Alberta’s Jason Kenney spends an inordinate amount of time in Ottawa. This is hardly the norm for premiers—especially western premiers. It just maybe that the real prize tantalizing Mr. Kenney is Mr. Scheer’s job. Maybe this stretch at the funny farm in the Edmonton legislature has just been a means
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Babel-on-the-Bay: Singh sings Scheer’s song.
One of the questions we have always wanted to ask new democratic leader Jagmeet Singh is what makes him think he is a politician? When you have a question such as that, it is always best to just watch for a while. Now it can be asked. What ever gave
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: There has to be a pony in there.
You cannot have all that cast-off material from a barnyard without a pony in there somewhere. The speech-from-the-throne writers must have figured that if you have to use weasel words, you might as well use a lot. So, if you could stand one more reading of that speech, that the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The existential Doug Ford?
For today’s philosophy class, we are going to debate whether or not we have seen the real Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, this past week? When we saw him in action at the premiers’ meeting at the Toronto Airport on Monday, are we to assume that all the premiers were
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Kenney’s apocalypse or fiscal restraint?
It must depend on where you are in the food chain. Premier Jason Kenney of Alberta looks like he has never missed a dinner. To him, a little fiscal restraint is no big deal. When hundreds of protesters showed up at the united conservative party’s ‘love-in’ with Andrew Scheer last
Continue readingThings Are Good: Lawsuit Launched Against Conservative Government for not Conserving
In Canada, the Conservative party seems to hate actually conserving anything that isn’t their own party. In Ontario, the party has loosened laws around how much damage companies can do to nature, cut emission targets, heck they’ve basically got rid of any piece of policy that actually works (including road
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chuckles is doing a listening tour.
He should have listened before the recent election. We heard the other day that Andrew Scheer is on a tour to hear what the conservatives have to say about his election effort. The words he is hearing are not all that positive. Luckily, he has just fired his chief of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When you don’t trust your MPP.
To get this straight, you can be sure I never voted for this guy. Doug Downey MPP does not live in our Barrie riding. He has been the go-to guy for Ontario conservatives up in Severn Township in north Simcoe County. I expect, his appointment as candidate in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Day of the Blacksmith.
We might be just one of many commentators trying to fathom the actions of Alberta’s premier. The other day, the province’s main apologist, Gillian Steward, reported in the Toronto Star that premier Jason Kenney’s threats to take Alberta and run away from home were getting louder every day. What amuses
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t sweat the small stuff.
It seems that we are dealing totally in the small stuff these days. Imagine getting outraged by that blowhard on Coach’s Corner between the first and second period of Hockey Night in Canada. That is the viewer’s opportunity to get a fresh beer or to go to the washroom. I
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Now do the decent thing.
Green leader Elizabeth May did the right thing. The other major party leaders, Scheer, Singh and Trudeau should follow. None completed the recent election with honour. Scheer won the popular vote and lost the election. Singh lost ground for the new democrats. Trudeau lost the West but won Ontario and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Regrets, I’ve had a few…
That is not contrition. When Frank Sinatra sang Paul Anka’s song My Way, he said those regrets were too few to mention. The listener is left wondering what is left untold that he does not mention. It is the same as Ontario premier Doug Ford’s crushing changes to the province’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A failure in leadership.
If conservative leader Andrew Scheer is looking for compassion, he is looking in the wrong places. There is no succor for losers in Toronto’s Albany club. Long the King Street hangout of the rich and famous of Canadian conservatism, there is no compassion there for someone rejected by the voters
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Go angry into the night.
Canada went to bed angry last night; a failed decision behind us. We had bought into distrust and grievance and discord. We set aside our normal fairness and caring. Greed seemed to be the only compromise. It was a failure in leadership and trust. The next election is not in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Mommy, It’s over!”
The sign-off for the Just for Laughs television show seems quite appropriate for this election. Though it was hardly just for laughs. There are still a lot of tears to be shed over this 43rd Canadian General Election. Having a green monster wailing to his mommy seems the right tone
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Banking on the Bigotry of the Bloc?
When does la laïcité (the separation of church and state) become the political war cry in Quebec during a federal election? And why does it front as a cover-up for the institutionalized bigotry that exists in la belle province? Since the time of the ‘Padlock Law’ of the Maurice Duplessis
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Taking the road to totalitarianism.
It is in Fortress Alberta that Jason Kenney did declare that his propaganda machine will be removed from all controls. What started as a so-called war room will now be known as the Alberta Energy Communications Centre and based in Calgary. Nobody has said whether this new entity will replace
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Watch out for the mathematics!
It was mentioned the other day that it is impossible to selectively elect a minority government. Before you think you are voting for a minority, you need to check your mathematics and your logic. I would suggest to you that if most people across Canada voted for a second-tier party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On the home straight.
We are in the final week and nobody really knows how this election will play out. We tend to confuse what we hope will happen with what is really happening. The pollsters seemed locked in secondary races and are ignoring the real one. Maybe green leader Elizabeth May is the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And who is suing whom?
It came as a surprise to learn that the CBC has filed a complaint with the courts claiming that the conservative party has infringed on CBC copyright. I am not sure yet if I find it more amusing or concerning. In a career as a writer, I must admit that
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