It is time to admit it: I used to be a numbers runner. Different from the numbers racket in the United States, in Canada, it is a political game. I used to announce numbers provided by my political party to see if we could draw out numbers from the other
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Babel-on-the-Bay: If there is a wrong way?
The Trudeau government seems to be fated to find the wrong way to do things. Whether it is just a contrariness or a strange quirk is still something we have not figured out. It is probably the reason that we say so little about the coming legalization of marijuana in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Shilling for the politicos.
Full disclosure requires me to admit that I was a political spin doctor before I knew what a spin doctor was. I am not as proud of it as I should be. Maybe it is because I always felt embarrassed for people who claimed such expertise. Case in point is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: You can vote if you want.
There is nothing more annoying in politics than listening to some chowder-head radio disc jockey on election day admonishing people to get out and vote. I always want to append that with the qualifier ‘If you know what you are doing, get out and vote.” And add to that, ‘If
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In Trump land, I’ll make my stand.
For some reason, the tune for “Dixie” was running through my mind this morning as I read of the latest exploits of U.S. President Donald Trump. We did know he was a racist—did we not? We did know he was not fit to appear in polite company—did we not? So
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Welcome to our Gripes of Wrath.
It makes sense to save up our complaints and just share them periodically. There is no need to write too much about them. We should see if we can give them the quick shot in the head they deserve. It is like that guy Desmond Cole who is playing coy
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: No, no Oprah!
The people advising Oprah Winfrey about going into politics seem to have as little knowledge about politics as does Donald Trump. We have seen many of these dilettantes over the years and experience says that no good comes of it. And at this stage, Donald Trump can supply most of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Change Canada’s Senate: ‘There’s the rub.’
Some of our readers thought that was a got-cha. “Aha,” they exclaimed in their e-mails, “How do you think we are going to get rid of the senate?” Obviously, they have never heard of my idea of a constitutional conference. I suggested it once in a conversation with Justin Trudeau.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In a land where greed beats need.
The last time Canada took a systematic look into its tax system was at the instigation of a Prairie populist, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. The royal commission headed by Bay Street accountant Kenneth Carter was famous for determining “A buck is a buck.” Here we are more than 50 years
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: First-past-the-post vote still wins.
For all the arguments that people put up, you would suspect that first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting was on its last legs. It is not. It survives not because so many of us love it. It survives because there is no adequate alternative. What seems most annoying about the effort put into
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Forget Beyak, dump Canada’s Senate.
Why just dump Senator Lynn Beyak? You do not have to like what she says or posts on the Internet? We have all heard it before. Bigotry is hardly new. The problem is that there is not much you can do about it. She was appointed to the Senate of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We will call that a Wynne Win.
Did nobody at the Tim Horton’s head office know about the change in minimum wage for Ontario scheduled for the first of January? Did all those franchisees fail to tell them? And would you not wonder about a major franchiser who dominates the product line in Ontario, not being in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Democracy denied.
To many people, democracy is too much bother. Can you just imagine how much it annoys Donald Trump? Democracy requires openness and honesty, effort and consideration, rights and freedoms. And democracy continues to grow and evolve and expand. It recognizes the equality of the sexes. It recognizes our shared responsibility
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tales of the Trump White House.
The Brits have a saying that no gentleman is a hero to his valet. And in politics, all the apparatchik insiders are a form of valet. The politician has to hire carefully and fire even more carefully. We all have a book in us. As Donald Trump has none of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Democracy destroyed.
The years of Pierre Trudeau’s leadership seem to be backing into the mists of time. It was the strength of a democratic Liberal Party in Canada that back stopped him in those years. He thought of the party at first as similar to the top-down managed situation in Quebec. He
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump’s Terrific Triumph?
We have been told that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to have another inauguration this month. This time he wants a proper count of all his supporters out in the cold of Washington and a second chance to do things right. This is despite all those writers who have summed
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Defending Democracy.
You would think in all the many years of human social development that democracy should have gained support and growing wide-spread usage around the world. We certainly agree that it is not perfect but we do agree that it is better than any alternatives. Yet tell it to the Russians
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A potpourri of New Year wishes.
This writer’s New Year’s resolution is, as always, to never make a resolution. Each year is another adventure. It is an opportunity to discover and to learn. We have a mixed bag of comments to share today as we start our tenth year of this commentary. The ten years means
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A New Year rich in political opportunity.
This political junkie is looking forward to 2018. Starting with the Ontario election in June, Quebec scheduled for October 1 and then the American mid-term elections in November, there will be much on which to comment. The only recommendation we can make at this stage is to ignore the pollsters.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The trying times of Trump.
Canada’s prime minister told Global News the other day that there is “a level of unpredictability” to the current trade talks with the Americans and Mexicans. What is really amazing is that one man, on a whim, can be allowed to jeopardize US$17 trillion in annual trade between the three
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