Not With A Bang But A Whimper
It’s beginning to look like electoral reform is dead in the water. In the end, Chantal Hebert writes, our political parties could not rise above partisan self interest: The Conservatives…
Owen Gray
The Post Truth Era
Several commentators have suggested that the ascension of Donald Trump marks the beginning of the Post Truth Era. George Monbiot writes that, in fact, we have been living in the…
Californians Know A Con Job When They See One
Around the world, Neo-liberalism is triumphant — but not everywhere. Robert Reich writes that, in the recent American election, California — which used to be a pilot project for Milton…
We May Be Cooked
Surveying what has been happening in Europe and the United States, Jonathan Manthorpe asks, “Is Liberalism dying out?” He writes: Only in Canada (and Portugal) does the seemingly archaic and…
He’s Beginning To Stumble
Lawrence Martin writes in today’s Globe that Justin Trudeau is beginning to falter. First, there was the sound and fury over Castro — although much of the noise was the…
Playing The Victim
The present crop of conservatives are a strange lot. They are, Scott Reid writes, nothing like their predecessors: Conservatives used to campaign on rugged individualism and the projection of strength.…
Fools That We Are
These days, when it comes to public discourse, nuance is nowhere to be found. Michael Harris writes: There is no public discourse, just an ongoing screed between those fighting for…
More Black Days In July
It’s been almost half a century since the assassination of Martin Luther King and the urban infernos that followed his death. That’s two generations, and many people have no memory…
Calling The Kettle Black
We live in the Age of Misplaced Faith. A stunning example of what this means for ordinary people is CETA — the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. Murray Dobbin writes:…
It’s Later Than We Think
The news on climate change is not good — and it’s getting worse. The mainstream media are beginning to get the message. Ole Hendrickson writes: The headline of a recent…
Another One
Crawford Killian voices the frustration that many of us who spent our lives in the classroom feel in the wake of the American election: As a lifelong teacher, this really…
Which Number?
We live in a digital age — a time when numbers are everywhere. One number — we’ve labelled it GDP — has taken on a mystical quality. It has become…
Can They Do It Without Him?
When George W. Bush was elected president, he withdrew the United States from the Kyoto Protocol. Canada followed suit. Now, sixteen years later, Donald Trump vows to withdraw the United…
A Tall Order
It’s tempting, after Donald Trump’s election, to think magically. If you’re an evangelical, why worry about climate change if you’re convinced that The Rapture is just around the corner? And,…
A Lie People Choose To Believe
Mark Zukerberg is embarrassed. Facebook is getting to be known as the Home of the Whopper. John Naughton writes that critics of the last election are focusing on social media:…
He’s Henry VIII
Roger Cohen has a pretty good handle on Donald Trump. He wrote in the New York Times this week that: It all began as a game, turned into an ego…
The Ball Is In The Government’s Court
The NDP has come out in favour of holding a referendum on electoral reform. Given the recent history of such efforts — Brexit and the American election — we’re getting…
Now So More Than Ever
Canadians would be foolish to ignore the ill wind that is blowing from the south. Rather than ignoring it, Clare Boychuk and Mark Dance suggest that Canadians should push back…
Stupidity Squared
Television made Donald Trump. Television elected him. In retrospect, Neil Postman’s critique of the medium makes Trump’s rise seem almost inevitable. In Amusing Ourselves To Death, Postman argued that the…
Hayek In Full Fruition
Donald Trump has admitted that he doesn’t read much. Instead, he pays attention to” the shows.” However, there is one book — even though he’s probably never read it —…