Cleaning Up Gordon Campbell’s Mess
According to every poll and every projection by every firm and every commentator, Christy Clark and her Liberal Party are about to be handed an unbalanced ass-whooping of the sort…
Song of the Watermelon
Of Petrostates and Patriotism
If Alison Redford gets to define Canadian patriotism, then I don’t want to be patriotic. The Alberta premier yesterday accused federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair of “a fundamental betrayal of…
Thoughts on the New Israeli Government
On the same day that the world erupted in joyous, teary-eyed celebration following the selection of a new pope, a slightly less climactic breakthrough was reached thousands of kilometres away…
Whipped Votes, Floor Crossing, and the Perils of Party Discipline
In Ottawa’s latest uptick of political drama, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair called on MP Claude Patry to resign his seat Thursday, after the latter joined the Bloc Quebecois. Noting that…
Some Thoughts on the BC Budget
Five months ago, I predicted that the Liberal government of British Columbia would fail in its effort to balance the 2013 budget. Notwithstanding this week’s boastful headlines to the contrary,…
Vancouver Sun Letter
Please see today’s Vancouver Sun — or click here — for my latest letter to the editor. This one is about BC Premier Christy Clark’s efforts to raise government revenue…
Carrots and Sticks: How to Fund Public Transit
If we as a planet are going to avoid passing over the two-degree threshold of runaway climate change, we are going to have to start rationing greenhouse gas emissions. Efficiency…
Quebec, Referendums, and Formulas for Secession
National unity is back in the news after the NDP tabled a private member’s bill yesterday, a bill that would repeal the Clarity Act and set the bar for Quebec…
Chimpanzee Literature
I appear to be becoming somewhat of a literary one-hit wonder (defining “hit” rather expansively, of course). While most of my short stories continue to suffer delays and rejections (ain’t…
Israel’s Election Results and the Prospects for Peace
Yair Lapid Well, that wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. Sadly, Benjamin Netanyahu will almost certainly remain prime minister of Israel after his Likud party and its electoral partner…
Playing to the Left: Joyce Murray and the Liberal Leadership Race
I still have nothing to say about golden boy Justin Trudeau. For the life of me, I cannot seem to form an opinion of the man one way or the…
Fanatics, Zealots, Warmongers, and Peaceniks: Israel’s Crowded Electoral Landscape
Haneen Zoabi Due perhaps to my Jewish identity and my family’s history, Israel tends to be the country whose politics I follow most closely apart from Canada’s and the United…
Three New Year’s Resolutions for Canada
I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. The practice always struck me as little more than an excuse to put off self-improvement until next year. But now,…
Mass Shootings by the Numbers
Over three-quarters of the firearms used to carry out mass shootings in the United States since 1982 were obtained legally. How on Earth can there not be a national discussion…
Emerging Consensus on Gay Marriage
Assuming that the world survives this coming December 21, the United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases in June which could result in the nation-wide legalization…
On the Latest School Shooting: Symptoms, Disease, and Gun Control
With every problem, there are symptoms and there is the disease. In the wake of yet another mass shooting in the United States today — this one leaving twenty-seven dead…
Environmental Rights and Canada’s Constitution
Our Conservative government’s recent penchant for gutting several decades’ worth of environmental rules all at once using the stealthy technique of omnibus legislation is no secret. Given this depressing reality,…
Montreal Gazette Letter
Joel Lion, Israel’s Consul-General in Montreal, wrote an op-ed in the Montreal Gazette detailing the virtuous lengths Israel goes to in order to avoid civilian casualties in its unrelenting bombardment…