It was about time. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau prides himself on his ability as a stump speaker. With no notes and no prompts, he can keep a Liberal audience enthralled. And if all he had to talk to was Liberal Party members, no change was needed. But with the oncoming
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay: Rethinking Guaranteed Annual Income.
Maybe we all need to get involved in this exercise. In a world full of band-aids, we need to rethink our way to health. We are talking here about a guaranteed income for every man woman and child in this country. It is not an idle dream or a panacea.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Which wicket for social licenses?
There seem to be many ways to use the term ‘Social License.’ Natural resource extraction and pipeline industries use the term to describe the theoretical license the community provides to allow the necessary disruption of the environment in the process of extracting, processing and transporting our natural resources. The only
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: An apology to Casino Rama.
This blog rarely apologizes. And nobody has prompted this apology other than our feeling of guilt the other day. We just feel that fair is fair. It came like a rising tide while sitting at a blackjack table at the Niagara Fallsview Casino. We had taken a few days off
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Meet Cardinal Kenney and Brother Brown.
Ottawa is so bereft of excitement and speculation now that former Foreign Minister John Baird has flounced out of cabinet and gone home to Nepean. It leaves Minister of National Defence and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney as the last Bobbsey Twin standing. It leaves the obvious succession line for the Conservative
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Hang-em high Hair!
The Hair is playing the revenge card. The Prime Minister is appealing to that basic human desire to get even. He is recognizing that primal instinct to lock up evil doers and throw away the key. He knows that bringing back hanging might just please some of his base vote
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontarians really drink that stuff?
Martin Regg Cohn, provincial affairs writer at the Toronto Star seems to be on a similar track as this writer on many aspects of politics in Ontario. He just works for a family friendly newspaper and has to be more polite. He really caught us off guard the other day
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Patrick Brown can get it wholesale.
People keep asking how the heck Conservative MP Patrick Brown can sign more than 40,000 new provincial party memberships? What they fail to grasp is that a system developed 30 years ago has grown and become something of an industry. Brown did not invent it, he just used it. This
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When Wynne wants her way.
When Premier Wynne knows what it is she wants, she wants it, she gets it and you best get out of her way. It is just regrettable that she has never learned anything about democracy. For an autocrat such as her to be running the Province of Ontario seems to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The literary leanings of a Libertarian.
It is sad to report that we only read the Barrie Sun Media newspaper when it is free. Mind you reading it only takes a few minutes. It strikes us that the two pages or so of actual news of this part of Simcoe County are not worth the price
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mr. Brown’s win-win for Premier Wynne.
The phones were ringing early in Barrie yesterday. Conservatives were stunned. Liberals were in shock. New Democrats were confused. Not that this blog ever wants to say “We told you so!” but we will this time. It is not difficult to believe the figure of 40,000 instant Conservatives for Ontario.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who said Justin Trudeau cannot debate?
What is this silly business of Conservatives thinking that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau cannot handle a debate with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper? Surprise, surprise, the truth is that Trudeau would not have to come out ahead in points to win the election. Debating skills are not the issue. The laughable
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chong’s changes that change nothing.
Congratulations to Conservative MP Michael Chong. He actually got his reform bill passed by the House of Commons. Too bad it passed because he watered it down to almost nothing. Voters are unlikely to ever see the effects of his changes. The original bill was designed to take some of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Meet the Don Quixote of Chatham-Kent—Essex.
This guy could only be from South-Western Ontario. Richard (Rick) Nicholls is the Progressive Conservative MPP for Chatham-Kent—Essex in the Ontario Legislature. He also claims to be an evolution denier and is opposed to wind turbines in Lambton-Kent County. He does not think they are good for us. It has
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Will the Hair delay death and dying?
Obviously the Prime Minister is not a fatalist. He has been low key in response to the Supreme Court giving his government a year to do something about the current legal position of medical specialists assisting terminally ill patients to die. The time has come to take a stand on
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: But can we educate the news media?
It was interesting comparing how different news media announced the new sex education material issued by the Ontario Ministry of Education. For all the hoopla, it seems to be very tame stuff. It told us more about the maturity of the reporters, news directors and editors than it did about
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ISIL: the cancer on contemporary Islam.
They call themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. What they are is vultures tearing at the heart of modern Islam. They are brigands and murderers, thieves and cowards, fools and braggarts. They promise a new Caliphate but their membership is drawn from the scum of those who
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Gretzky should stick to hockey.
One of the lessons learned in the communications business is that endorsements are an attention getter but need substance to last. Take the recent endorsement of an Ontario politician by hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Does it say to you that if the great Gretzky likes this guy, you should too?
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Here’s the way it works Ms. Wynne.
The bad news is that the buck stops at your desk, Premier Wynne. Many politicians have gone down over the years because of the same arrogance. It can happen to you. You are not above the law. And if your partner Jane bakes you a cake, tell her not to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The temptation of triumphant terrorism.
You can see the Hair savouring the thought. Sitting quietly in the Prime Minister’s Office, he is exhorting, “Terrorists unite, you can only save my job for me.” He is hardly the first imperialist who tried to use the bogeyman enemy to cling to office. And yet the discomfort grows
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