Once more the Canadian parliament has been downplayed by the Harper Conservatives. Even as simple an announcement as the date of bringing down the next budget is moved away from Ottawa. It was moved to a Toronto factory where people toil at sewing machines, assembling winter jackets for a garment
Continue readingTag: Federal Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: “Rules, shmules, we the boss:” says Brother Brown.
Canadians are usually fairly good about not mixing religion and politics. It is one of the less endearing traits of American politicos. That was why it was most unusual the other day when a B.C. member of the Conservative backbench quit his caucus and said he would sit as an
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t care about politics? You’re missing the fun.
The talking heads of the news media tell us that Canadians no longer give a damn about politics. They think it is a yawn. That may be. It might also be that the talking heads are a yawn and they are failing to understand the problem. This blog seems to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We’re having a ‘Be Kind to Stephen Harper Month!’
At a recent meeting of the Broadbent Institute supposed communication experts were telling the New Democrats that they should not keep up the incessant attacks on the Conservative government. It is not that they are feeling sorry for the bastards. They just feel that those who oppose the Conservatives need
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who leads Canada’s progressives?
Canadian media are a lazy bunch. They follow the paths of least resistance and false assumptions. Take this past week when some supposed progressives were gathered at the Broadbent Institute in Ottawa for its Progress Summit. The one question that was never answered was ‘Who were the Liberal Progressives at
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Democracy Shrugged.
Could 20th Century writer Ayn Rand have imagined Canada’s Stephen Harper? Would she have lauded him for his Objectivism or would she have scoffed at his failures? At best guess, were she alive today, Rand would have been but another apologist for our failed prime minister. He certainly has his
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Are you mad? Are you going to take it any more?
Have you been following the stupidity of Bell Canada owning CTV? Is has been a steady downhill slope for CTV news under their masters at Bell Canada for the past five years. Former CTV boss Ivan Fecan really stuck it to Bell and his network when he sold CTV to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “The enemy of my enemy is …”
There is something that needs to be understood by people afraid of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): It is neither a state nor a country. It is an Internet and public relations savvy band of brigands and thieves feasting off the current civil war in Syria
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A requiem for our Democracy?
The other day, one of the more interesting progressive bloggers was discussing what he perceived as the three eras of Canada’s democracy. To discuss the three eras that interested him, he really needed to start with Canada at the end of the First World War. The reality is that Canada
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Does the Hair want us to get a gun?
Canadians are getting mixed messages from their Prime Minister. His message last week to a gathering of rural municipal leaders in Saskatchewan was that there was a certain level of safety in having a gun in the home “when you are a ways from immediate police assistance.” Other than it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The NDP’s Mulcair discovers Toronto.
If there had not been so much ice in the harbour last week, they could have got some great shots of the New Democrats’ Tommy Mulcair arriving in Toronto. He could have been dressed in buckskins, cradling a musket and standing in the prow of a Voyageur canoe. He could
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Principled politics are hardly passé.
Bad legislation is bad legislation and to approve bad legislation even temporarily is a denial of principles. The Harper government’s Bill C-51 supposedly to end terrorism is bad legislation beyond any possibility of repair or amendment. It is time for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to get up and speak for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Redefining the Dauphin.
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 readingBabel-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: 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: 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: 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: 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
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