"We need a carbon tax"—oil company CEO
MEG Energy Corp. is a Canadian oil company focused on in situ tar sands production. Its CEO, Derek Evans, claims the company intends to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The…
Bill Longstaff
Trust in science falls—due to global warming?
Greta Thunberg made a statement to the U.S. Congress the other day that, like most of what she says, was simple, profound and obvious at the same time. Simple (only…
Is Universal Suffrage Logical? Is it Moral?
Not everyone is a fan of democracy. Other than those who outright prefer dictatorship of one kind or another, some critics simply don’t trust all citizens having equal power over…
Media waking up on climate crisis
I have long been puzzled why the growing climate crisis has not been better covered in the media. For the greatest threat facing humanity it seemed to get few column…
It will be lonely when the birds are gone
I live deep in the city yet I enjoy visits from a number of our feathered friends. In the winter I am occasionally honoured by the visit of a wee…
"For ’tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard"
Accusing Justin Trudeau of being racist is ridiculous. This is a prime minister who formed the most ethnically diverse cabinet in history, welcomed 40,000 Syrian refugees, condemned a proposed niqab…
My Relulctant Strategic Vote
Here’s an irony. I’m forced to vote Liberal (again) because Justin Trudeau betrayed me. No, it doesn’t make any sense and, furthermore, it pisses me off. But that’s just the…
The ghost of Bible Bill Haunts us still
In the late ’30s and early ’40s Alberta’s premier was the colourful William Aberhart, known as “Bible Bill” for his bible studies classes and radio sermons. Founder of the Social…
Inhabiting the Radical Middle
While I take an active interest in politics, and have always been a member of a political party (sometimes two), I no longer get directly involved in election campaigns. My…
Ed Whittingham seeks energy/environment middle ground
Alberta lives with two conflicting facts: first, humanity is faced with its greatest crisis ever—global warming—caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels; and second, humanity will have to rely…
Are U.S. capitalists going soft?
The aristocracy of American capitalism can be found on the membership list of the Business Roundtable. The Roundtable, one of Washington’s top lobbyists, includes among its 193 members the chief…
I Vote CBC
Well informed citizens are essential to a healthy democracy. In ancient Athens, usually considered the first democracy, citizens who wanted to hear the latest news and views went down to…
Too Big to Fail—A Sound Idea?
So the Ethics Commissioner has slapped the Prime Minister’s wrist, stating in his report I found that Mr. Trudeau used his position of authority over Ms. Wilson‑Raybould to seek to…
Trump/Netanyahu vs. Omar/Tlaib
Why are these two so frightening to these two?
Please, No Excuses for Maduro
In the early days after the Russian revolution, leftists would visit the country in order to view this experiment in collectivist society. They would be welcomed, given the grand tour…
Waeza Shamsia Afzal, U.S. Evangelicals, and the corruption of dogma
Reading about the courageous young Canadian woman Waeza Shamsia Afzal carried my thoughts to American evangelical Christians and their worship of Donald Trump. The connection is religion. Ms. Afzal is…
The state, not the private sector, invented the modern economy
I read an article in The Economist a while ago that insisted the state should constrain itself to providing basic services and otherwise stay out of the economy. That is,…
The surreallity of life in Alberta
Living in Alberta, I sometimes get the feeling I live in a place shifted a few degrees off centre from reality. For example, in the real world we are faced…
Trump is no Substitute for Unions
The major reason Donald Trump was elected to the job he is manifestly unfit for was his appeal to electors in the Rust Belt states. These states had seen a…
Is Andrew Scheer in the closet about Quebec sovereignty?
Not being a conservative, I disagree with most of Andrew Scheer’s pronouncements, but they rarely surprise me. One, however, surprised me very much. Indeed, I was surprised that any Anglophone…