What did we say the other day about half measures by governments that have no idea where they are going? Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne seems to have fallen into that trap. Obviously somebody got to her and told her she needed to be seen doing something about how we sell
Continue readingTag: new
Babel-on-the-Bay: Harper’s friends form formidable phalanx.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has interesting friends. As the Prime Minister said in New York the other day, neither he nor his friends take ‘No’ for an answer. It was bad enough when we were ridiculing him and Jim Flaherty for lionizing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. It is less than
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tilting at Toronto transit troubles.
Who won what? How do you compare $660 million from the federal government to $1.4 billion from the province and say Toronto Mayor Ford won? What did he win? And for someone to win, you have to assume somebody lost. Who lost here? And as a former Scarborough resident, you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The challenge in Toronto-Centre.
It is something of a dry run. If Justin Trudeau is going to make a difference as Liberal Party leader in the federal election expected in 2015, the Liberals have to win the yet to be called Toronto-Centre by-election. It is the electoral district made vacant by the resignation of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair helps His Honour.
You could tell from the news clips of yesterday’s event that the Hair is enjoying his holiday. With Parliament prorogued until late October, the hair has time to visit with friends and cronies such as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Of course, the Hair tries to stay out of Toronto so
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Putting the LCBO out of its misery.
Limp half measures by people who have no idea where they are going seem to be the action plan for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). What else would you expect from an organization run by a bunch of lawyers and has-been politicians? Who else would you expect to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Burying Blackberry before the buyers.
Thursday nights on CBC’s National News there is an excellent panel of pundits, usually monitored by news reader Peter Mansbridge. The panellists are Chantal Hébert of the Toronto Star, Andrew Coyne of the National Post and Bruce Anderson of his own consulting firm, Anderson Insight. Their topic last Thursday evening
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: What it takes to turn out the Tories.
Toronto Star columnist Martin Reg Cohn advises us that there will be no regicide (the act of murdering the king or leader) at the Conservative convention in London, Ontario this weekend. Darn it. He is spoiling all our fun. We were counting on Opposition Leader Timmy Hudak at least sweating
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chow for mayor? Don’t bet on it.
The pollsters are telling us that Olivia Chow can be mayor of Toronto after the next municipal election—more than a year from now. The only problem is that the polls are meaningless. They are based on too many suppositions. There are just too many ‘ifs.’ And who is surprised to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Policy pillars for the 2015 election.
Nobody wants to reveal their plan too early. The key is to take ownership of the key issue(s) at a time when your opponents are already committed and can only respond. At this time, there are probably three issues from which to choose and use with different emphasis. They are
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mass murder in Lac-Mégantic
The Dangerous Goods Driver’s Handbook for Canada starts with a disclaimer that states: “The transportation of dangerous goods is subject to complicated and changing Government regulations. Transport Canada has a comprehensive set of regulations, which must be observed when transporting dangerous goods.” And it is law. If you are going
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who speaks for atheists in Quebec?
It seems to always be columnist Heather Mallick at the Toronto Star who gets the tough assignments. The other day she wrote, as an atheist, in opposition to the Quebec Charter of Values. That is one really tough assignment. After all, who has the right to speak for atheists? Since,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Bill Blair your tumbrel is waiting.
The two-wheel cart known as a tumbrel was developed originally for agriculture work as it could be pulled by a single draft animal and the simple, two-wheel design made it easy to dump contents, such as manure. The carts came into renown because of their use to haul prisoners to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Babel’s MPP mentioned in dispatches.
When ‘mentioned in dispatches’ it means a Brit or Canadian soldier has been written up by a superior officer for conspicuous bravery in the face of the enemy. We mention this (somewhat sarcastically) as our Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) had a jolly extensive write-up this week in the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mulcair, in motion.
They took New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair to Saskatchewan this week. It was like bringing him home to be baptized. Here they were in Saskatchewan, the home of Tommy Douglas socialism, and Mulcair is a gruff old bugger in a suit. And both he and the suit are ‘pur laine.’
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair needs better speech writers.
It must be the high turnover in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Did nobody notice when the last speechwriters left? Yesterday we found out that the Hair needs until October 16 to finish writing a new throne speech. We appreciate that a speech of this magnitude requires broad input and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Marois builds bigotry best!
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois is using us all. She is using the ingrained bigotry of Quebec to turn Quebecers against fellow Canadians. She is using the liberal multiculturalism of Canada to insult Canadians. She is scratching at wounds on both sides of the Canadian language divide. Her Charter of Values
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mme Premier, do you know where you’re going?
The Ontario Legislature met yesterday. Premier Wynne was in the white of a bride to launch the fall session. She had already told the opposition that they will need to cooperate or she will call an election. If that is a choice she is offering, we respectfully choose an election.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Harper’s ‘Hail Mary’ for Keystone XL.
A ‘Hail Mary’ is that final play in the football game where you have to go for the goal or nothing. That is the play Prime Minister Stephen Harper is making to U.S. President Barack Obama to get him to approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline to carry Athabasca tar sands
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The progressive left is just an urban legend.
Toronto Council’s left wing councillors love to show off their power. And Mayor Rob Ford could not be a better foil for them. The only problem is that Toronto ends up without direction, leadership, ideas, or a future. It is a shame as it had the potential to be a
Continue reading