Liberals in Ontario got an e-mail yesterday from Finance Minister Charles Sousa raving about beer being here in 58 Ontario grocery stores. He even notes that it is in time for Christmas. (Now would not a six pack be a perfect gift for the Toronto Star carrier?) But it sure is tough to figure out […]
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Babel-on-the-Bay: The Ghost of Liberals Present.
When the second ghost confronted him, Ebenezer Scrooge was hardly convinced to mend his ways. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, it was the spirit of the under classes that was highlighted by this ghost. In the same way, the ghosts of Liberals present can assure Justin Trudeau that maybe if he does not need […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A six-pack and a toke for Premier Wynne.
The publicity opportunities for Ontario’s premier come thick and fast with Justin Trudeau in the prime minister’s office in Ottawa. The other day Premier Kathleen Wynne got in on the act out at Pearson Airport welcoming Syrian refugees to Canada. And now that we finally have beer in a few Ontario grocery stores, she wants […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On behalf of Liberals Past.
It was great fun reading Chantal Hébert’s requiem for the Liberal Party generations left in the dust by Justin Trudeau’s team. In the Toronto Star the other day, she told of how the old-school-Liberal insiders are unknown to these new movers and shakers. We also need to remember that Chantal went to the Magdalen Islands […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The bathroom builder blunders on.
This news flash is courtesy the Toronto Star. Campion-Smith, Star Ottawa bureau chief, and Benzie, Star Queen’s Park bureau chief, have discovered that Conservative MP Tony Clement from Parry Sound—Muskoka electoral district is thinking of running for Stephen Harper’s old job. This is the same Tony Clement who made sure nobody was caught short while […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Referenda have stature not status.
A reader took a few minutes yesterday to remind Babel-on-the-Bay that referenda are not legally binding on governments in Canada. And neither, for that matter, are opinion polls. But the point is that we live in a democracy and in a democracy where our representatives are chosen to rule for us, not to rule us. […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Electoral reform help is happening.
You have no idea how good it felt to see someone else carry the can for first-past-the-post voting the other day. It was a professor from Toronto’s Ryerson University and it was a weight lifted from our shoulders. Mind you, it makes you wonder where he was when we were fighting off Ontario’s attempt at […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario Liberals: Lazy or Stupid?
You would think that the Ontario government would at least look at the results of the last provincial and federal elections before accepting the federal electoral district redistribution in the province. All they needed to do was Google the word “gerrymander” and they would have understood what was wrong with the federal redistribution of the […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Proportional politics for paranoids.
There are people who believe that first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting does not work for them. And they really do seem paranoid about it. Since paranoia can be a serious mental condition, we would like to propose a reasonable test of proportional voting for Canadians to see how it would work for them. It seems fair. What […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trudeau takes strike one on Senate solution.
He has to admit he was warned. The only people cheering the current dumb idea are the sycophants around him. Prime Minister Trudeau cannot use elitism to choose elites. Canadian senators need to be reasonably experienced politicos. And who knows politicos best but their own political parties. That is why the prime minister of the […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: By way of apology to our Barrie Whigs.
This is about as close as Babel-on-the-Bay can come to an apology. For the life of this blog, we have tended to disparage a faction of the local Liberals in Barrie. Calling them Whigs was not a compliment. (Whigs are Liberals about 100 years out of date.) This change of heart needs an explanation. It […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: New Democrats search for substance.
They have tried it provincially in Ontario and then they did it again federally. It does not work. Our New Democratic Party cannot change its spots just at election time. If they are going to become a more middle-ground social democratic party, they need to establish some bona fides long before an election. The recent […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Life in a world without heroes.
There are no longer heroes in North America. Small children used to look up to police in their uniforms and want to emulate them. Now they fear them. And it is the fault of the police themselves. The police have placed themselves beyond our reach. They have made a sham of the controls society should […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Surely the media can do better!
We know the news media are desperate to find something to complain about with our new prime minister. They are just missing by a mile with their silly ‘nanny-gate’ huffing and puffing. This is no Gotcha. The simple question is do you want our prime minister to have appropriate household staff or not? Are we […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Can you recant an oath you haven’t given?
This does not sound fair. This is concerning a guy who recanted his oath to the queen after becoming a Canadian citizen. What some people might suggest is that he should not take the oath in the first place. But that does not work. This guy really wants to be a Canadian citizen. He feels […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The death of the news.
On February 2, 2011, a brief speech was posted in this space instead of our usual commentary. It was a speech to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It was an intervention against the acquisition of CTV Television by Bell Canada. The intervention was a futile but feel-good fling. The intervention was also backed […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: They want the show and substance too.
“My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends – it gives a lovely light!” Edna St. Vincent Millay – 1892 to 1950 Listen up boys and girls, what you see, is what you get. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not his father. Justin […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A tale of two finance ministers.
It was the best of times–for the provincial government. It was the worst of times–for the federal government. A blogger ahead of his time from the 19th Century, Charles Dickens understood that conundrum. Dickens wrote best sellers as pamphlets and fed his readers a chapter at a time. Today, anything more complex than 140 characters […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Pay yourself first.
It is a rule that the rich have to follow. They are taught that you always pay yourself first. It is how they stay rich. Take the situation of Chief Executive Officer Paul Godfrey at Postmedia. The company loses hundreds of millions of dollars every year and the stock is in the toilet. If the […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Justin, Justin, Where have you been?”
“I’ve been to London to see the Queen.” And that was it. Our fealty assured, Prime Minister Trudeau went on to Downing Street to meet the guy who really runs things in England. These meetings were scheduled ahead of the Malta meeting of the heads of the British Commonwealth of Nations. There is little time […]
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