Christian Editor Disses Trump
Donald Trump may have evangelical Christians wrapped around his tiny finger, but at least one of note has expressed a dissenting view. Editor in chief Mark Galli of the magazine…
Bill Longstaff
Are Albertans Regretting Their Decision?
Jason Kenney and his UCP won a convincing victory in Alberta’s April election, winning 55 percent of the popular vote, impressive in a country where 40 percent often gains a…
Is the Democratic World Losing India?
India has been a jewel in the crown of democracy ever since it achieved independence in 1947. Despite mass poverty, religious and caste violence, insurgencies, separatism in Jammu and Kashmir,…
Time Recognizes the Adult in the Room
What a time we live in when children have to tell adults to behave responsibly. But such times these are. Consider Greta Thunberg and Donald Trump. Which, we might ask,…
Is This the Line in the Sand?
Crunch time. How far will Trudeau go to placate Alberta? Premier Kenney may just have drawn the line in the sand. He has said that the federal government faces a…
Reality is Confirmed
Reality is essentially what science tells us it is. Everything else is speculation. About the worst story about reality that science has been telling us lately is that we are…
OPEC Rides to the Rescue
Although Albertans have always thought of their enviable wealth resulting from entrepreneurship, hard work and the free market, that isn’t quite the case. We are an entrepreneurial place and we…
Is Kenney Costing Alberta Investment and Jobs?
Calgary Economic Development CEO Mary Moran reported recently that a tech company that had considered setting up its head office in Calgary had changed it mind. The reason? Talk of…
Trudeau Dumps Democracy Portfolio
Looking over the Prime Minister’s new cabinet, one portfolio that stood out because of its absence was Minister of Democratic Institutions. This is, or was, a portfolio with something of…
Kudos to Carney (and Good Luck!)
Mark Carney is a banker par excellence, a Canadian boy who made the big time. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and is…
We Spend More Than Enough on Our Military
Once again the Americans are leaning on us to spend more on our military. The new U.S. national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, insists it is an “urgent priority” that American…
The Quality and the Rabble in American Government
The health of democracy, indeed government generally, often rests more with the quality of a country’s civil servants than with the quality of its politicians and their associates. Rarely have…
Hong Kong Has Spoken
Hong Kong has spoken, indeed has shouted, and it has shouted “democracy” loud and clear. Pro-democracy candidates secured almost 90 percent of district council seats in Sunday’s election, taking control…
Evangelicals and Their Populist Prophets
Christian evangelicals are having good innings in the political sphere these days. First, their man Donald Trump becomes president of the U.S.; then another of their populist heroes, Jair Bolsonaro,…
Alberta—the Old South in the Cold North
Reading the book All God’s Children, I encountered a section about the relationship of the American South to the Union just prior to the Civil War. As I read on,…
Big Bump for PR (take note Mr. Trudeau)
Has this election awakened Canadians to the need for proportional representation? The results of a recent Angus Reid poll certainly suggest so. From the support of under half the electorate…
Trump and Israel—So Much for Separation of Church and State
The Trump administration has taken yet another step in its radical support of Israel. Having recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, cut off…
The Extraordinary Arrogance of "Kamikaze" Kenney
Lorne Gibson, Alberta’s elections commissioner, has had his differences with the province’s Conservatives. In 2009, he was Alberta’s chief electoral officer and, unhappy with the 2008 election, he recommended 182…
"Alberta is in danger of becoming the Don Cherry of Canadian politics."
Nothing quite like a good one-liner. Wisdom in a few words. And Graham Thomson, one of the better columnists writing about Alberta politics, started my day off with a beauty…
Would It Help To Dump Alberta?
The G20’s Climate Transparency group issued its annual report this week grading all member countries on their climate performance and found them all wanting. The report said only about half…