With parliament taking spring break from Senate questions and questionable election changes, the Hair and the hairdresser are holidaying in South Korea. It is a welcome respite for the Hair and he is celebrating the occasion by signing a lopsided trade agreement with the South Koreans. It is not the
Continue readingTag: Federal Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: On protecting Canada’s democracy.
The last serious attempt in Ontario at changing how people vote was brought forward by the McGuinty Liberal government in 2007. It was a foolish and ill-conceived attempt to put a foot in the door for a form of proportional voting. Ontario voters gave the idea the brush-off in the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The bother of bewildered blogs.
There are bloggers who care. Some will even suppress that overwhelming desire to write about themselves and write lovingly of their country. They are often concerned liberals and progressives. They worry that all political parties are travelling a road to sameness, to the right and to greed and to uncaring.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Watch the Orange Wave wave goodbye.
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois has made a critical error. When she called the Quebec election, she did not realize who her enemies really are. Her separatists have not just taken on a novice provincial Liberal Leader Philippe Couilard and an inconsequential center-right Coalition Avenir Québec led by François Legault. She
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Larry, Curly and Moe represent Canada?
This is disgraceful. Canada’s foreign affairs seem to be in the hands of the Three Stooges. Recent events in Jerusalem, Kyiv and Hollywood appear to be making the point. First of all, Prime Minister Harper leads an invasion of Israel. That is a small country and they hardly need more
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Harper harms Canada’s reputation.
The objective of foreign relations is not to pander for votes at home. And it is conducted with diplomacy, not a baseball bat. Those are just two of the lessons that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his eager understudy John Baird have yet to learn. What they are doing is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If the Hair is not there, can it be important?
There is confusion across the country. The Hair is sending Foreign Minister John Baird to the Ukraine. Canadians know that if there is an important trip to anywhere, the first people allocated space aboard that big Airbus A310 are the Hair and the hairdresser. But on this trip, the Hair
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Justin Trudeau: Not his father’s son.
It is Justin Trudeau’s political instincts that never cease to amaze the older apparatchiks in the Liberal Party. It is remembering a long argument with the late Senator Keith Davey some 30 years ago over Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau just mentioning his family in a speech. If you had sweated
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The tale of the Hair and the whore.
As you recall the Supreme Court decided that the Conservatives need sex education. Long overdue, you might add. The only problem was that nobody could agree on who should teach sex education to the Conservative caucus. We are not sure but we think it was Peter Mackay who solved it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Second: Ponder positive policies.
One of the very first lessons of politics is to understand that the average voter does not relate to discussions involving millions of dollars. What people relate to is coffee money. If Torontonians, for example, could just think of the billions their city needs for an upgraded transit system in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: First: Think like liberals.
It should be the first order of business at the Liberal Party Convention February 20 to 23. How else can we be having a policy convention if we do not know what it really means to be a liberal? We need to define who we are and where we want
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tory immigration minister threatens Canadians.
If Conservative Immigration Minister Chris Alexander does not like this blog, why does he not say so? Here we always thought it was just fair political comment. Given time though, Alexander hopes he can strip people such as the writer of their Canadian citizenship. Despite being born here, sworn allegiance
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A tale of the Hair and the hog.
The Hair and hairdresser are heading for Mexico next. It will be a meeting of the three heads of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Prime Minister Stephen Harper will hardly feel the love that he did in Israel. President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico has every reason to
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Caucus Splitting
By design, Tuesday’s budget was a non-event. The public’s eyes are on Sochi, and the pundits’ eyes are on next year’s budget. So, it should not be surprising that it was the post-budget fallout that grabbed the most headlines, when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty mused that the Tories central 2011
Continue readingthe reeves report: Indirect Impacts of Pipelines Should Be Included in Assessments
If oil and gas pipeline proponents can talk about indirect economic benefits stemming from new pipeline infrastructure, opponents should be able to consider the environmental impacts of those indirect actions when arguing against them, according to the Pembina Institute’s federal policy director. Fair is fair, according to Clare Demerse, and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A mean and meaningless federal budget.
The arrogance of the Harper Conservatives knows no bounds. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered a budget with such a thin veneer of civility yesterday that he could do nothing more afterwards but say wait until next year. This 2014 budget was cynical, shallow, untruthful and an insult to the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who does Canada Revenue Agency work for?
It is law that you cannot be a registered charity and indulge in strictly political activities. Back when that law was passed by a Liberal government, it was met with laughter in some quarters and the charities just carried on as before. With most health charities, it was easy to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: These shoes aren’t made for budgets.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty bought new shoes the other day. It is part of the traditional run-up to delivering a federal budget. Somehow, he found one of the last companies in Canada still making shoes. He bought an inexpensive pair of steel-capped safety shoes. He is going to need them
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: No support here for Royal Victoria Hospital.
They must be Babel’s most successful thieves. They are the parking meters and parking lot gate machines at our local hospital. The amount hospital visitors have to pay to park is disgusting. It is nothing more than a tax on our health and love and caring. It is bad medicine.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tories seek to subvert Elections Canada.
Having crossed swords with Elections Canada in the past, it is easy to understand the Conservative disdain for the bureaucrats of Elections Canada. What we should question is the desire of the Harper government to add another layer of bureaucracy to what is already glacier-like policing of elections. Instead of
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