There are lots of questions about the coming national election but very few answers. That means speculation is a waste of time. That is not to say that speculation cannot be fun. The only problem is that the list of what we do know is too short for a good
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay: What is to be done about terrorist bloggers?
The Conservative’s Bill C-51 anti-terrorism act has us worried. Pass it as it is and this blogger will always be wondering when the R.C.M. Police will be breaking down the door. Can we live in limbo? It is just not fair. The Mounties have already determined that those of us
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The bread crumbs of Chantal Hébert.
The articles and commentaries of Chantal Hébert in the Toronto Star are always a delight to read. In the same way it would be a shame to miss one of her At Issue dialogues on CBC television with Peter Mansbridge, Andrew Coyne and Bruce Anderson. She delivers her unique perspective on
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Gimme that old time politics.
The more we learn about Justin Trudeau’s new politics, the more we yearn for that old time politics. Before the 1990s, candidates were nominated by their local riding association and there was nothing the party leader could do about who the party chose. We ended up getting some mavericks back
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Blowing the bugles for Blair.
Scarborough Southwest is old stomping ground for this Liberal. Those are our people the Toronto Star is toying with. Suggesting that (then) former Police Chief Bill Blair will want to run as a Liberal in that electoral district is a declaration of war against them. We are not amused. First
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If there was ever a time for leadership.
You can only feel a sickening sense of betrayal in Bill C-51 that is now before our parliament. We are betrayed by Stephen Harper’s determination for re-election. It is a bill that begs for abuse. Ill-conceived and ill-defined, it is a reactionary bill better serving a lynch mob than reasoned
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario beer barons play the price card.
This has been on the table since day one. Ontario’s foreign-owned Beer Stores have finally played the price card. Wynne’s Whigs have them cornered and threatening to raise retail beer prices is the only tactic left to our foreign beer barons. Wynne has already said that there will be no
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Adams-Soudas story has legs.
The news media expect the MP Eve Adams story to be around for a while. The copy is just too good to pass up. The blonde (or brunette, depending on the day) Ms. Adams is an aging Cleopatra and her boy toy Dimitri Soudas is a besotted Marc Antony. Mind
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair hopes to hit for a homer.
And you thought the Hair had already hit the wall in his search for talent in his Conservative caucus. When you have a guy like Pierre Poilievre on your team, the possibilities are endless. He can easily add Employment to his workload. Then there is Rob Nicholson, the Defence Minister
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Justin, beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
It could have been a subplot written by Virgil. There was the beautiful temptress, hair blonde and loose for the cameras, and the gullible of Troy, our Justin. There were few reporters in Ottawa the other day who did not react in surprise when 41-year old MP Eve Adams from
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Netanyahu buys into Harper election tactics.
If it was good enough for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring his election campaign to Jerusalem, why should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not try it? The difference is that Jerusalem to the Jewish leader is Washington. With an Israeli election in three weeks, Netanyahu has pulled out
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Yes, you can fight city hall.
Local readers of Babel-on-the-Bay have asked occasionally why we do not discuss city politics in Barrie. The honest answer is that city politics in Barrie is boring and is something of a closed shop. Anyone who gets elected because they want to rock the boat is soon subsumed by the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: This is what democracy looks like.
We had a great time in Barrie the other night. We would have liked to have federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and his team there but we had to settle for volunteers from other Liberal riding associations. They were there to make sure our nomination meeting was run by party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: They’re breaking up the old Tory gang.
And now there are three. The kid in short pants has moved up. Now he can come third. It certainly confirms the opinion that former provincial Conservative leader, Timmy Hudak fouled the nest. A week ago we were writing about the four provincial members and the one federal member who
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Beer Barons take off the gloves.
If somebody gave you a monopoly almost 90 years ago and they decide to take it back and give the long-suffering consumer some choice, what are your rights? What is this franchise worth? This question comes up because Ontario’s beer monopoly is starting to fight back. And why not? We
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: So, they broke up the Bobbsey Twins!
In recent years, we have had the fun of writing about the Bobbsey twins of the Harper cabinet. Specifically, they have been Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Employment Minister Jason Kenny. While it has been pointed out to us that one of the original Bobbsey twins was female and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The winning ways of Wynne’s Whigs?
This should warm you up on a cold February day. There is a provincial by-election tomorrow in Sudbury, Ontario. There is a lot of money on the table over that vote that says Wynne’s Whigs get their asses kicked. And they deserve it. They have resisted reform. They arrogantly co-opted
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trusting social media solutions.
Our political parties have been discovering the social media solutions of the Internet. It is nirvana, the answer to a campaign manager’s prayers, or so it seems. It supposedly reaches new and expanded audiences, younger voters and it is inexpensive. Candidates and the elected all have to have their personal
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Better beckon Blaney’s backup.
With the serious lack of talent on the Conservative backbenches, you really do wonder if Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney’s backup is the answer. The only thing we know for sure is that this guy cannot do the job. With Blaney responsible for public safety in Canada, we get the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Never tell the truth to a machine.
To suggest that automated telephone polling is right 19 times out of 20 or subject to variables of 3 or 4 per cent is something of a joke. When you have no idea of the age of respondents, no idea of the statistical viability of your sample, then you have
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