For an insightful analysis of the choices facing both Andrea Horwath and Dalton McGuinty as they negotiate over changes to the Ontario budget that will win the support of the NDP, check out Martin Regg Cohn’s piece in today’s Star. As he points out, there is considerable risk for both,
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Politics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom on Fair Taxation
Long a taboo subject, increasing tax rates for the wealthy is back on the agenda, in no small part due to the Occupy Movement and, more recently, Andrea Horwath. In today’s Star, Thomas Walkom presents an interesting perspective on the issue. You can click here to read it. Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Corruption and Political Disengagement
Last night I had a long telephone conversation with my good friend Dave, who lives in Winnipeg. Like me (and probably more so), Dave has a keenly developed sense of justice and fair play, and when those values are violated, he is outraged. Last evening, as he was telling me
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Appreciation of Small Pleasures
In this life, filled as it is with so many vicissitudes, I firmly believe that we have to enjoy small pockets of pleasure that come our way, whether it is a sumny day, a walk in nature, a good book or, in this case, the return of David MacFarlane to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Remaking of Canada in the Neo-Conservative Image
In the world of unfettered capitalism, everything has a price and nothing is sacred. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the neocon knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. I was reminded of that this morning as I read Christopher Hume’s latest column in the Star entitled The great
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Where Do Justice and Morality Reside?
On this Easter Sunday, when many turn their thoughts from the secular to the sacred, it is perhaps a propitious time to remember that the elusive goals of justice and morality, so often seemingly absent from the world, can and must be pursued, however imperfectly, only by those living in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Andrea Horwath’s Dance With Dalton
While I continue to remain dubious of what will happen when the Ontario Legislature votes on Dalton McGuinty’s budget, I give the leader of the Ontario NDP, Andrea Horwath, top marks for what she says are her demands for NDP support. It is, however, interesting to note how her plan,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom’s Budget Analysis
Earlier today I wrote a post congratulating The Toronto Star for its journalistic integrity and the crucial role it plays in helping to keep citizens informed of the important issues affecting our country. Columnist Thomas Walkom, who epitomizes that integrity, has written his analysis of the federal budget, reminding us
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Congratulations to The Toronto Star
Since jettisoning my subscription to The Globe and Mail, the self-proclaimed ‘newspaper of record,’ and replacing it with one to The Toronto Star, I have been consistently impressed with both the scope and breadth of the latter’s coverage, coverage that has resulted in many important investigations and changes. I was
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Shelagh Gordon’s Influence Lives On
Shelagh Gordon, the woman recently profiled in The Star after her sudden death at the age of 55, continues to exert a pull on the thousands of readers who were touched by the story of a life so well-lived. The Star’s Catherine Porter has written a followup that deserves to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Did You Expect?
Our capacity as a species for delusional thinking and rationalization seems to have few limits, our sad record on climate change and our cheering on of oppressive and anti-democratic government measures when our convenience is at stake but two examples. In today’s Star, Heather Mallick, with whom I frequently lose
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Tale of Two Newspapers
The Globe and Mail and its sundry propagandists (excepting the principled Lawrence Martin, of course) continue their Sisyphean task of defending the indefensible by issuing almost daily dismissals both of the seriousness of the voter suppression crimes and of those who see those crimes as part of the pattern of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Salutin On Happiness
Our self-absorbed society could do worse than read Rick Salutin’s thoughts on the pursuit of happiness found in today’s Star. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Do Stephen Harper and Rob Ford Have In Common?
Both, it seems, have a constitutional aversion to being honest with the people they purport to represent. Click here for a story on Harper’s folly (i.e., the F-35 fairy tale Haper Inc. is fond of spinning to benighted voters) and here for how Toronto Mayor Rob Ford tried to bury
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Unions and Organizational Decay
As indicated in a post written last Sptember, I wholehearted support unions as the best path of resistance to the depredations inflicted by practitioners of unfettered capitalism. That support, however, doesn’t mean that I ignore or accept the malfeasance and lack of true representative democracy frequently found in mature union
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sunday Insight From A Star Reader
I’m reproducing another insightful letter from a Star reader, this time from Edward Carson of Toronto, who writes about how ideology reigns supreme over reality in the Harper government: The Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda through Bill C-10 is a policy and fiscal disaster in the making. A government
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Salutin on The Decline of Deference to Authority
As is so frequently the case, The Star’s Rick Salutin has written a thoughtful and original piece, this time on some of the factors involved in our increasingly dynamic resistance to traditional sources of authority. Thanks to the arrogance of the financial world, even after receiving massive taxpayer bailouts for
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Star and Its Readers
If the Harper government keeps an ‘enemies list‘, which, quite frankly, I have little doubt that it does, given its infernal embrace of ‘values’ that are repellent to Canadians who believe in fairness, ethics, justice, and the rule of law, high on its list must be The Toronto Star and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Soul of the Nation
Last April, as part of a larger post, I write the following about the pernicious effects of bad political leadership: If we consider, for example, the widespread cynicism and disengagement gripping people today, we are witnessing the effects of bad leadership. When people are manipulated by the politics of fear,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Salutin Skewers the Mythology of the NDP and CBC’s Leftishness
My favorite columnist, Rick Salutin, has a brief video on The Star website in which he asserts that the NDP and the CBC are no more leftist than Rex Murphy, Kevin O’Leary, or Don Cherry. You can watch it here. Recommend this Post
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