He's only been in office for just over seven months, but already Doug Ford is the worst Premier Ontario has ever known.He clearly doesn't know what he's doing, and to make matters worse he's all over the place. One moment he's threatening to privatize medicare, the next moment he's denying that.One
Continue readingTag: Doug Ford
Political Potshots: Who Is Andrew Scheer? Lesson #1
I was having a conversation with a good friend that I worked with in politics (names are hidden to protect the innocent) years ago, he is still fairly plugged in to the Ottawa bubble. He asked me an interesting question, “Who is Andrew Scheer?” I laughed at first thinking he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Lies, hyperbole and alt truths.
What has happened to politics? And what has happened to the decency that it used to have? We all know that U.S. president Donald Trump creates his own truths but we also know that he is not really a politician. He does not know any better. Justin Trudeau knows better.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Brown bounces back.
This is not a contrite political Patrick Brown bragging about his comeback from being a nobody. This is a brazen Brown bragging that he has bested the best. Comfortably ensconced in the mayor’s chair in Brampton, Ontario, he has four years to choose his next steps. And he expects CTV
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Doug Ford backs down on attacking Greenbelt protections.
It appears that there was a lot of blowback to this plan over the Christmas holidays to Conservative MPP’s. Good – it was a terrible idea: The Ford government is scrapping a controversial plan that would have allowed municipalities to opt out of some provincial planning rules to attract new
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford follows Forrest.
Remember the famous line from the blockbuster film: Forrest Gump? It was “Stupid is as stupid does.” The point was that stupid people keep on doing stupid things because that is what they are. But if the Economic Club of Canada audience gave Ontario premier Doug Ford a standing ovation
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Christo Aivalis discusses the lessons the Canadian progressive movement should take from the emergence of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders in shaping the U.S.’ political discourse: What is so crucial to Ocasio-Cortez’s potential—as well as the sheer hatred she inspires among the right—is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s domestic arrangements: A wonkish look at how MPs identify their primary and secondary residences
Members of the Canadian Parliament like Jason Kenney in the days he was MP for Calgary Midnapore are permitted to charge expenses for a secondary residence, either in the National Capital Region or within 100 kilometres of the riding they represent. To avail themselves of this benefit, MPs like Mr.
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Doug Ford’s Con Clown Climate Change Show
It was a scene that for some reason reminded me of the original Planet of the Apes. When the apes first talk talking, and everyone gasps in shock.For there was Doug Ford at the snooty Economic Club of Canada, pretending to be an economist.And claiming that Justin Trudeau's carbon tax plan
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Penney Kome writes about the importance of treating poverty as a social disease rather than a purely individual circumstance. And Jackie Esmonde and Todd Gordon discuss how Doug Ford is using the social effects of poverty to force workers to put up
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Parsing the political petulance.
Had an opportunity the other day to measure the mood of local liberals after the humiliation of last June’s provincial election. It was the annual meeting of the provincial party for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in central Ontario. All you had to do was mention premier Doug Ford and eyes rolled and teeth
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Linda McQuaig writes that Canada’s federal government should look at buying the soon-to-be-vacated GM plant in Oshawa to begin production of electric vehicles. But Nav Persaud notes that even when the Trudeau Libs make promises about using government power and resources for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that it’s possible to stop climate change in its tracks – but only by beginning to phase out fossil fuel infrastructure immediately. And Ryan Cooper comments on the problems in responding to an immediate crisis with
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Everything you always wanted to know about Rand Paul and the Shouldice Hernia Hospital * but were afraid to ask
I’m sorry to report, Canada, that Rand Paul, the nutty libertarian son of the crazy uncle of the American Right, isn’t the only politician to stumble into a controversy for getting repairs at the Shouldice Hernia Hospital. We’ll get to that in a minute, but first there’s a backstory. According
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Erlend Sandoy and Saskia Kerkvliet offer a graphic explainer of the causes and costs of high-end tax avoidance. And Eric Rankin reports on the scope of money laundering through casinos in British Columbia (which was ten times larger than official estimates), while ProPublica
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jonathan Malesic writes that while millennials may be facing the worst of an economy set up to push workers into precarity, the workforce as a whole is dealing with high levels of burnout. And Jacques Marcoux and Katie Nicholson report on research showing
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Jason Kenney would rather fight.
The last thing Canada needs is another provincial leader spoiling for a fight. Alberta opposition leader Jason Kenney was on Global Television’s West Block last Sunday laying out his battle plan and various lies for his anti-Trudeau, Anti-Quebec and anti-British Columbia campaign. This is, of course, provided his reconstructed conservatives
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Wynne can stay put for a while.
All commentators do it. They give advice. The quality of that advice is something for you to decide. This thought came up recently when Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star suggested that former liberal premier Kathleen Wynne “will have to go.” His reasoning is interesting but believe me, her position
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Doreen Nicoll makes the case to reinstate the basic income plan eliminated by Doug Ford in Ontario. Danielle Kurtz examines a few of the ideas being proposed by U.S. Democrats in the lead up to the 2020 presidential campaign (including their own basic
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ annual report on CEO pay shows that executives are again being handed hundreds as much money as their employees – and that there’s also a gender gap even at the executive level. – The Economic Policy Institute
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