Somebody else cares! There is help on the horizon. Canada’s political parties have been ground down to unimportant collections of non-entities over the past 40 years. And it seems that the non-partisan Samara Centre for Democracy in Ottawa cares. Welcome to the fray folks. Samara got into the action because
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay: From Teddy’s ‘Bully Pulpit.’
Trust President Donald Trump to get it wrong. He thinks of President Theodore Roosevelt’s White House ‘bully pulpit’ as a place to bully other world leaders. What Roosevelt saw as a great place from which to show strong leadership, Trump seems to think of it as a safe haven from
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Donald Trump’s play date with Kim Jong Un.
The American president plans to add to his infamy tomorrow as he meets with Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea. It seems incongruous for Donald Trump to be traveling about the world causing consternation and havoc wherever he goes. Will it take the North Korean dictator to show Trump
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It was not all about Trump.
The American president flew out of Canada’s Bagotville air base yesterday a disappointed egotist. He stopped by to impress the other world leaders and got the cold shoulder. Not even the stunning spring beauty of the Charlevois region of Quebec could rescue the frosty atmosphere of the G7 meeting. But
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Promises, promises!
Most people are sceptical about political promises. We should certainly be dubious of conservative leader Doug Ford’s recent scattering of promises in the Ontario election. Some, such as paving over the Green Belt around Toronto, had to be withdrawn immediately but he still has a backlog of questionable promises, such
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t blame me, I voted liberal!
From the catbird seat yesterday: I felt as though I was on the lip of an active volcano watching the devastation of the countryside. It was both a sad and a challenging night. A new day dawns and Kathleen Wynne is gone; that is good. We thought Ontario voters were
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: All bets are off.
For the first time since I first got involved in politics, I cannot make a guess on the outcome in an Ontario election. Results that used to be so easy to fathom, have gone murky and I will be hanging out by the television tonight hoping beyond hope that common
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump to be at Le Manoir Richelieu.
Despite being in danger from maddened beavers, American president Donald Trump says he is coming to gamble with the rich and famous of the world this weekend. The other six members of the G7 are not his friends and the old Manoir overlooking the St. Lawrence River is not to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If you don’t know, don’t!
It has always been grating on election day hearing radio announcers telling their listeners to get out and vote. They actually say if you do not know who to vote for, vote anyway. Why? Why would you want to go to vote against what your neighbours had thought about and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Has Doug Ford ever lied to you before?
Have you dug into Doug Ford’s ‘fully-costed’ plan for Ontario? I trust it has satisfied your thirst for knowledge? It reads like a used-car salesman’s figures done on the back of an envelope. And the figures never add up. But that is the problem we have always had in working
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A real liberal never gives up!
Kathleen Wynne betrayed Ontario liberals yesterday. She surrendered, she gave up, she quit and she did the unconscionable. She ended her run as Ontario liberal leader the way she began: breaking the rules. Kathleen Wynne never put the party first and the party is paying the price. From the time
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The risk of being Trump.
It is always play time at the fun house on the Potomac River. This is Mr. Trump’s domain these days and he takes great delight at pushing the buttons of power. In his childlike way, he abuses the powers of his office. Friend or foe alike, he cares not for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Are some more indigenous than others?
Either we are all ‘from here’ or none of us are. If academics and government can refer to our first nations as indigenous then they must have changed the meaning of the word. Does the Oxford dictionary get a vote in this? The word experts still think the word ‘indigenous’
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Conrad loves Donald.
It is hard to think of two people more deserving of their mutual admiration. Both Conrad Black and Donald Trump think the American President is a wonderful guy. And Lord Cross-the-Pond Black has written another coffee table tome to hopefully prove it. As book number 47 (or so) by friends
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The political pivot point of 2018.
In every election there is a point of pivot that decides the outcome. It has been fascinating listening to people across Ontario in the current campaign, learning of their concerns and frustrations. And they are concerned and conflicted and caring. They have been looking for solutions. Sometimes the solution can
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Yes, but did the fat lady sing?
Listening to and reading analyses of the Sunday night political leaders’ debate in Toronto, you wonder if they were at the same debate. Frankly, the analyses were better than the debate. Kathleen Wynne did less than expected. Andrea Horwath was rude and foolish. Doug Ford made you wonder if they
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Considering consequences of change.
Step right up Ontario. If you want change, you can have it. You can get it in spades. The only problem is this change is like a game of snakes and ladders—where both the snakes and the ladders are slippery slides to disaster. It is time to face the facts.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Confounding a confluence of conservatives.
It is all happening Monday at Toronto’s stuffy old Albany Club. As I told my host last time I was invited to the club, this is no place for a left-wing liberal. The 125-year old building on King Street East has been the spiritual home for Canada’s conservatives since the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A vote to assure Quebec’s future?
Sometimes you have to shake your head, throw up your hands and admit nobody understands Quebec politics. The latest confusion is the promise of four political parties in the province to ditch first-past-the-post voting. They are promising that if one of those parties is elected to power later this year,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Looking south; looking askance.
While cheerfully ignoring the Trump presidency as much as possible these days, I am sure most of my readers do not mind. I find that he can be boring. He is as awful and as dangerous to world peace as ever but it feels good to ignore the bastard for
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