain trust among the advertising and public relations people in Toronto were in despair at trying to build a warmer, more […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Some Christmas notes.
This is a compromise. Last year we wrote a poem for our readers about Stephen Harper but we no longer have him to kick around. And it would hardly do to have people get the wrong idea if we wrote poems for our new prime minister. But the real reason for our current malaise is […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Shaw wants Wind in its sales.
Shaw Communications is sailing into the dangerous waters of the big three telecommunications companies in Canada. It is acquiring Wind Mobile for a bargain price of just $1.6 billion. Shaw is joining Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus in what some refer to as the pillaging of Canadian consumers. In a country with the second highest […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The story behind the survey.
On average this household gets one or two surveys per week. That is more than the average household but we encourage it. We answer interactive voice response (IVR) calls because they are fun and we enjoy confusing them. We are more cautious with live callers and we listen carefully to the technique and the mix […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Welcome to our Canada.
A recent e-mail from a regular reader in the Atlantic Provinces served as a reminder that Canada has not always been as welcoming as we are to the recent Syrian refugees. And when the minister of immigration said there will be more, we should realize that Canada needs ten times as many. Newcomers to Canada […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “The last election under first-past-the-post.”
That statement by our new prime minister is likely to be the one to haunt him for years to come. It is like many such statements in the heat of an election campaign—effusive, rhetorical, quotable and foolish. And to give the promise a reality would be a disservice to Canadians. First-past-the-post voting will serve us […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Whoa, whoa Rosie.
The wife was upset about Rosie DiManno’s column the other morning. It is not that she has ever bothered to post a comment in the Toronto Star’s website about one of Rosie’s columns or anything else. She knows that her husband’s web site has refused unidentified comment in the years that Babel-on-the-Bay has existed. The […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: TransCanada’s new billions for Energy East.
What is another $4 billion when you are TransCanada Pipelines? This is not just a pipeline, these people want to complete but a bulldozer to get Alberta tar sands bitumen to the sea. And all they can come up with in announcing changes in the plans is more money and the same old miss-direction. You […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Is there a Ghost of Liberals Future?
His late partner Jacob Marley promised Ebenezer Scrooge there would be three ghosts visiting him in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In relating this tale to the concerns of Liberals past, present and future, the greatest difficulty is to come up with a Ghost of Liberals Future. This might only be a ghost of challenge. […]
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