Listening to American President Joe Biden address his nation the other night was a rare delight. Here was a politician at the apex of his career. He was entitled to those words of self-congratulation. His first 100 days in office did set new records. He not only knew how to
Continue readingTag: new
Babel-on-the-Bay: Doug Ford: Ideologue.
This is an open and shut case. Ontario premier Doug Ford is obviously an ideologue. His beliefs and actions in government prove that he is committed to extreme right-wing political ideals. His actions from day one of his winning the premier’s job where to change the Ontario government from a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Determining Democracy.
Measuring democracy in any country is like measuring the depth of a fast-moving stream with a wood ruler. In a country where few know democracy, is there a measure? In Canada, we think we know democracy and we seldom measure it. It is time we started questioning our democracy. Ask
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Doing the cha-cha with Mike Harris.
Get into the rhythm folks. It is one-two, one-two-three when you do the Chartwell Chair cha-cha with former Ontario premier Mike Harris. If you have a mother-in-law you hate, convince your wife that dear-mom should be stowed away at a Chartwell long-term care residence. With Mike Harris in the chair
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ridiculing Freeland’s Luxury Tax.
My old Lamborghini is just fine, thank you. It was amusing to read a conservative’s apology the other day for people who buy luxury cars. After duly noting the foolishness of finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s luxury tax on the toys of the very rich, I had gone on to more
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Vulnerable Sex Workers.
If we are going to consider the most vulnerable in our society for vaccination, we should start with the sex worker. They are doing something most people enjoy. It is even worse when people do not talk openly about the good, the bad and the art of it. And it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: B.S. for the Beer Store.
You wonder sometimes if anyone is ever going to tell the truth about Ontario’s Beer Store. For more than 90 years, this restrictive system of selling beer has been foisted on the province’s beer buyers. It has provided profits for brewers and sinecure for our politicians and nobody has ever
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ghosts of Pandemics.
It had been another hard day for Ontario premier Doug Ford and he drove his truck to his late mother’s house. The doctor had told him to self-isolate because one of his worker bees had come down with covid. Feeling sorry for himself, he got into an old pair of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Leadership Lacking.
We are not getting much provincial leadership in Canada these days. Despite liking both Andrew Furey in Newfoundland and Labrador and John Horgan of B.C., I cannot say much for the premiers in the mushy middle. I must admit that I really dislike Doug Ford of Ontario and Jason Kenney
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Religion, Politics and Leadership.
The admonition to never bring religion and politics into a conversation is a lot of B.S. They are two very interesting subjects and they are ever present in our daily lives—not only in Canada but around the world. In some countries, the subjects of religion and politics are the same
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ‘I’ve heard that song before.’
It was a confused kindergarten teacher who once asked me why my daughter would tell her and the class that her mother went to hotels at night with men. She was quite relieved when I explained that my wife sang with a 21-piece swing orchestra and they performed frequently at
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Leave ‘em Laughing.
In writing about the leadership skills of our political leaders, we have borrowed the title of a 1927 Laurel and Hardy two-reel movie to explain federal conservative leader Erin O’Toole. You can just visualize Stan Laurel saying to Erin O’Toole or Oliver Hardy “Here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Actor Within.
We were puzzling the other day as to what training our current leaders had that prepared them for their political roles. If all you have to base your conclusion on is their set-piece biography, the answers are not all that easy to deduce. It is therefore best to do some
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A Mea Culpa on Small Nukes.
The other day I really wanted to write something positive. I feel guilty about writing so many negative comments about politicians today. It was an old friend who suggested to me that I could make up for my past criticisms of nuclear power. This guy is a retired university professor
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Ford Agenda.
It is hard to tell if the pandemic is helping hide premier Doug Ford’s agenda for Ontario or just slowing it down. His plans seem to be everything except the stuff you would hear in a speech from the lieutenant governor. It is enough that he keeps confusing Ontario residents
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Small Nuclear? Think Ships.
Anyone who is worried about small nuclear reactors being promoted by four Canadian provinces should check out the nuclear ships using nuclear reactors. The world has had nuclear ships now for over 65 years. The four countries who use nuclear powered ships tell us that they have about 160 ships
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chaos: The Canadian Model.
“Throw the scoundrels out” might be the rallying call for elections in Canada but there are too many times when we are not at all sure who the scoundrels might be. Obviously, the scoundrels in the coming federal election are supposed to be Justin Trudeau and the liberals. The only
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: How does Jeff Lehman MP sound?
It is finally likely that Barrie mayor Jeff Lehman will make the move. After being elected to three four-year terms as mayor, he is checking out the federal waters. The first hint of this was a while ago when Jeff’s old campaign manager, Quito Maggi of Mainstreet Research did a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A potpourri of liberal promises.
Reading the list of 26 resolutions passed at the liberal non-gathering last weekend is frustrating. There are duplications of themes, confusion in intent and cost considerations. And there are a few where you had to be there to know what they were discussing. It is hard to imagine anything more
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A liberal performance.
According to Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star, Justin Trudeau was invoking the ghosts of liberal past at the weekend policy conference. While I rarely disagree with Ms. Delacourt, those were not spirits to whom Justin was appealing. He needs the living, breathing liberals of past years to come back
Continue reading