There is a sad feeling to Stephen Soundheim’s haunting ballad “Send in the Clowns.” It also has a special meaning to me when dealing with the also rans in elections. They are a sad lot. They get little respect and few votes. And yet, you can not talk them out
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay : They Want Ranked Ballots?
They never seem to learn. It certainly is not that Ontario premier Doug Ford is any smarter. He is just being his own opinionated self. I think he said ‘no’ to ranked ballots is because his old foes at Toronto City Hall wanted them. The difference is when you have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : The Book on Toronto Mayoralty.
Never rush your bets. We have no idea just who and how many will be entered in the race for the Toronto mayor’s chair. The job pays just under $200,000 a year with lots of benefits. You have until 2 pm on May 12 to register as a candidate and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : The Carbon Capture Caper.
It was a sad time a few years back when we lost an old friend in Calgary. He had spent a lifetime in the oil business and was a knowledgeable source on what was going on in the oil sands. I miss him for his friendship. But life goes on
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Pierre Poilievre’s Plan.
In mentioning former Ontario premier Mike Harris’ ‘Common Sense Revolution’ the other day I did a bit of research and reread what it was all about. Other than some stomach heaving memories, I recognized that it is the same blather as the federal conservative leader is spreading like lard across
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Echoing the Fraser Institute.
It is not as though we really need another Fraser Institute. This one is called the Montreal Economic Institute. It has the temerity to say that it has “ideas for a more prosperous society.” They should prove it. Judging by the news release they sent me a few days ago,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : “You Can Fool Some of the People…
The full axiom reads as: “You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people, all of the time. Many of us have been watching with concern the attempt in Israel to politicize the judiciary. One of the tenets of a true democracy
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : The Bully at Queen’s Park.
In thinking about the type of conservative Ontario premier Doug Ford might be, we have come to the conclusion that he is a bully. He is a conservative, though he isn’t really knowledgeable about what that means. It is hard to give him marks for intelligence ahead of former premier
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Progressives in an Imperfect World.
Wearing a label seems wrong. While we are often willing to bestow labels on others, we know that we are more complex. And if you live long enough, you know that nobody is perfect. It should concern us that those who choose to wear labels should chose those labels with
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Where Agents Get Their Info.
It was about 35 years ago and I was introduced to an agent of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Quebec. It was during a break in a business conference in Quebec City and I trusted the person who introduced us. We had a fascinating conversation. My experience in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : The Unwanted Child.
Ontario premier Doug Ford should be well aware that the City of Toronto is a child of the province. And his short but hectic four years in Toronto City Hall showed him the way it works. Why else would he, as premier, have interfered with the number of councillors to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : A Shout-Out for Poilievre.
The former Manning Conference had a special guest this year, former prime minister Stephen Harper. Much of Harper’s effort at the conference was to try to knit together old and new conservative supporters. He even told the audience of conservatives of some of the mistakes that Pierre Poilievre has been
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : The Confusion of Two Cities.
There was a provincial study ordered by the conservative government when it came into office in 2018 of the organizational needs of Peel Region and other major urban centres. With Peel Region’s unwieldy mix of the City of Mississauga, the City of Brampton and rural Caledon and the services each
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : A Progressive for Toronto Mayor.
It has been confirmed that MPP Mitzie Hunter is getting ready to officially enter the race for the Toronto mayoralty. In a constantly growing field of candidates, Mitzie is going all in. She will enter the official list late as she has to resign as member of the provincial parliament
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : A Palace to Profit.
Driving to an appointment with my family doctor the other day, I noticed a new and very fancy building nearing completion down the road from the doctor’s office. The sign was already on the building and it is one of the private clinics that Ontario premier Doug Ford has been
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Justin’s Downhill Slalom.
It isn’t the ice on the moguls that endanger our prime minister on his downhill run. It is the heat he generates among his detractors. Even the pollsters are noting that he is having trouble attracting voters among men. In a recent poll quoted by Susan Delacourt in the Toronto
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Poilievre’s Patience Pales.
It looks like the leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in parliament has lost it. His frustration is obvious. If he is ever going to sit in the prime minister’s office, the best chance is if there is an election in the next five months. In politics, we say he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Conservative Blame Game.
It is difficult these days to have friends or relations who like voting conservative. When I was younger there was a different type of conservative. Some were actually commendable. For example, I liked former prime minister John Diefenbaker. I don’t think I ever said a nasty word about him, until
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : What Leadership?
The one thing for sure in Canada these days that we do not waste time recognizing leadership. Leadership is a political ghost. It is something that politicians talk about but we never see it. It leaves us craving answers, direction, solutions and leaving us with the fear of missing out.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay : Conservative Cant of Doug Ford.
Ontario premier Doug Ford is not particularly well educated. It is highly unlikely that anyone voted for him because of his brilliance. He is not even that good at reading off the teleprompters. The one thing you can count on though is that he believes in small government, unobstructed free
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