The Prime Minister must be smiling. You can tell because his make-up is a bit askew. Someone told him that his favourite newspaper wants to get rid of Question Period in the House of Commons. As he explained to an aide, “Without Question Period, I would never have to show
Continue readingTag: Federal Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Lord Cross-the-Pond still ponders.
Finding another commentary by Lord Cross-the-Pond, Conrad Black, in this past weekend’s National Post only proves that he really needs something serious to do. And we can assure him that his friend Paul Godfrey needs no help in running the National Post and Sun Media newspapers into the ground until
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Is Canada racist? No. Is there racism in Canada? Yes.
The announcements of the concern about racism the other day in Winnipeg came as no surprise. That part of this country has been trying to stuff the racism genie back in the bottle since the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers was the site of an early trading post.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If there is Will, he will find a way.
Not being a regular reader of the Washington Post, we might not have read many columns by George F. Will. It was only when Toronto’s National Post picked up one of his commentaries last weekend that we had the fun of trying to figure out how his mind works—or maybe
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair regrets his fixed voting dates.
The best laid schemes of mice and Hair often go for nought. (Robbie Burns said that much better.) Fixed election dates for Canada were an easy promise to keep back in 2006 but they have never really worked well for the Hair. With a looming election date of October 19
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Bobbsey twin booed by Bedouins.
They are displeased with Canada in Ramallah. Palestinians threw eggs, shoes and insults at Canada’s foreign minister the other day in the acting capital of the Palestinian State in the West Bank. And this Bobbsey twin deserved every curse, epithet and derisive comment that he received. And he should get
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Oh, to be middle class again.
Are you old enough to remember when being middle class was the place to be? That was back when you had a detached house in the suburbs with a two-car garage (full of bicycles), two kids and three televisions. You lived from paycheque to paycheque but you could still go
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: What a difference a day makes in a Tory budget.
Did you see Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s dance of the seven veils last week? This guy is right in his element playing Peek-a-Boo. At least it makes more sense than his budgets—if we even get one this year? When last heard from the other day, he said he might have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Justin Trudeau, it’s time for statesmanship.
The handwriting on the wall is clear and unequivocal. It says “Justin Trudeau, you have been tried and found wanting.” Both the Conservatives and New Democrats are going to attack down that street. And they will give no quarter. Their claims will be that as Liberal Leader, Justin has no
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A friendly note to the American Congress.
Hey you jerks, please do not do that for us. We do not want the Keystone XL pipeline either. Canadians who care are firmly against any pipelines that try to pump bitumen to the sea. That tar sands stuff is three times as polluting as West Texas crude oil. Why
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Can the Hair win whenever?
No matter when the Prime Minister decides to call the election (we will still give odds on October), the only important question is: Can he be beaten? We would advise all you pundits, pollsters and politicos to hold off your bets until the writ comes down. That is when Babel-on-the-Bay
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Raising a glass to Sir John Eh?
Never try to compare the mausoleums and monuments of Washington to the pathetic honours of Ottawa. Today might or might not be the 200th anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald’s birth in Scotland. (The records are confused.) He deserves our remembrance, our thanks and our criticisms. Creating our wonderful country
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Wynne is destroying democracy in Ontario.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne does not seem to know much about democracy. She got her present job because of a corrupted controlled convention. She thinks she can just appoint whichever candidate she wants in by-elections. She really does not understand that her attitude is what is helping destroy democracy in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: That was another good year.
The New Year came and went and it was such a busy time for political comment that we missed commenting on the past year. And that year needs a look. Babel-on-the-Bay set some records. Readership is up. In 365 days, there were 365 commentaries. Other sites are asking for our
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Some of us just wanted to see good hockey.
That certainly was a great international junior hockey game between Canada and Russia the other evening. The teams were highly charged and competitive as they went for the gold medal and the hockey was fast and furious. It had you enthralled from beginning to end. It was no time for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Bobbsey Twin and the flying machine.
The gimmick was solid. Tom Clark of Global News’ West Block show was offering a flight in his little single engine airplane to the three party leaders. All they had to agree to was an on-camera interview in the air. Both Liberal Justin Trudeau and New Democrat Tom Mulcair accepted
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair’s ‘crazy’ care of our environment.
If no environmental regulations are required when times are good in the tar sands, why is it ‘crazy’ to impose them when times are bad? Yet that was what the Prime Minister told the House of Commons early in December. The country has been aghast since then. The main problem
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And the parties need you now.
There is a warm feeling to being needed. And judging by the carefully crafted e-mails from the political parties these days you know that it is really your money that is needed. It is a sign of the times. The end of subsidies to political parties and the anticipated election
Continue readingreeves report: 2014 — Canada’s Year of the Pipeline
Keystone XL wasn’t the only pipeline project to rankle Canadians in 2014. WIDESPREAD PUBLIC DEBATE on building vast networks of snaking energy pipelines throughout Canada dominated the country’s environmental newsreel in 2014, and will continue making headlines in the year ahead. A collection of Canada’s top environmental NGOs told Reeves Report the climate change
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Determining a direction for the Dauphin.
If you are assuming that sometime in the next eight to ten months, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will leave off the platitudes and say something substantive, you could be disillusioned. If you were hoping that the Liberal Party’s plan for Canada is the road to Nirvana, you are just kidding
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