Harper goes “quietly into the night.”
That line from Shakespeare’s Henry V is a haunting phrase that can give deep meaning to a legacy. The only problem for Canada’s failed and former Prime Minister Stephen Harper…
Peter Lowry
A Richler’s epiphany on Toronto.
In a somewhat rambling op-ed for the Toronto Star the other day, Noah Richler tells us of his experience as a sacrificial lamb (candidate) for the New Democrats last year.…
Experience needed to do a Morning Line.
Just like the racing experts who produce a morning line for the day’s racing card, a morning line for a political race requires considerable experience. And nobody would be so…
Bumper sticker solutions still work.
A fellow progressive once accused Babel-on-the-Bay of using bumper sticker solutions. What he did not realize is that the era of the bumper sticker is long gone. Maybe he had…
An appropriate salute to Queen Victoria.
The following is a repeat of our 2013 salute to Queen Victoria. Nothing has changed. Enjoy your long weekend. Happy birthday Your Majesty! As children in Ontario, we used to…
My Green is greener than your Green.
You sometimes get the impression from Canada’s Green Party candidates that they want us to keep them as pets. They are too nice and they are always trying to prove…
A line in the tar sand for Trudeau.
The ball is in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s court. A three-person panel of the Calgary-based National Energy Board has approved twinning the American-owned Kinder Morgan pipeline. The board panel has…
Taking the measure of Minister Monsef.
Last we heard, the former MP from Maryam Monsef’s Peterborough electoral district was still arguing over the length of his prison sentence. Former MP Dean Del Mastro, having failed to…
Politics is for the rich in Ontario.
It seems the Ontario Liberals want to keep politics in Ontario as a rich person’s game. After all, how many of us can come up with as much as $7,750…
Welcome to our revolution.
Canadians seem to range from raging lassitude to constrained ennui. It is hard to get them excited or motivated over more than a hockey game. It is not that they…
Overwhelming ennui on democratic reform.
Democratic Reform Minister Maryam Monsef must feel like Cinderella—left behind while everyone else goes to the ball. And here she was under the impression that the Prime Minister was asking…
Trudeau doesn’t know democracy.
One of the promises Justin Trudeau made to Canadian Liberals before becoming Liberal leader was that he would restore democracy in the party. He lied. He is now asking us…
Without it, how do you reform democracy?
Minister Maryam Monsef has been heard from. The maybe minister of democratic institutions has announced a committee of MPs will spend their summer studying changes to Canada’s election system. What…
Dumping on The Donald, does no damage.
It was not until finding out that American bikers love Donald Trump that we think we have come to grips with his appeal. This guy feeds on negative vibes. He…
Empathy for Alberta doesn’t include bitumen.
Having fought forest fires as a young man in our Canadian military, we well understood the serious concerns for life and property recently in northern Alberta. The rapidly shifting winds…
We can also vote for stagnation.
Sometimes humans argue just for the sake of a good argument. It keeps us alive and alert. A friend in Barrie, for example, loves to argue in favour of proportional…
Trapped in terminal technology.
We have seen it many times over the years. It is government funded attempts at trying to take quantum leaps in technology with computer equipment. It is usually just a…
The Tory’s terribly trying times.
It is hardly the best of times for Canada’s Conservatives. Their former leader has gone on to his reward: oblivion. Oh sure, the Hair is still around but he is…
Dignity is needed in Death Bill.
Our parliamentarians need help with Bill C-14, the doctor assisted death bill. They should read On Death and Dying a book published in 1969. It was written by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross…
Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade?
It looks like the carbon tax concept has been getting a bad rap. At a time when most people are unaware of the difference between cap-and-trade programs and carbon taxes,…