The date has been set: May 27, 2017. That is when the Conservative Party of Canada chooses a replacement for former leader Stephen Harper and Acting Leader Rona Ambrose. Looking for an abbreviation to use on the calendar, we call it ConCon. We have no idea where ConCon will be held or what form it […]
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Babel-on-the-Bay: Waiting for Minister Monsef.
Canadians have heard from the Conservatives and more recently the New Democrats about electoral reform. Voters are getting the impression that the Conservatives are vigorously opposed and the New Democrats very much in favour. Yet we seem to be hearing more from Liberal House Leader Dominic LeBlanc about this government initiative than the minister responsible. […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Morning Line on Trump: 25 to 1.
We are not saying that it is impossible but it is quite unlikely that Donald Trump could make it all the way to the American White House. The odds of 25 to 1 are not only a long-shot bet but realistic. Mind you, the serious loser in this race is the Republican Party. And it […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It’s a slippery slope for Ontario Liberals.
If it was just the arrogance of the Wynne Liberals, maybe we could be more forgiving. It is the piling on of confusion and corruption that makes them so different from the Trudeau Liberals in Ottawa. The Trudeau Liberals are progressives. The Wynne Wimps are regressive. Canadians have a fairly good handle on where Trudeau […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Stoop and Scoop” on the White House lawn.
Canadians visiting the White House in Washington need to remember to never piss on the president’s rug and carry a plastic bag in your pocket for your errors in protocol on the White House lawn. While we most often criticize the Americans for their brashness in business and international relations, it is really Canadians who […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The skinny on Bell Canada’s skinny basic.
Bell Canada has given the finger to the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). And while the finger is in the erect position it is also providing a free pseudo colonoscopy for those customers who want cheaper television service. The $25 skinny basic television package from Bell Canada is a travesty. This ridiculous skinny basic offer […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: From Wonderful Wednesdays to Freedom Fridays.
Toronto Star reporter Susan Delacourt wrote a column recently on the changing work hours of our federal parliamentarians. It seems they are finally recognizing that spending any part of Friday in Ottawa is largely a waste of time. Many MPs used to be part of what was called the Tuesday to Thursday club and they […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Positioning the Liberal Party.
It is nothing unusual today when the Prime Minister sends you a note, calling you by your first name, and asking for your help. What is unusual is the e-mail is not a plea for money but asks you to send ideas to help fix the Liberal Party’s constitution. And after searching out and reading […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The meanness in means tests.
Neither Finance Minister Charles Sousa nor Premier Wynne really understood what they were doing in the recent budget. They were offering half measures. They insulted both students and seniors. They tried to buy votes with lies. They thought they could buy support with half measures. The most grievous insult was to our young. These are […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario Conservatives look for leadership.
They can scrub him, fix his hair and dress him properly but it hardly adds to his ability to lead. Patrick Brown might hold the title of Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader but does not make him one. Leadership is more than winning the leadership job by signing up more people from the Sub-Continent than […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: PM’s Job: Making the tough calls.
Sorry Prime Minister, the honeymoon is over. It is time to decide whom to please and whom you are going to piss off. And you can hardly please both the pipeline people who want to push tar sands’ bitumen to our ocean shores and those who care about our planet. Look at what sucking up […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We have heard from our MP.
It was cruel in a way. The uncaring Conservatives of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte sent a boy to Ottawa. They threw him to the wolves. He was unprepared and unknowing. He was hardly ready for the task. But he has been heard from. He has found his way to Ottawa from the backwaters of our electoral district. He […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On political suicide.
It is not that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is not smart. Never having the opportunity to meet her and talk with her, it is not even fair to say she is politically stupid. It just seems that she comes at political questions from a very narrow perspective. And that could be because of limited political […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In search of Ontario’s liberalized beer sales.
It was a pilgrimage. The objective was to experience booze in an Ontario grocery store. There was no such grocery store in Barrie. Our city is too unimportant to the Ontario government to have beer in grocery stores. Last weekend we stayed in Toronto and early Sunday morning set out to see beer in a […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Donald Trump: Master of the Free World?
Some readers assumed we were sampling liberalized pot when we suggested that Donald Trump could win the American Presidency. Frankly it is not something we care to bet on. We just accept the logic. There are too many factors that can weigh in favour of a Trump win and it is too early to quantify […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Political parties promote populism.
There are people who actually fear for the future of political parties as populism grabs more of the attention in the current American primaries. It is not something you need to worry about. Political parties need the periodic peak of populism to bring them up-to-date to the reality of the times. In Canada populism was […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A conservative budget from Premier Wynne.
Patrick Brown, eat your heart out. As leader of Ontario’s Conservative Party, it is no fun having all your good potential tax moves made by conservatives in liberal clothing. The Ontario budget read so dutifully by Finance Minister Charles Sousa the other day made a mockery of liberalism and usurped traditional Conservative space. Imagine if […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Finding out the truth on Cap and Trade.
It is like you are saving the world one added tax at a time. Only politicians would believe that the refineries and gas providers would be constrained from polluting by a tax on the end users. And why is the consumer tax imposed before the supposed industry caps are even attempted? Ontario’s new Cap and […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Measuring Mr. Morneau.
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau is a political newby. While he carries solid credits from the Toronto financial community, the gloves and all bets come off on March 22. First budgets are like that. He had better be wearing Kevlar undershorts as well as the traditional new shoes when he brings in that budget. He […]
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The terror of Trump.
If you really do not understand Donald Trump, your favourite psychiatrist might be able to help. You can also just think of Trump as another cathartic solution to the American condition. He is not that unusual a happening in politics. Trump is not even the first billionaire to have delusions of the power of his […]
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