Wildrose has this one right
To say I rarely agree with the Wildrose Party would be an understatement. Yet they have recently stated a policy which I heartily support and have heartily supported for a…
Bill Longstaff
Canadian democracy—always good for a laugh
Headline: Conservative Joan Crockatt wins Calgary Centre by-election with 37 per cent of the vote. So … I will now have an MP most of my fellow constituents don’t want…
Here’s a headline I’d rather not see
Checking The Guardian on my morning round of news websites, I encountered the following headline: “Canada, the surprise “pariah” of the Kyoto protocol.” The subhead went on to add, “Some…
Sun suckers the rest of the media … again
As the NDP rapidly and somewhat surprisingly closed in on the Conservatives during the last federal election campaign, Sun Media dug deep into Jack Layton’s past to find something to…
Time to disestablish the Church of England
The Anglican Church, as the nation’s officially “established” church, has had a privileged position in England since the Act of Supremacy in 1534. It isn’t called the Church of England…
Why can’t we be more like Norway?
Canada and Norway are a lot alike. We are both prosperous, free-market democracies. But as Bruce Campbell points out in his series of articles in the CCPA Monitor, there are…
Federal environment minister joins the real world
When I worked in the oil industry many years ago, we used to refer to those politicians, academics, media people, etc. who didn’t fully appreciate our interests as not living…
The corporate counterrevolution rolls on
In the 1960s, a phrase was being bandied about that included the two words that most terrify corporate executives: consume less. A substantial number of people, particularly young people, were…
New leaders face challenge as U.S. and China mistrust grows
With Xi Jinping assuming leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, China and the United States have both now chosen their leaders for the near future. They both face considerable challenges,…
Climate predictions are getting better … and hotter
Arguably, the biggest winner on election night in the U.S. wasn’t Barack Obama, but the nerdy Nate Silver. Silver is of course the statistician who fed reams of polling data…
Is the U.S. right rigging elections?
After reading an article in the November 2012 issue of Harper’s (“How to Rig an Election” by Victoria Collier), I’m not as surprised that Barack Obama won the recent presidential…
Why does Britain have nuclear weapons?
There’s a lot of talk these days about the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Britain’s government is one of the voices adamant that it must not be allowed to…
The CBC—a very good deal
The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting recently sent me an email summarizing a few pertinent facts about the CBC, our national broadcaster and the only national medium not owned and controlled…
Sorry for Romney? Save some pity for Adelson.
If you think Mitt Romney lost big on Tuesday night, give a thought to poor old Sheldon Adelson. The casino mogul is one of those very rich Americans trying to…
Iran and Israel negotiating nukes—will common sense break out?
Officials from both Iran and Israel attended a nuclear non-proliferation meeting in Brussels this week. The intent of the meeting was to set the stage for a full international conference…
Work is making us crazy
In 1991, Linda Duxbury of Carleton University and Christopher Higgins of the University of Western Ontario conducted the first national study of work-life conflict in Canada to “explore how the…
An Allende returns to Chilean politics
Last Sunday, Maya Fernández Allende was elected mayor of Ñuñoa, a district of Chile’s capital, Santiago. Ms. Allende is a granddaughter of Salvador Allende, the Chilean president who died when…
In Iraq, as in Vietnam, the war never ends for the innocent
The Vietnam war officially ended almost 40 years ago, two generations in time, yet the sacrifice continues. The soldiers have all left the battlefield, but every year thousands of Vietnamese,…
The Canada-China investment treaty—why?
Having read the investment treaty that Prime Minister Harper negotiated with China last September, my concerns about it have not been alleviated. (Honestly, I actually did read it!) To begin…
Has Mr. Katz done Alberta democracy a favour?
Alberta has the laxest election funding rules in the country, rules designed to favour the rich. Toward the end of this spring’s election campaign, billionaire Daryl Katz nicely illustrated this…