Tried and found wanting.
If there was a God, would He not be looking down on us today in dismay. Would He be pleased with the state we are in? Would He be pleased…
Peter Lowry
Cabinet shuffle or spring cleaning?
Canada’s Inuit used to have a traditional remedy for aging that involved putting the elderly on ice flows and waving goodbye. The Ontario Cabinet showed us the modern approach the…
At least Ontario’s Wynne has a plan!
While many are willing to criticize Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, she does have an ‘Action Plan’ to do something about climate change. And, yes, it is easy to criticize. The…
The braggadocio of the blogger!
That is one way to describe it. There is a hollowness in the endeavour. It is not just a hobby or an interesting way to waste away a few hours…
Vote Reform Primer: Preferential.
The following is a new primer as we did not consider preferential voting a factor in the Democracy Papers of 2007. This is the third of the updated series. Preferential…
He wanted an independent Senate; he got it.
We told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that this independent Senate of his would bite him on the ass. And it happened sooner than anyone expected. But to make the point…
Trump: Fascist or Populist?
Mia culpa. It must be the arrogance of a commentator that afflicted us. We wrote a casual commentary about populist politicians and thought nothing of it. At least until we…
What’s with bicycles in Toronto?
We always agreed with the healthy aspects of cycling and never thought much about bike lanes on city streets. That was until city council’s passion for cycling got carried away.…
Coming to grips with Ontario health care.
This commentator has never been a big fan of Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins. Being a medical doctor has never been a criterion for the job. Although being ruthless helps.…
Vote Reform Primer: Proportional.
The following is an up-dated version of the discussion on proportional voting in the Democracy Papers of 2007. This is the second of the series. There is no denying that…
Politicians are just like us.
Maybe it is because they are never a hero to their valets that we have never been overly impressed with politicians. As a publicist and confidante to many politicians over…
Fool some people some of the time.
You sometimes wonder what ‘progressive’ means. Babel-on-the-Bay is included in a collection of blogs by progressive Canadian writers. We have come to the conclusion that is a very broad description…
Vote Reform Primer: Back to Basics.
The following is an up-dated version of the discussion on first-past-the-post voting in the Democracy Papers of 2007. We will be running a series of these primers over the next…
When the wheels fell off for Wynne.
With the current slump in the fortunes of Ontario’s Liberal government, Premier Kathleen Wynne has an uphill climb for the last two years of her mandate. Her problem is that…
Minister Monsef, hurrying to do nothing.
It looks like someone in the Trudeau cabinet came to the aid of the party and exerted some influence on the vote reform file. It is not that the Minister…
Bill Blair, won’t you please come home?
We never have been able to find Bill Blair when we needed him. Back when Bill was Toronto Police Chief in 2010, he was nowhere to be found when his…
“This is Justin Trudeau’s Party.”
Those were the wrap-up words from Toronto Star reporter Susan Delacourt from the Winnipeg Liberal convention to Global reporter Tom Clark whose weekly show was originating in Vancouver at the…
The Liberal Party is not computer competent yet.
Before you think the writer is a computer Luddite, it should be mentioned that we spent a lengthy business career explaining computers and computer software through the media. Our last…
Selling Mr. Brown to Ontario.
Early in a career as a political advisor, we were on the way to a meeting about a new candidate when we bumped into another, much more experienced apparatchik, on…
Trudeau misspending his capital.
In Winnipeg this weekend, Justin Trudeau is misspending his capital with liberals and the Liberal Party. Mind you, he fully deserves the plaudits for his remarkable determination that took his…