She might be a bit smaller in stature but foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland is head-over-heels ahead of a conservative predecessor John Baird. Baird was something of an embarrassment throughout his tenure during the Harper era. And if Freeland knew enough to stay away from Twitter, we could give her
Continue readingTag: World Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Trump’s Divide and Conquest.
It has been worrisome lately that Justin Trudeau was heading off on a track that would take him too far from the liberalism we shared with his father. It is therefore important to note that he has done something with which a liberal can easily concur. The younger Trudeau has
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Trumps do Europe this summer.
Donald Trump and his lovely wife Melania are doing Europe this summer. Distaining the very pedestrian bus tours, the Trumps are using Air Force One and helicopters to speed their European journey. God forbid that they should have to meet and communicate with any of the lower classes. It was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Catching the auto called Brexit.
Have you ever wondered what dogs do if they catch the car? It seems that dogs have fun chasing cars but they really have little idea what they might do with one if they ever catch it. We have an excellent example of the problem for you: it is called
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The threats of Trump’s thugs.
You would think you had heard it all. It is as though President Trump and his followers in the United States are proud of their ignorance. The other day, it was reliably reported that Trump appointees were threatening other countries over mothers’ milk. It seems they went to the World
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: From Teddy’s ‘Bully Pulpit.’
Trust President Donald Trump to get it wrong. He thinks of President Theodore Roosevelt’s White House ‘bully pulpit’ as a place to bully other world leaders. What Roosevelt saw as a great place from which to show strong leadership, Trump seems to think of it as a safe haven from
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Donald Trump’s play date with Kim Jong Un.
The American president plans to add to his infamy tomorrow as he meets with Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea. It seems incongruous for Donald Trump to be traveling about the world causing consternation and havoc wherever he goes. Will it take the North Korean dictator to show Trump
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It was not all about Trump.
The American president flew out of Canada’s Bagotville air base yesterday a disappointed egotist. He stopped by to impress the other world leaders and got the cold shoulder. Not even the stunning spring beauty of the Charlevois region of Quebec could rescue the frosty atmosphere of the G7 meeting. But
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump to be at Le Manoir Richelieu.
Despite being in danger from maddened beavers, American president Donald Trump says he is coming to gamble with the rich and famous of the world this weekend. The other six members of the G7 are not his friends and the old Manoir overlooking the St. Lawrence River is not to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Hoist a quaff to the Queen’s birthday.
After ignoring the royal wedding the other day in the United Kingdom, we should give proper homage to dear Queen Victoria. As you might know, it is her birthday today and many are celebrating the occasion. Frankly I am amazed by the numbers of people from all over the world
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Sunset for NAFTA?
Are Canada, Mexico and the United States of America even talking about the same thing? Is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) toast anyway? Does it really matter what the American negotiators propose? Lately they have been asking again for a sunset clause to the agreement. They want it
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A Commonwealth at bargain price.
Our prime minister Justin Trudeau has been in London this past week, pressing the flesh with the long-running Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth, as we usually call it is the fallout of the old British Commonwealth and is made up of former colonies and protectorates of times past when Great
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Waiting for Mr. Trump.
Is this the day Mr. Trump sends the world to war? We wait. We wonder. It might not be a good day to plan next year’s vacation. The man has his finger on the button. He makes jokes about it. Who else knows when he is just kidding? He exchanges
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ceding civility.
It is the same in every country. It is obvious that simple civility is missing in our politics. Whether elected or self-appointed, our politicos are turning nasty. We are even electing cretins who think the thing to do is revile rivals, turn on their own, reject diplomacy, dispatch pacts, and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Keep the Russians, Kick out the Yankees.
Public safety minister Ralph Goodale got some television coverage the other day. He was enjoying himself. He was being asked about the Russian spies being told to leave the country. In his usual enigmatic style Goodale was explaining that he could not say anything about what these spies were doing
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The failing Facebook fiasco.
After 14 years, Facebook is still just a teenager. It was early in its existence that, out of curiosity, I test drove the program, created a page with minimal information and studied the developing interaction. What annoyed me about the program was that, when tiring of the experiment, I was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump should not bully China.
U.S. President Donald Trump is a bully. That is how he negotiates his way through life. He bullies women for sex. As a developer, he bullied politicians for building rights. He bullies lawyers and courtiers, underlings and peers, wives and children, and lately, countries and their leaders. It is his
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: To be murdered in Mali.
Our government wants us to send some Canadians in harms way in Mali in West Africa. As the country with the highest mortality rate for peace keepers, we are not going to enjoy Mali. “Don’t worry” our defence minister tells us, “We are only going to send a few helicopters,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: There are some real royals.
It is too bad that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was too busy to meet with the King and Queen of Belgium when they were in Ottawa the other day. These are a somewhat different type of royal. They are useful. They are not just figureheads and dilettantes. The Belgian royals
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “What the world needs now…”
Got an interesting e-mail the other day from a fellow commentator on Canada’s left coast. He had an excellent suggestion on what Canada should do about the currently growing estrangement from a badly run United States of America. He sees it as an opportunity for an independent Canada to become
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