In praise of failure
“In 2004, Kim and Chan (KC) carried out torsional oscillator (TO) measurements of solid helium confined in porous Vycor glass and found an abrupt drop in the resonant period below…
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Liberal Party needs time to do supporter vote right
To paraphrase an old proverb, beware newspaper columnists bearing advice. That certainly applies to John Ibbitson’s column in the Globe this morning, where he takes the Liberal Party to task…
Video: Sustainable South Osborne
The Riverview Hoop House was one of the projects on display during a walking tour of urban agricultural projects organized by the Sustainable South Osborne Community Co-op in June in…
My response to Tom Flangan – Canadian super PACs.
Tom Flanagan, wrote a piece a while back in the Globe and Mail, in response to the Working Families Coalition in Ontario. I touched on this organization and unions involvement…
Quebec election and electoral reform
To follow up on my earlier post about the Quebec election, here’s a link to an article in the Montreal Gazette, where I speak a bit about past elections in…
The Trials and Tribulations of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
There are times where I just feel sorry for him.
Pierre Poilievre – Silencing Dissent through Intimidation
In 1946, Justice Rand determined that even though employees working in a unionized work environment were not required to join the union they were required to pay union dues because…
Martha Hall Findlay Sure Does Have Some Stones
WTH! Like a drunken friend once pleaded: “help me pay my bar tab off…… so I can start a new one”. Are you kidding me? Here’s her letter. Not Left,…
Enbridge’s approved chart of the BC Coast
If there is anybody who has not yet seen this, it is Enbridge’s idea of Douglas Channel linking Kitimat with Hecate Strait. In reality, about 1,000 square kilometres of islands…
Best Media Line of the Day
“Do you know your responsibilities as a member of Toronto City Council?” “No, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.” “Oh, OK. Case dismissed.” You win Matt…
Liberal Leadership April 14, 2013 in Ottawa
Yes. My buddy Justin will be running. Yes he will win. Yes Martha will be running too. She can’t help herself. Maybe someone can talk her out of it. Doubt…
Notes on the Quebec election
Greetings from sunny Calgary, Alberta, where I am getting set to talk about French-as-a-second-language education policy at a language policy conference. This is in some respects a peculiar venue from…
Ontario By-Election Predictions for Today
Today is the beginning of the end of Tim Hudak’s leadership experiment. Today, Tim Whodat will lose not one, but two by-elections. In Vaughan, the Liberals and Steven Del Duca…
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre’s proposal to disempower unions.
Upated: Updated to be more accurate, thanks to Pamela for the tip. Recently, Conservative member Pierre Poilievre proposed that union dues no longer be obligatory, legally. In Canada, if your…
PEI – Public opposition to TCH ‘Plan B’
In case you hadn’t heard, (in a nutshell) the PEI gov’t under the leadership of Liberal, Robert Ghiz, is trying to move forward with a highway project in order to…
Poll Predicts A Comfortable Win For The NDP’s Catherine Fife In Kitchener-Waterloo
In a Forum Research poll, conducted Tues. Sept. 4, 2012, support for the NDP was at 42%, while the Liberal and Conservative support had dropped to 26% each. In their…
Notwithstanding the One Whacko, Quebec’s Collective Intelligence Prevails
Calling a general election during the summer months in order to avoid the anticipated turmoil of a government commission mandated to investigate corruption in the construction industry and dragging out…
Inexcusable
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have no patience whatsoever for the politics of the separatist Parti Quebecois. Their success is an affront to the country…
Let’s not get carried away with Helicopter Parents
University and college classes start today for one of the most cash-strapped, debt-burdened, under-employed cohorts of post-secondary students this country has ever seen. But that’s not the story. Instead, on…
Why the Republicans Should Take Notes from Quebec
Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan have been traveling America promising a more appropriate recovery and an overall better America, if they are chosen in the upcoming election…