It is fun to remember that, as a youngster, I was looking forward to a career as a writer. Writing an unedited blog can have serious consequences for those hopes. Nothing cuts deeper than the e-mails I get from readers about an occasional grammatical or spelling error. I even had
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Babel-on-the-Bay: O’Toole’s Big Tent Dreams.
Federal conservative leader Erin O’Toole is making his intentions clear and prime minister Justin Trudeau can ignore the intent and lose everything. O’Toole is attempting to mix the Harper base, the Jason Kenney ethnic strategy, the liberal union strategy and the frustrations of Donald Trump’s base. There is no question
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The NDP want voting reform.
In a letter to Justin Trudeau last week, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal new democrats, laid out his plan for the minority government. It seems to be the best time to try to manipulate the liberals into changing the way Canadians vote. All the liberals have to do is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The perplexed pollsters.
How would you feel if the three times out of 20 you are wrong in your forecasts, and it all happened in the same election? That was the pollsters’ dilemma with last week’s election in the United States. They were just flat out wrong. But you have got to have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A note to a busy Joe Biden.
It was an impressive speech the other night from Delaware. It was the right tone to take with the Trump supporters. You offered them the olive branch and left it to them to accept. It was a class act. No doubt, you have a lengthy ‘to-do’ list already but many
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: To listen and to learn in Ottawa.
Yesterday it was noted how quiet the Ottawa scene has been while history is made in America. But we ignore Ottawa at our peril. You have to listen to buzz in the quiet. There is the testiness of the conservative caucus—planning for the partisan attacks to come. There is the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In the silence of Ottawa.
Our not too silent members of parliament have hardly been ignoring what has been going on south of the border. They are as enthralled as the rest of us with the ups and downs of the political drama unfolding. They have reason to be concerned about the impact of trends
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It will never be the same America.
Mother was born in Milwaukee, grew up in Chicago and then married a Canadian. It made Chicago a special place, as children, where we visited fun relatives. Two of my brothers now live in the United States. I have always felt at home in both countries. But no longer. We
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Colour coding Doug Ford.
A month ago, Ontario premier Doug Ford turned thumbs down on colour coding the severity of the pandemic. Now he tells us the doctors have talked him into doing it. In among the much more interesting American election news the other evening there was an item about the new color
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Waiting for the sunrise.”
There was a song going through my mind last night as we were waiting for early returns on the American election. (Yes, Canadians do get excited about American elections. And believe me, we have more than one pony in the race.) The song on my mind was the Les Paul/Mary
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When one black MP is not enough.
There was an amusing political op-ed in the Toronto Star on the weekend. It was by Tiffany Gooch, one of the Star’s ‘Black is Beautiful’ writers. Her point was that one black woman member of parliament was not enough. Ms. Gooch thinks it is wrong, at the current time, to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Emperor Trump is naked.
Does it take a child to recognize what we all know about Emperor Trump? If he parades before the world, naked, unadorned with privilege or power? Will he be the fool and will he make fools of his supporters? But Tuesday, November 3, 2020 is the day leading to discovery.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The last campaign.
You never know which one is your last campaign. You always look forward to your next until reality says your last was your last. I can no longer climb the front steps of homes they build today. Without a safety railing, steps spell danger. But without the ability to test
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The ground game has gone south?
In my years in politics, I have taught thousands of people how the political ground game is played. It is basic to politics throughout North America. It takes lots of experience and determination to learn. You have to win some and lose some. This comes to mind because the wife’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Good Government.
While Americans remain mired in arguing the seriousness of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus, Canadians are basking in the benevolence of government largess to help fight it. Seeing finance minister Chrystia Freeland reassure Canadians the other day was a dose of covid-19 medicine that we all need to understand. Even
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The kid who couldn’t.
Sam Oosterhoff MPP, is the youngest person, at 19, to be elected to the Ontario legislature. He might also be the MPP with the most to learn. The member for Niagara West received a more dubious first when he was made parliamentary assistant to the minister of education. It must
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Foregone Conclusions.
A reader asked me recently why I was paying so little attention to the two by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre in Toronto. Knowing the two ridings like the back of your hand does not make them more interesting. It just makes the process more boring. But if you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Will there be a Trump library?
We all know that Donald Trump has not been your traditional president for the United States. Despite his oddities, we should still mark his single-term presidency with more than the thousands of tombstones from the novel coronavirus or the hundreds of children still searching for their parents after being incarcerated
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Understanding ranked ballots.
It looks as though we need to be sure we are on the same side when it comes to understanding ranked ballots in voting. Some people think they are a good idea. I would like to question that. Start with how ranked ballots are designed: you have a sheet of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dougie Dumps Ranked Ballots.
You have to hand it to Ontario premier Doug Ford. He rarely gets much right. He just knows what he hates about municipal politics—anything that the downtown Toronto councillors like. This includes changing the voting from first-past-the-post (FPTP) to ranked ballots. The change had been allowed under provincial legislation but
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