It must depend on where you are in the food chain. Premier Jason Kenney of Alberta looks like he has never missed a dinner. To him, a little fiscal restraint is no big deal. When hundreds of protesters showed up at the united conservative party’s ‘love-in’ with Andrew Scheer last
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Running in place.
The serious jogger does it when blocked by traffic or a stoplight. It is called running in place because your legs keep moving but you are not moving forward. By keeping up the motion, the jogger is not cooling down or loosing that high of a good run. This is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario liberals are down but not out.
There are entirely too many media people who think that the Ontario liberals have been shut down. What they do not seem to understand is that a political party is like a very large animal when it has lost a fight. It does not surrender. It might go into a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Objectives other than winning.
Some people scratch their head and ask why someone will enter a political leadership race when there is little chance of winning? The truth is that there are different reasons and we have seen many of them over the years. Just the positioning of the person within the particular party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When you don’t trust your MPP.
To get this straight, you can be sure I never voted for this guy. Doug Downey MPP does not live in our Barrie riding. He has been the go-to guy for Ontario conservatives up in Severn Township in north Simcoe County. I expect, his appointment as candidate in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Day of the Blacksmith.
We might be just one of many commentators trying to fathom the actions of Alberta’s premier. The other day, the province’s main apologist, Gillian Steward, reported in the Toronto Star that premier Jason Kenney’s threats to take Alberta and run away from home were getting louder every day. What amuses
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Let’s get this show on the road?
As an Ontario liberal (a paid-up member), I am aware that there is a contest afoot to select a new Ontario party leader. And I hear that only those paid up by December 2, 2019 will be eligible to be elected to go to that easily corrupted delegated-convention in Toronto
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Regrets, I’ve had a few…
That is not contrition. When Frank Sinatra sang Paul Anka’s song My Way, he said those regrets were too few to mention. The listener is left wondering what is left untold that he does not mention. It is the same as Ontario premier Doug Ford’s crushing changes to the province’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ‘Goddamn the CPR.’
Can you imagine two more Canadian icons than journalist Allan Fotheringham and the Canadian Pacific Railway? It came as a pleasant surprise recently to see a television interview with ‘Doc Foth.’ He was as sardonic as ever. I have always admired Fotheringham for his writing skills and his humour. In
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Democracy costs $500?
For the past 60 years, we have watched Canadian politics spiral into a quagmire of failed ideologies and failed leadership. We continue the pattern by choosing leaders by old methods that are easily corrupted, that fail the voting public and fail our political parties. The planned contest for the leadership
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A “Values Test” for Quebecers.
The Quebec National Assembly seems to be constantly against immigration. Combined with the ill-disguised bigotry behind the Bill 21 restrictions on the wearing of religious symbols, it is sending a message to many potential immigrants that they are not wanted. The entire charade holds economic consequences that are little needed
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Pot foils police and politicos.
After a full year of government legalized and regulated marijuana sales, nobody is making money other than the criminal element that has been in the business all along. These people know their market, look after their market and have no problem with undercutting government pricing. What the police and politicos,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Taking the road to totalitarianism.
It is in Fortress Alberta that Jason Kenney did declare that his propaganda machine will be removed from all controls. What started as a so-called war room will now be known as the Alberta Energy Communications Centre and based in Calgary. Nobody has said whether this new entity will replace
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Our MPP is heard from.
It seems that the member of the Ontario legislature for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte does visit Barrie occasionally, usually while on his way to or from his home up in Severn Township. Recently, Doug Downey M.P.P. even held a news conference in Barrie to discuss the problem of what he calls ‘Catch and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: From Rae Days to Ford Years.
It does seem odd to think of current conservative premier of Ontario Doug Ford and former NDP premier Bob Rae at the same time. The other day Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star tried to compare the two in an opinion piece. He failed. The reasons that Bob Rae failed
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When Dougie can’t recant again.
There is a growing problem for the Ontario conservative government at Queen’s Park. Occasionally, the government realizes it made a boo-boo. Frankly, it has had a lot of opportunity for this in the last year but, only occasionally, the cabinet will have what might be referred to as a “Come
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Sex comes back to Ontario.
After supporting the religious right in denouncing the recent revision to the sex curriculum in Ontario schools, the Ford regime introduced a version suspiciously similar to the previous liberal version. After juggling a few of the grades when certain subjects were taught and adding a few non-sexual topics, we found
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Jason Kenney: Alpha Male?
When Gillian Steward from Calgary wrote in the Toronto Star recently about Alberta’s Jason Kenney being the federal conservative alpha male, it had to be another example of her wonderful sense of humour. Quite frankly, by no definition, that I can think of, can you consider Kenney an alpha male.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Big Brother baffles business.
Ontario premier Doug Ford claims he is really just a businessman. Prior to becoming premier, his only claim to fame was his second banana role for his late brother when Rob Ford was mayor of Toronto. Before that Doug was just a salesman for his father’s label printing company. Where
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Waiting for Doug Ford.
C’mon Dougie, Let’s see some action here in Ontario. You talked the talk. You walked the walk. Now, when do we see some action? A populist makes promises and people expect things to happen. We were promised beer in the corner convenience stores. Make it so! You might not have
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