Capitalism—an irrational system in an age of climate change
Capitalism is generally recognized as having one great strength. That, of course, is as a creator of wealth. Aided by the remarkable advance of technology (some would say inspired and…
Bill Longstaff
Mr. Harper’s pilgimage to Israel—more Canterbury Tales than trade mission
Trade missions have always been questionable vehicles for boosting the Canadian economy. Nonetheless, some can be justified by, if nothing else, the trade potential of the host country. For example,…
Our 150th birthday bash … all about war
If there was any remaining doubt that the Conservative government has a militaristic view of history, check out Canada 150, the website for Canada’s 150th anniversary. Note that the only…
Religious persecution on the rise
The Pew Research Center recently published a study of religious persecution over the period 2007-12 and the results aren’t pretty. Of 198 countries and territories included in the study, 29…
World Economic Forum backs the Pope on economic inequality
Every year the World Economic Forum hosts a confab of the world’s elite at the Swiss resort of Davos to discuss the state of the world. The Forum is funded…
The Conservatives turn on PR
It’s not that all Conservatives are opposed to proportional representation. Senator Hugh Segal is onside and Conservative MPs Peter Braid, Stephen Woodworth and Scott Reid have presented Fair Vote Canada…
The tar sands—our climate change nemesis
While Neil Young very publicly feuds with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and its ally the Canadian government, tar sands production continues to systematically advance Alberta’s position as the…
Is Harper Americanizing our Supreme Court?
When I first heard about Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati’s challenge of the federal government’s appointment of Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court, I had little interest, thinking this was…
The folly of aping U.S. emissions policy
Our federal government’s policy on greenhouse gas emissions is simple: whatever the United States’ policy on greenhouse gas emissions is. And that means a target of reducing emissions by 17…
Iraq—an Al-Qaeda playground
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The U.S. and its coalition of the willing invaded Iraq with the justification that it had weapons of mass destruction and Saddam was…
The Americans love us
Everyone likes to be liked and, boy, do our southern neighbours like us. A recent Pew Research Center survey reveals that of all the countries in the world, we are…
Afghanistan—the mother of all unpopular wars
There are unpopular wars, and then there are really, really unpopular wars. The Afghan war falls overwhelmingly into the latter category. According to a CNN/ORC International survey released this week,…
My persons of 2013
If Time Magazine can choose a person of the year, I can choose two: a man and a woman. The woman, of course, is Malala Yousafzai, the courageous young Pakistani…
Christmas? I do Xmas
One of the traditions of the holiday season is lamenting about the corruption of Christmas by commercialization or by foreign cultures that have invaded our pristine Christian shores. I have…
Rebuilding the American middle class
When you consider that the United States is the richest country in the world, the state of its working class is shocking. The country now has the highest proportion of…
Producing the wrong oil?
The Joint Review Panel has ruled on the viability of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and the result is as expected. The panel, established by the National Energy Board and…
Canadians becoming downright peaceable
Stats Can has released Canada’s crime statistics for 2012 and the country continues to look increasingly like the peaceable kingdom. Crime overall continued the decline it began in 1992, with…
Germany’s Grand Coalition—a lesson for Canada?
Germany now has a government that represents a solid majority of the German people. With three-quarters of Social Democrat party members voting to join a coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian…
Alberta creates a Minister of Renewable Energy
Occasionally a spark of hope interrupts the dreary flow of environmental news. Such a spark occurred in Alberta last week with the announcement by Premier Redford that Donna Kennedy-Glans would…