While many will be fixated on the latest soap-opera installments that politics now regularly yields, such as the outrageous behaviour of Trump at the G6+1, or the strange elevation to power of Doug Ford in Ontario, others are not so easily diverted, as these letter-writers demonstrate: As an atmospheric physicist
Continue readingTag: Letters to the Editor
Politics and its Discontents: Justin Trudeau: A Reality Check
While Canadians are rightfully applauding the retaliatory tariffs the Trudeau government will be imposing on the United States, my concern is that distraction will diminish the outrage that same government’s nationalization of the Kinder Morgan pipeline has engendered. Far too many people, it seems, are incapable or unwilling to hold
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Nathan Cullen’s Peerless Takedown Of The Hapless Justin Trudeau
Enjoy (or not, depending upon your political/philosophical/environmental orientations): Meanwhile, Star letter-writers offer some much-needed reality checks about Trudeau’s betrayal: Your editorial highlights the political risks in the Justin Trudeau government’s decision to buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline, but there is also a major economic risk involved. If the government had
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Call Him By His Real Name
I hope Justin Trudeau has a vivid imagination and total recall. That way, he can revisit the fall of 2015, depicted above, a time, you may remember, when he was exultant, having won his a majority government after posing as a man who was going to bring Canada into the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Those Star Letter-Writers
They never disappoint. They can spot a shyster a mile away. It’s sad that Doug Ford’s solution to the high cost of gas is to reduce the gas tax. A much better solution would be to incent people to not buy the largest, heaviest and most powerful SUV they can
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Much To Scream About
Edvard Munch had it right: Toronto Star letter-writers tell us why: Tues., May 8, 2018Earth’s carbon dioxide levels reach highest point in 800,000 years, May 5 The front page of the Sunday Star includes a large colour photo of the Raptors game and an article on left-handed hitters in baseball.
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: National Post Letter
In today’s National Post, I’ve got another letter to the editor on everyone’s favourite topic: the Trans Mountain pipeline. (I’ll stop repeating myself once people start listening!) My letter appears only in the print edition, so I cannot provide a link. Accordingly, here is the full text: The pipeline crisis
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Defining The National Interest
As the video included in yesterday’s post shows, Justin Trudeau likes to defend the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline as in ‘the national interest.” The term itself is a contentious one, given its nebulous nature. For the Prime Minister, it seems to mean economic growth, moving Alberta’s bitumen to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Simpsons Have His Number
Those whose memories extend beyond last night’s hockey scores may recall that in 2011, while he was a Toronto city councillor, Doug Ford proposed an ‘exciting’ vision for that city’s waterfront: a monorail, a megamall, and a giant Ferris wheel,: “What we’d like to do is have a monorail system
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Seeking Sanctuary
Sometimes, living in Canada’s most populous province is embarrassing. Anyone know a remote mountain top I can retreat to? These letter-writers define my problem: In light of the recent PC leadership convention that saw the resurrection of the anti-abortion faction, the denial of climate change, the renewal of the “no
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Globe and Mail Letter
In today’s Globe and Mail, you will find a letter from me (fourth from the top, under the heading “In the national interest”) relating the present interprovincial pipeline kerfuffle to global efforts efforts to solve the climate crisis. Never hurts to remind ourselves how much is really at stake.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Will It Be Vision Or Political Expedience?
In yesterday’s post, I wondered whether Jagmeet Singh and the NDP will embrace a form of radical progressivism as it prepares for the 2019 federal election or instead hew to more mainstream policies that they think will make them more electable. In today’s Star, two letter-writers offer some important perspective.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Be Careful What You Wish For
As you likely know, Jeff Bezos is currently searching for a second headquarters for his company, Amazon. And much to the delight of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mayor John Tory, Toronto has made the final cut of 20 cities being considered. Whoever lands the company is promised upwards of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Double Double, Toil And Trouble: Star Readers On Tim Hortons And The Minimum Wage Hike
As always, the letters from Star readers do not disappoint: I am really finding it difficult to empathize with businesses like Tim Hortons crying over the minimum-wage increase. The fact that these businesses are paying minimum wage in the first place demonstrates a corporate greed that supersedes any dignity and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Despite The Hysteria The Sky Will Not Fall
In an op-ed piece the other day, Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, wrote of the economic Armageddon awaiting Ontario businesses thanks to the recently-hiked Ontario hourly minimum wage to $14, to be increased to $15 next year. While no one can fault Kelly for pandering
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Corporate Crocodile Tears: A Guest Post
In response to my post yesterday about CBC bias in its reporting on Ontario’s minimum wage increase, the Mound wrote a detailed commentary that I am featuring today as a guest post. Following his piece I reproduce a letter from a Star reader pillorying corporate hypocrisy. “Government should function on
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Not At All Like His Father
That is the opinion of Star letter-writer Colin Languedoc who, along with Mubashir Rizvi, shares my disappointment in Justin Trudeau’s craven capitulation to bullying by Donald Trump and his minions. Canada sits on its hands for UN vote, Harper, Dec. 22 Tim Harper’s excellent column about the UN vote denouncing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Responding To The Outrage
Yesterday, I posted about the outrageous treatment graduate student Lindsay Shepherd experienced at the hands of the Wilfrid Laurier University thought police. As usual, Toronto Star readers had much to say about this shameful episode, and in the interest of balance, I am reprinting not only those who condemn what
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Canadians React To The Paradise Papers
If you aren’t yet outraged over recent revelations, check your pulse to make sure you are still amongst the living. Happily, signs of life are plentiful among Toronto Star readers: Liberal Party fundraisers held family millions in offshore trust, Nov. 6 Coverage of the Paradise Papers’ celebrity tax evaders has
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Behind The Curtain
Ah, Star letter writers rarely disappoint. Truth, rather than political spin, always improves my mood. Liberal Party fundraisers held family millions in offshore trust, Nov. 6 From Panama to Paradise, we have a tiny glimpse into the realities dictating our lives: aristocrats and power brokers taking aim at record profits
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