Got up a bit late the other morning and found the wife grumbling over her coffee and the Toronto Star. She had read an editorial that annoyed her. Her complaint—on which she was quite voluble—was about the Star’s new stand on a casino at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. Since she
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Election changes need all-party support.
Announcing proposed changes in Ontario election statutes last week, Premier Kathleen Wynne gave the credit for instigating change to Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer. If she now moves the changes through the legislature with the support of all parties, we could have some worthwhile legislation. The least contentious change being suggested
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Will no one rid us of that bother Brown?”
In an erudite e-mail the other day a reader equated Ontario Conservative Party Leader Patrick Brown’s intelligence to that of a barrel of axe handles. He felt that it was a measure of our democracy where “someone as disadvantaged as Patrick can aspire to the leadership of a political party.”
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: An e-mail on preferential voting.
To: tmcmeekin.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org Dear Minister McMeekin: You must have missed reading Babel-on-the-Bay on March 26 this year. That was when one of the postings was devoted to Toronto council’s request to your Ontario ministry for preferential voting in that city’s municipal elections. The posting was about why this might not be
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Premier Wynne and the teachers’ Greek chorus.
If you have this Greek tragedy at Queen’s Park figured out, you might be smarter than the rest of us. It seems to be a battle of choruses. And you can only tell the players apart by the masks they present to the audience. We know that this current conundrum
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Bashing Barrie is a provincial sport.
Queen’s Park dashed Barrie’s hopes for a university campus recently and nobody in the city is happy about it. You would swear that bashing Barrie could be made a sport as part of the upcoming Pan-Am Games. Barrie was again among the forgotten as the province announced that only York
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Are your 15 minutes of fame finished Mr. Brown?
The new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives must have been saving money on speech writing when he talked to the Ontario Legislature on Monday. If there was ever a time for Patrick Brown to be gracious that was it. It was a courtesy that he was asked to address
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Author, Author”
Having written many political speeches over the years, it would have been a pleasant surprise to hear the shout for the author to take a bow among the applause at the end of many a speech. Having listened to MP Patrick Brown on Saturday when he accepted the leadership of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Do Ontario Tories need a leader?
The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party will announce its new leader tomorrow. Will anyone care? Is it going to make a difference? With three years to go before an election in Ontario, will the voters notice the change? When you hear that timing is everything in politics, you get the idea
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Lessons learned in Alberta
Nobody trusted the pollsters. They were the only ones who saw what would happen to the Alberta Conservative dynasty in Tuesday’s election. Babel-on-the-Bay failed to judge the extent of the anger. Everyone conceded that NDP Leader Rachel Notley was coming on strong. Who knew that Albertans were so mad at
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Thorncliffe slamming sex studies?
Thorncliffe Park in Toronto’s Don Valley area has an interesting history as a racetrack, an area of low-rise apartments and now as an area of high density living. Hidden by the high-rise buildings is Thorncliffe Market Place which started life as a rather ordinary North American shopping mall and has
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Ontario’s Sex Education
As Frank Zappa sang in his 1968 song, What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?: What’s the ugliest Part of your body? What’s the ugliest Part of your body? Some say your nose Some say your toes I think it’s your mind, your mind, I think it’s YOUR MIND, woo
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The mad mathematics of Ontario’s Whigs.
Maybe Ontario teachers were on strike back when little Kathleen Wynne and Charles Sousa were there to learn mathematics. It would be the only excuse for the utterly ridiculous decision of the Ontario government to sell part of Hydro One and not the Liquor Control Board stores. As children, our
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Lessons to be learned in Alberta.
The May 5 provincial election in Alberta is unfolding as anticipated. With pundits panicking, reporters rebelling, it will only be the final poll next Tuesday that will tell the real story. And in this cautionary tale of political progress there are entrails to be read that can foretell the political
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: With Patrick Brown you get bupkis.
It seems we are supposed to do some sort of mea culpa in regards to Barrie’s MP Patrick Brown. Yes Babel-on-the-Bay originates in Barrie but we thought we had that covered by calling the place Babel. It just would not remain hidden. In writing the other day about the relative
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Two Tory budgets for the price of one.
It was Ontario’s turn this past week. How often do we get two Tory budgets at a time? On Tuesday, we had a laugh at federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s expense. And then, right on the heels, Thursday we had a budget redux from Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa. There
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Discovering Barrie’s Patrick Brown.
It has taken on all the elements of a farce. The Ontario news media are discovering Patrick Brown MP for Barrie. They are running lengthy, laudatory articles about him with flattering pictures. (And getting a flattering picture of Brown is no easy task.) The media think he has a lock
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Doing without the politicians.
This Ontario resident missed Treasurer Charles Sousa’s budget yesterday. Not that we shunned his budget. The day involved 12 hours at the local hospital. Given a choice we would have preferred to be strapped down and forced to listen to Charles’ budget. Do not get all excited out there: it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Morning Line: Alberta 2015.
The May 7 provincial election in Alberta is something of a wake up call as Albertans shake themselves from the Tar Sands dream. It was probably the recent Prentice austerity budget more than anything else that told people that times are changing. There is no question but Albertans need to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The people wall is uncomfortable.
It is coming to a point where politicians will need to use videos of the right types of people behind them. It would certainly be better than the uncertainty of dragging in whoever is available to make up the backdrop for political announcements. It is the Prime Minister’s Office in
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