Smart politicians stay out of arguments over technology. This was the point we were trying to make in our June 20 comments on the multi-billion-dollar plan to electrify Ontario’s Toronto-area commuter train services. It was never our intent to put down the idea of hydrogen-powered trains. It is very important
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Babel-on-the-Bay: Inviting President Trump.
In politics, you are not always able to dine with people you like. All to often you have to deal with the position rather than the person. And in the case of someone such as the President of the United States of America, the position outranks the person. And what
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Harry says nobody wants the crown!
That was the good news the other day. In an interview with American Newsweek Magazine, Prince Harry of the House of Windsor said that nobody in the royal family really aspires to being King or Queen. What Harry probably meant was that it would be unseemly for any royal to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Spring clean out for Ontario booze.
Have you got it figured out yet? Every few years, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) thinks it will be a good time to clean its warehouses. To facilitate this house cleaning, it tries to clear all its warehouse shelves. It makes it easier to dust them. But you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Granny Wynne knows best.
The current argument between Ontario’s New Democrats and the Ontario Liberals is like a school yard spat over who did what. It is not only childish but it makes both sides of the argument look foolish. They are arguing over who thought of having a mediocre pharmacare plan first. Neither
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The political position in public protests.
One of the most important classes you attend in the reality school of politics is that of the public protest. You have to learn your lessons fast. You learn how people can organize and lead and maximize the media value. You also learn to find the other guy’s organizer and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Trials of Trump’s Translators.
The news that there is a serious search underway to replace President Trump’s loyal White House spokesman Sean Spicer is sad. That poor befuddled man has become something of a favourite of the media. And where else would you find someone with the experience required, stupid or vain enough to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The anger factor.
A reader on the west coast asked the other day if we are seeing anger in Liberal ranks directed at Prime Minister Trudeau’s disrespect for the party? What was strange about the question was that most of that anger is building on the west coast. The flash point will be
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Gambling with losers.
You find by being observant that the people in a hurry to get to the cashier at a casino are usually the ones wanting to get more money to gamble. Why a casino would extend credit to people is a question that is hard to answer. The question was partly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The attention span of four-year-olds?
You sometimes wonder about the Ontario Liberal government. The kids in the cabinet are too easily distracted. Just the other day, we were reading about transportation minister Stephen Del Duca bragging to a newspaper reporter about the regional express rail expansion—a $13.5 billion electrification program to quadruple commuter train service
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The wonder of Wynne’s waffling.
They tell us that Premier Wynne is wondering why she has failed to connect with Ontario voters. She thinks she won the last provincial election as a politician. In truth, she was given a conditional go-ahead because her opponents fell on their faces. She won a chance to prove herself.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trudeau: Poster Boy or Action Figure?
Goodness! Is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being criticized for not living up to his promises? Is he just a poster boy? Why is he not living up to his billing? He will have two years as prime minister in his pocket this October and some people are starting to have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Lament for Liberalism.
This is not Diogenes searching for honesty. It is just a poor liberal searching in vain for the true meaning of liberalism. Has liberalism eluded us all? Is liberalism just an ideal? It has always been our belief that a true liberal is a progressive. It is a denial of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Exorcising the errata of ego.
There can be no excuse for slovenly writing. There is that rude awakening when your e-mails include comments on your careless errors. Some days you get more than others. One reader was particularly incensed the other day over my rude and inaccurate remarks in discussing the United Kingdom and Brexit.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: En Marche Macron!
Did you know that French President Emmanuel Macron’s political party has only existed for a little more than a year? More than 66 per cent of French voters gave 39-year old Macron their support in the run-off election against right-wing candidate Marine La Pen. The party is reported to be
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chasing ghosts with Chantal Hébert.
In the pile of books set aside for summer reading was Chantal Hébert and Jean Lapierre’s analysis of The Morning After. It is supposedly their take on the 1995 Quebec Referendum. By starting with their book, this might become a long hot summer. The book had come to the pile
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Concern for the United(?) Kingdom.
The mood in the United Kingdom today is concerning. It is the sort of sad mood caused by a relative that might need mental health assistance. You are despairing of just how you can help. We can hardly lay blame. Is it Prime Minister Elizabeth May’s fault? We knew she
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Did he say ‘Premier’ Brown?
It was the kind of chill that our granny used to say was caused by someone walking on her grave. It is the combination of cold and a sad premonition. It was the feeling left the other day when noting Bob Hepburn’s column in the Toronto Star about getting cosy
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: How would Harper have handled Trump?
When listening to Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland give her very important speech on the new world order, there was one disturbing thought. It was a silly question as to how would our previous prime minister have handled the situation? The one thing for sure was that Stephen Harper
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tasking Tenuous Think Tanks.
A friend sent an e-mail recently, attaching a 25-page report from the Broadbent Institute. This study supposedly refutes other think tank reports that say Canadians are overtaxed. He says that I am (inexplicably, he claims) adverse to Ed Broadbent and his institute but I should read the report anyway. In
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