It is hard to believe that it is so easy to con Martin Regg Cohn of the Toronto Star. The provincial affairs specialist wrote a piece the other day admiring the new version of premier Doug Ford he is seeing at Queen’s Park. What Regg Cohn is missing is that
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Kenney dives into pipeline financing.
In a time when the rest of the world is expending all energy and funds into the war against the novel coronavirus, Alberta premier Jason Kenney is following his own drummer. In a time when you cannot get $5 a barrel for the bitumen from the tar sands, Kenney is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dougie dumbs it down.
You get the impression that our Ontario premier goes to the office each day hoping to find new things to screw up for Ontario residents. Despite the tantrum he threw the other day over a high-priced grocery store overcharging for sanitary wipes, I never get the impression that he is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Measuring social separation.
We should all applaud the ingenuity of cashiers and others in their efforts to maintain social separation at this difficult time. The prize for the most ingenious solution should go to a clerk in an Ontario Beer Store. (Yes, that’s what we call them here: The Beer Store.) Frankly, not
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Leadership is in the eyes of the followers.
Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star wrote an opinion piece last week that commented on Doug Ford of Ontario looking “downright ‘leaderly’.” I rarely argue with Hepburn, but in this case, I sense some wishful thinking. True, Ford is running a notch or two ahead of Trump but nobody ever
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Caught short in a pandemic.
We drove several hundred kilometres the other day. At least the gas was cheaper. My wife and I had to take someone some food. It made me realize how bad the planning is by our politicians. They have no idea of the basic nature of our lives. Prime minister Justin
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The imperfect timing of Doug Ford.
It seems that no matter what he does, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford, finds that it always costs more than he saves when he makes cuts in Ontario’s government budgets. It costs him money to fire people. It costs him money to cancel projects. It costs him friends when he cuts
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Doug Downey doubles down.
That nice guy, Bill Davis, one-time Ontario premier, must be having some sleepless nights. Those idiots in his conservative party are busy destroying Bill’s legacy. They spend more money on their dumb ideas than any other Ontario government in the past. And they never get anything right. From the premier
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Bigotry is blooming early in Quebec.
It seems to come each year with the spring flowers. Bigotry is the passion of Quebec nationalists. They care less that people recognize them for what they are: small-minded, intolerant, ignorant and ungracious people who want to inflict children and youth with their narrow and harmful parochialism. They want to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Most stupid people are conservative.”
This will be of small comfort to premier Doug Ford of Ontario. A friend reminded me the other day of the quote from 19th Century philosopher John Stuart Mill that “Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.”
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Well, that was a waste of time.
Ontario liberals have a new leader. It was a fairly decent event. I only caught some parts of it that were streamed on the Internet. It was a good technical effort but I think the party brass scrimped on the lighting and technical equipment. The numbers there were credible for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Riding the bubble.
It helps if you think of the main aspirants for the federal conservative party leadership as Bland, Blander and Who(?) This perception was highlighted the other day. It seems one of them promised—if chosen—that they would immediately try to force an election to rid the country of those despicable liberals.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A weekend of infamy.
Ontario liberals are wasting their money this weekend as they gather in Mississauga to confirm a new leaser. With a new leader, about half a million in the bank and some good media coverage, the party should be ready to roar back at Doug Ford’s hapless Tories. But it will
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The downhill dance of Doug Downey.
It is all Caroline Mulroney’s fault. Nobody wants a member of the legislature who constantly embarrasses the people in his riding. We sure got that in spades in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. And if only Caroline Mulroney knew more about Canadian and Ontario legal traditions, she would still be attorney general. Instead, Ontario
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Del Duca Doesn’t Do It.
The Toronto Star actually endorsed a candidate for leader of Ontario’s liberals without telling their readers anything of importance about him. They tell us former MPP Steven Del Duca is a good organizer without giving any examples. They tell us he can raise funds without understanding where they come from.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: This gang can’t shoot straight.
They must find these companies under a bush somewhere. We are talking about Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, a Canadian casino management company based in B.C., that is currently being taken over by an American company with deeper pockets. Gateway operates casinos in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. In Ontario, the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Buffalo Declarations and other Bull.
There is an odour emanating from the politics of self justification in Alberta. And it is not that of the wild prairie rose. It is the greed and the false tears and it is the manure that helps it grow. I remember as a young man, standing at the government
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Beer Store’s small planning error.
It was reliably reported the other day that Ted Moroz, president of Ontario’s Brewers’ Retail Inc., that operates the Beer Stores, has reported making a mistake to his foreign owners. It seems there was a shortfall of about $13 million of the usual $400 million, or so, in revenue last
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The difference between men and boys.
It seems that the difference between men and boys is generally believed to be the size of their toys. We might see a real-life difference soon if former MPP Steven Del Duca wins the leadership of the Ontario liberals. And, then again, we might find that Del Duca is not
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Coteau fights on for Ontario leadership.
In an e-mail the other day, Michael Coteau promised his supporters that he will fight on against the status quo for Ontario liberals. With Steven Del Duca poised with a majority of elected delegates, Coteau stands Canute-like challenging the tides. It will be decided quickly on March 7 at the
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