One of my favourite writers wrote in a Toronto Star op-ed the other day that she thought Alberta premier Jason Kenney is the closest thing Canadians have to Donald Trump. As much as I hate to argue the case, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford holds those honours. Neither Ford nor Trump
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: “When Giants Walked Among Us.”
That line about giants came in an e-mail from a reader the other day. It was referring to the time of Lester B. Pearson, Pierre E. Trudeau, John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It was a heady time to be involved in politics. It was a time to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Defund Police: Then What?
It reminds me of something out of an old Zane Grey novel. These people who mostly look like they need a job themselves are telling us to take away the money budgeted for police. Are they all so stupid that they think we do not need police? Surely, they do
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford follows mentor Trump.
From the low of being booed at the Raptors’ celebration in Toronto last year, Ontario premier Doug Ford feels it is time to hear some applause. After all the exposure he has gotten from the pandemic, he is ready to go on the road again. Like Donald Trump in the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Jason Kenney is ‘All In’ on Keystone XL.
Alberta premier Jason Kenney just went ‘all in’ against a stacked deck. Most of us thought Jason Kenney was smarter than that. He seems to be betting that Donald Trump will win a second term as president of the U.S. in November. It would be the only way that the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Del Duca Dumbs Down.
It should have been obvious. Ontario liberal leader Steven Del Duca does not know how to run a political party. So, he copies Justin Trudeau, who has no idea either. Remember back when Justin Trudeau introduced a 50 per cent female cabinet in 2015. He told the media that it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In the Wild—West of Toronto.
Who knew? When Barrie’s Patrick Brown, was ejected from Queen’s Park early in 2018, he picked Peel Region for his comeback. Rejected by his fellow conservatives in the legislature, Brown’s instinct was to return to municipal politics. He knows little else. He had no idea though that he had picked
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dougie has “lost the plot.”
A chap from ‘Ole Blighty’ was talking the other day about the United Kingdom’s prime minister Boris Johnson. He said “Bo-Jo has lost the plot.” The description fits too many politicians today. Johnson is just one of many. America’s Trump certainly fits the part. The Donald seems to have never
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The new Ford is still a Model T.
Not to be confused with products of the Ford Motor Company, today’s comment is about Ontario premier Doug Ford. It harks back a hundred years to that time when you could have any colour of Ford Model T, as long as it was black. And you need to face facts
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The future is ours.
As the song asks, “How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, after they’ve seen Paree?” That was a song that many believed after the First World War. It is also a lament for those politicians who think they can give the public greater freedoms and then expect to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The killing ground at the LTCs.
The cull continues. Just what is the purpose of our long-term care (LTC) facilities? The figures are shocking. We sent in the army. All the army got was covid-19. Britain’s Economist asked around, checking covid-19 deaths in LTC facilities in European countries. The people at the Economist were shocked to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who will bell Ford?
Before you bell the cat, you had better learn something of its habits. This is not an animal that has been de-clawed nor rendered toothless. Nor has Ontario premier Doug Ford. You have to remember that Ford is a bully and a braggart and there are no Marquess of Queensbury
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Facing facts for Ford’s fortunes.
So, you think Ontario premier Doug Ford is riding the white charger towards a 2022 election victory? You are probably deluding your self. Much can happen in the next two years. And there is more than enough of the old-Ford poking through the current veneer to convince us that he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And children should lead them.
The educators in Quebec might be smarter than we thought. Sending the children back to school is not as foolhardy as you might think. It will do much for the sanity of parents. It is even more beneficial for the children. These are immature minds that need to learn. They
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Glen’s coat of many colors turns Green.
Former mayor of Winnipeg, former member of the Ontario legislature, former Ontario cabinet minister and former executive director of the Calgary-based Pembina Institute, Glen Murray, has a new quest. He wants to replace Elizabeth May as head of the Green Party of Canada. It might not be one of his
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Some people never learn.
Writing about the ministry of education in Ontario yesterday reminded me of the time in the early 1980s when I complained, loudly, that Dr. Bette Stephenson, then minister of education, was out of her depth talking about computers. Nobody would have noticed if I had not said it on the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Give Ford the credit he deserves.
Premier Doug Ford of Ontario had two choices. He could continue the bombast and bluff of his usual approach to politics, or he could learn from his mistakes and tone down the rhetoric. His new approach is far from perfect but it shows that unlike his first year as premier,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario NDP: A party of survivors.
If you came to Ontario recently, you would have a problem figuring out what goes on at the provincial parliament at Queen’s Park. With that big blowhard who seems to be running things, this seems to be a one-party government. And you are even more convinced when you are told
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Blame Alberta’s Jason Kenney.
You would think that one of these days, the people of Alberta are going to catch on to their premier Jason Kenney. Those of us who consider him something of a snake have known about it for years. We watched him in Ottawa. We watched him when he returned to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Jason Kenney puts on his black hat.
Just when you start to think Alberta premier Jason Kenney is not such a bad guy, he drops a political stink bomb. He says his province can ignore our federal health professionals and do whatever they want. And just the other day, I was saying how good the cooperation is
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