How corrupt is Canada?
How corrupt is our country? Not very. But we can do better. According to Transparency International’s (TI) 2020 report, we are in eleventh place on their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).…
Bill Longstaff
Conflating capitalism and global warming is a mistake
Many on the left insist that dealing with global warming necessitates dealing with capitalism. Because the latter causes the former, they say, it is the root of the problem. Replacing…
The centennial of broken Liberal promises on PR
A recent newsletter from Fair Vote Canada reminded us that the Liberals have been promising proportional representation (PR) for 100 years. And not delivering. In 2021 we celebrate, if that’s…
Time to start paying Mother Nature back
I’ve long thought that the sensible approach to the global economy is obvious, if complex. We calculate what the Earth can sustainably provide in terms of natural resources, then we…
Trump and the definition of fascism
Is Donald Trump a fascist? He has been accused of being one, including by me in previous posts, but the left is inclined to label conservatives they particularly dislike as…
Albertans support net-zero by 2050, but …
A recent survey by Janet Brown Opinion Research, commissioned by the Pembina Institute, showed some encouraging attitudes of Albertans toward climate change. For example, two-thirds of those surveyed support the…
Is Joe up to the challenge?
The strongest emotion many people felt in response to the election of Joe Biden as president of the U.S. was relief. Relief not because Biden is the new president but…
Another Albertan’s reaction to President Biden’s climate announcements
When I read about U.S. President Biden’s first steps down the climate change path he intends to follow, I was delighted, primarily because of his stated intention to rejoin the…
Democracy and mass delusion
I have always been intrigued by people’s tendency to believe what they want to believe rather than what the facts are telling them, to believe what their innate biases desire…
Has Trump revived fascism in the Republican Party?
I am surprised and disappointed at those Republicans who support Trump to the point of rejecting the will of the American people and even democracy itself. The recent effort to…
A tale of two presidents and the rule of law
We can draw an interesting comparison between two politicians currently concerned that the long arm of the law may catch up to them upon leaving the sanctuary of the presidency.…
Use the war room to educate Albertans?
In December 2019, the Alberta government launched the Canadian Energy Centre. The new UCP government had fulfilled its election promise of an energy “war room” that would “fight fake news…
Conservatives and the working class
During the 2019 provincial election UCP leader Jason Kenney rambled about Alberta in a big blue pickup truck for all the world like a toiler in the oil fields. The…
Parsing Alberta’s oil industry
One could divide Alberta up in various ways. First, as in most provinces and elsewhere, there is town and country, the old story of liberal cities and socially conservative hinterlands.…
Conservatives and the elites
New Conservative chief, Erin O’Toole, has recently been singing a popular populist tune. He is greatly concerned about the “elites.” “These elites have only one set of values centred on…
Denmark throws down the gauntlet
Denmark has taken another important step in its shift to a green economy. Earlier this month, the Danish parliament agreed to cancel licenses for oil and gas drilling and phase…
Murdoch challenged
The most powerful man in the Anglosphere is, I submit, Rupert Murdoch, the world’s most influential media mogul. Yes, even more powerful than the president of the United States. Presidents…
What I learned from Trump
Up until four years ago I assumed that democracy was not only strong, it was invincible. At least in the Anglosphere. Why wouldn’t I? During my lifetime, democracy had survived…
Working less—one answer to COVID economics
As the pandemic continues to batter the economy and unemployment increases, it’s time to take yet another look at an approach to work that will maintain high employment while improving…
East trumps West in COVID fight
The biggest problems we face in the modern world, including the biggest one of all, global warming, are human problems, i.e. problems we must face as a species rather than…