James Moore, enfant terrible of B.C. politics has quit. He is going home to care for his family. He will be missed. Despite his serious gaff at one time of saying “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.” he was one of the few
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Babel-on-the-Bay: The crowded middle ground.
Politics is a funny game. If it was not so damn serious, Babel-on-the-Bay would just publish jokes about it. As it is, we just try to make whatever sense we can. It is like the current situation of the three leaders trying to prove to the voters how middle class
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: There’s an algorithm for that.
And you thought apps for your iPhone were big business. It seems that marketing research is the far more volatile business today. Consumer product manufacturers are constantly at their doors asking the gurus to bless or condemn their latest creations. Even established products need to be questioned as to how
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Welcome to Justin Trudeau’s meritocracy.
Thank goodness Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has solved the problems of Canada’s senate. Surely you have been waiting breathlessly for further disclosure of his plans for a non-partisan, merit-based process to choose our senators. He tells us it starts with the appointment of a non-partisan, merit-based body to advise the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Senate solution requires an open mind.
Quebec’s intelligentsia are too often speaking out for a population that they do not seem to read well. They sell their fellow Quebecers short. Take the current media turmoil over Canada’s Senate. We have the foolish promises of New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair to abolish the Senate in defiance of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A mistake Trudeau can ill-afford.
Okay Justin, you wanted him. You got him. Now what the hell are you going to do with him? The guy is no liberal. He is your Liberal candidate in Scarborough-Southwest. In case you have forgotten, he is former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. He could represent all that is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Bloc’s Duceppe doesn’t feel the love.
Is it not awful when you come out of retirement to help the old gang and nobody cares? Former and future Bloc Quèbècois Leader Gilles Duceppe’s second coming is falling a little flat. He is particularly concerned that the national (read ‘English’) media are ignoring him. The problem is that
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: M’sieur Mulcair’s mistake.
There is a television commercial running at this time that is starting to grate. It begins with a totally unconnected part that has something to do with a dry cleaning shop. It abruptly cuts to a shot of New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair in what appears to be a coffee
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair’s Farewell Tour?
You can hardly blame the Hair for not wanting to hurry home. He and his hairdresser are touring Europe in style—and Bavaria is so beautiful this time of year. There is nothing good waiting for him in Ottawa. With the daily bombardment from the Senate, poison pen memos from the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: You have to admire Toronto’s Mayor Tory.
What do you want Toronto? With an unapologetic news media and an unrepentant collection of councillors ganging up on him, the best mayor Toronto has had in almost 50 years is hardly feeling much love. The poor guy has been doing the best job he can. He has been hustling
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “The good is oft’ interred with their bones.”
There is no brief held here for the Canadian Senate. It is an anachronism. It serves Canada’s past and has nothing new to offer for its future. It has not grown with the needs of the country. The Senate is but one of the many outdated and unneeded vestiges of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Canadians are owed answers on the Senate.
Do you have a mental image of the three major party leaders cowering in their campaign bunkers this year afraid of questions on the Senate? They will all tell you that they are in favour of Senate reform and just what that reform might entail and how they will accomplish
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Justin Trudeau brought his perfect game.
When somebody bowls a perfect game, you have to admire it. In politics a perfect game is a rare event. You have to remember that in politics there are people out there who are lurking to ridicule, there are professional scoffers and there are the people paid to deride any
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Election changes need all-party support.
Announcing proposed changes in Ontario election statutes last week, Premier Kathleen Wynne gave the credit for instigating change to Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer. If she now moves the changes through the legislature with the support of all parties, we could have some worthwhile legislation. The least contentious change being suggested
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: How history harries the Hair.
The Hair seems to be trying so hard to remake Canada into an image only understood by the Prime Minister and a few of his friends in Calgary. It seems to be an image something like that of 19th Century Dodge City, Kansas without the dust. It is a vision
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mulcair spends a penny on wrong audience.
The New Democrats expect their leader Tom Mulcair to propose spending another cent of gas taxes on municipalities. This will be proposed to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) at its meeting in Edmonton tomorrow. Despite the New Democrats suggesting that it is a dramatic offer and it will certainly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chong’s Reform Bill hardly matters.
Quiet encouragement was the best we could ever offer MP Michael Chong’s reform bill. At its earliest it was idealistic and in its final form it is probably immaterial. Whether the Senate passes it or not, it is really necessary to wait for the next parliament to see if the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Color Justin Trudeau Liberal Blue.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau wants your vote. If you think of yourself as a Liberal, he hopes he already has your vote. And if you are what is called a progressive or Red Tory, he will go out of his way to win your vote. It is likely that as
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Elmer is the politician, Peter is the son.
While the name MacKay might be prominent in Nova Scotia, it is not held in as high esteem today in Canada’s House of Commons. Peter MacKay is leaving the building. With his political career finished as of the federal election, Peter MacKay is taking his family home. Looking back over
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Will no one rid us of that bother Brown?”
In an erudite e-mail the other day a reader equated Ontario Conservative Party Leader Patrick Brown’s intelligence to that of a barrel of axe handles. He felt that it was a measure of our democracy where “someone as disadvantaged as Patrick can aspire to the leadership of a political party.”
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