Are Canadians Conservatives?
Stephen Harper likes to say that Conservative values are Canadian values. Lawrence Martin, however, calls that assertion into question. Recent polls which indicate that we would overwhelmingly vote for Barack…
Owen Gray
Canada’s CEO
Mike Harris once famously referred to his job as being the province’s CEO. Stephen Harper, Frances Russell writes, sees his job as being the nation’s CEO. Under Harper, Canada is…
Perverse Politics
Mitt Romney’s supporters are engaging in the same kind of perverse politics which the Romney campaign has practiced. Two days ago, David Brooks suggested that there was an upside to…
Quo Vadis, Mr. Hudak?
With Ontario’s Liberals in disarray, Martin Regg Cohn speculates in this morning’s Toronto Star about what the province would look like under Tim Hudak: Hudak still clings to panaceas: Unspecified…
Not Their Finest Hour
After the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on Etobicoke Centre last week, some commentators applauded the decision as a reaffirmation of Canadians’ right to vote. But Michael Harris points to the…
Honey, I Abandoned The Kids
Judith Maxwell, former chair of the Economic Council of Canada, tells the Globe and Mail: “People over their forties in Canada have no idea what it’s like for a young…
What Happened To The "Reform" Party?
The day after the Harper government announced it was limiting debate on its second omnibus budget bill, Michael Den Tandt wrote in The National Post: Conservative MPs would like to…
Standing Athwart History
For those of us who live outside the United States, the angry divide there is profoundly puzzling. There are, indeed, two philosophies of government at stake in this election. But…
A Vote For Plutocracy
In a split decision, the Supreme Court today upheld Ted Opitz’ win in Etobicoke Centre. The court reinstated 59 of the 79 votes that Justice Thomas Lederer threw out, reasoning…
A Culture Of Fear
The Harper government came to power baying about government accountability. To ensure that accountability they established the Parliamentary Budget Office and hired Kevin Page to keep tabs on government spending.…
The Unexamined Treaty
Lawrence Martin writes in The Globe and Mail that Canada will soon sign a trade agreement which the Harper government has kept completely under wraps. And unlike NAFTA — which…
George McGovern
How do you take the measure of a man’s life? By the standard usually applied to George McGovern, he was one of America’s biggest losers. After all, in 1972, he…
A Sympton of Cowardice
Some commentators such as Jeffrey Simpson have praised Dalton McGuinty for leaving politics at a time of his choosing, on terms of his choosing. But there are others — even…
Conscience and Credibility
Amid the cynical furor of Canadian politics, Andrew Coyne singles out four people — three men and one woman — who have credibility because they are guided by conscience, not…
Hispanic Isn’t Spanish For Stupid
Tim Harper reminds his readers this morning that, south of the border, the Hispanic population has exploded. The community: has grown 43 per cent over the past decade, and will…
Heading For The Exit
Very few politicians have the good sense to quit while they’re ahead. And so it was with Dalton McGunity. Perhaps he figured he would go down to defeat in the…
Rebalancing The Economy
The Globe and Mail reports that former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge suggests that the bitumen from the Tar Sands be routed to Eastern Canada. Because energy is the…
No There There
In his review of Thursday night’s debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, Hendrick Hertzberg — in The New Yorker — draws his readers’ attention to the following exchange between…
A Lost Generation
While the Harper government touts its record for job creation, it never mentions youth unemployment. That’s because it focuses on its core constituency — baby boomers, like me, who have…