Checking the score cards on vaccinations the other day, I found I am in the top two per cent of Ontario residents. It is embarrassing. Ontario only has about four million more people than the State of Israel. Yet Israel can get the first shot of vaccine into the arms
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: ‘Dougie did it!’
Mother did not like those words. The youngest of my brothers was Douglas. Of the six kids, he was mother’s pride and joy. She hated to hear the words, ‘Dougie did it’ from everything such as a raid on the cookies to blood splatter. I think she stopped blaming the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Kenney opts for debt over taxes.
It seems obvious that premier Jason Kenney of Alberta is a strange sort of conservative. His and previous conservative regimes in Alberta have managed to piss away another fortune in resources royalties because of their fear of balanced taxing of the voters of Alberta. It is hard to compare the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Andrea Horwath has an easy job.
Other than being insulted occasionally by Ontario’s premier-in-training, the new democrat’s Andrea Horwath seems to enjoy her continuing role as leader of the opposition at Queen’s Park. The biggest complaint we have heard about her recently is that they never answer the phones in her riding office in Hamilton. You
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The silence of Doug Ford’s lambs.
Sometime in the next couple months, the province of Ontario is expected to offer me the opportunity to get one or two jabs with a needle. This knowledge alone is helping to lift me out of some of my covid-19 doldrums. As I am considered to be among the more
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Waiting for vaccination.
It is a stay-at-home vacation. Using depression medication. And booze for self-realization. Gotta get back to civilization. Need in-person conversation. The wife came and looked over my shoulder to see what was holding up my commentary for today. She shook her head and said, “I don’t think your readers are
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: An apology to Gillian Steward.
Fair is fair. For years I have thought that Gillian Steward, a freelance journalist in Calgary who frequently writes for the Toronto Star, was an apologist for the oil interests. Her scathing indictment of the Kenney government’s public enquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns the other day helped correct my opinion.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t believe it can’t happen here.
There seems to be some arguments these days about whether Canadians have to suffer through the same political mistakes made by Americans. We hardly seem to have to wait long to have our own version of Donald Trump. It is a toss-up whether Doug Ford of Ontario or Jason Kenney
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The hypocrisy of the provinces.
If there was ever a reason to change Canada’s constitution, it will be the hypocrisy of so many of our provincial leaders. It also explains why I often preferred to drive to Ottawa from Toronto when dealing with some federal departments. It was because I could return to Toronto with
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Understanding Basic Income.
There are three sides to this argument. The idea of a basic income for all Canadians is an idea championed by progressive politicos. And then there are the regressive politicos (usually conservatives) who think it is a terrible idea and that what all those lazybones need is a little encouragement.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: What’s a billion Jason Kenney?
It was actually a billion and a half. It was the money from Alberta taxpayers that Jason Kenney put into the Keystone XL pipeline. It was not just a stupid move but one that he can spend the rest of his life regretting. I was hardly the only writer who
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In defense of dissent.
Is it better to be known for your friends or your enemies? When does a dissenter become the hero? Or is dissent the sad role of the aged curmudgeon? I always admired Pierre Trudeau, father of our present prime minister, for his handling of dissent. He treated it as an
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford unlocks his lockdown.
It is not just Ontario residents who are confused. They are in a “lockdown” that nobody understands. The wife and I very much wanted to see an old friend this weekend. We finally figured out that under premier Ford’s lockdown rules, the two of us could not go and visit
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Politics of the pandemic.
It has been fascinating watching politicians learning about the politics of a pandemic. It has been a learning experience for all of them. Some take naturally to the challenge, while others find it a struggle. Thinking of the positive ones first, I have to admit that prime minister Justin Trudeau
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Taking care of business…”
The Bachman Turner Overdrive seem to say it best in their song, “Taking care of business (every day).” It seems to be the theme song of the conservatives who are mismanaging things in Ontario at this time. These people will bend over backwards to help business, big and small, and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Good to know Doug’s got spare money!
Were we reading the other day that Ontario premier Doug Ford has a rainy-day $12 billion tucked away? That is what you can expect when you have a conservative government. Yet the Ontario Financial Accountability Officer tells us that some of that money was from the federal government to help
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Are any conservatives listening?
It is something of a wonder that Jason Kenney, premier of Alberta, Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, and Erin O’Toole, federal conservative leader, are members of the same political party. The only similarity between the three gentlemen is that they all blame Justin Trudeau for their problems, provincially and across
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Decidedly Different Discipline.
Many Canadians are intrigued by the discipline of political parties. Not that it seems to matter within the parties themselves but it does seem to matter in the caucus of elected party members in the federal and provincial parties. There even seem to be differences when you are the government
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Breaking Faith with Canadians.
Before people started accepting news in free form as whatever was trending on social media, we were encouraging business and government to work together. We called it by various names such as business-government partnerships but the essential component was the need to understand that the ultimate beneficiary was supposed to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The auditor versus the label salesman.
It might not be a fair fight but Ontario voters are enjoying it. The ups and downs and the tantrums of former label salesman and now premier Doug Ford are generally entertaining but when he and the province’s auditor general cross swords, the province can see the problems with better
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