Pearson’s Despair
Like Chris Hedges, Michael Harris speaks truth to power. Today he takes on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians -- and the Harper government's Middle East policy:Question for Stephen…
Owen Gray
Something Stupid
Tom Walkom writes, in this morning's Toronto Star, that Stephen Harper is a victim of his own success. That was the reason he and Jim Flaherty were sending mixed messages…
Corporate Rule
Frances Russell lays bare what is really going on behind the Harper government's trade agenda:Their real purpose is to repeal democracy, to elevate investor/corporate rights over the democratic will of…
Twinkie Nostagia
The demise of the Twinkie, Paul Krugman writes, has unleashed a wave of nostalgia for the 1950's -- a world many conservatives think of as a Golden Age. But, Krugman…
Liberalism In Crisis
As the Liberal leadership races heat up -- in both Ottawa and Ontario -- those who consider themselves liberals should read what Chris Hedges wrote following the American election:The ineffectiveness…
A Striking Universe
That's the title of a recent paper by Jordan Brennan of George Brown College. Tom Walkom writes in today's Toronto Star that:Brennan’s paper is a critique not only of the…
Harpering
All politicians can be bullies. But Stephen Harper has perfected the art. In fact, Michael Harris writes, he's been so good at it that Harper's band of bullying deserves its…
Incorrigible Romney
Last week, Garry Wills -- who has made a career of evaluating America's presidents and would be presidents -- asked in the New York Review of Books:What lessons will Romney…
The Great Contradiction
Tom Walkom takes some consolation from the fact that yesterday Jim Flaherty said the government was willing to spend some money to give the economy a boast. But, Walkom writes…
A Matter Of Trust
"Trust -- or the lack of it --" Tasha Kheiridden writes, "can make or break a political career." She then goes on to list three politicians who lost the public's…
Pay Now Or Pay Later
The devastation which Hurricane Sandy visited on the American east coast has generated a lot of attention. So did Hurricane Katrina. But neither storm appears to have spurred legislators into…
Steve and Mitt
Haroon Siddiqui, in this morning's Toronto Star, points to the similarities between Stephen Harper and Mitt Romney -- who was rejected by 51% of American voters last week. Harper was…
Armchair Warriors
For Stephen Harper's Conservatives, war is a big deal -- as long as it generates good ad copy. This government is spending $28 million to commemorate a war that happened…
It’s About Time Somebody Said It
Readers of this space will know I believe that our present political masters have abandoned the next generation. They say they don't want to saddle the young with impossible debts.…
Going To The Same Place
Lawrence Martin writes this morning that, on Tuesday, the Neanderthals in the Republican Party were given their walking papers. And he suggests that Republicans should look to Canadian Conservatives as…
On The Ground
Barack Obama has learned a lot in the last four years. During the first two years of his presidency, many of his supporters grumbled that he didn't understand who he…
The Rot Won’t Go Away
The Conservatives have tried very hard to bury the information around their 2011 election campaign. But the rot keeps bubbling to the surface. Last week, Elections Canada revealed that Intergovernmental…
It’s No Longer a Gap, It’s a Chasm
Carol Goar, in today’s Toronto Star, writes that two recent reports highlight the new solitudes in Canadian society. One report comes from the Toronto Dominion Bank, the other from Food…
Romneyism
Mitt Romney has been the ultimate political chameleon. He has reversed every significant political position he held when he was Governor of Massachusetts. But, Robert Reich writes, there is a…
Susan Riley
Yesterday, Susan Riley published her last column for the Ottawa Citizen; and, in bidding her readers farewell, she revealed a secret: I am not a Liberal, closeted or otherwise, and…