National Post Letter
Electoral reform opponents are once again pulling out the old Israel canard. I’ve responded with a letter attempting to set the record straight in today’s National Post: Electoral reform Re:…
Canadian Politics
Independence Day, freedom, the dog days of summer, and Pierre Poilievre’s profundities … plus the care and treatment of wood
“As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.” — Chauncey Gardner An Internet wit spots how Mr. Poilievre’s old…
electoral reform is way overdue (but ranked ballots won’t help)
Canada’s 2021 federal election made the case for proportional representation very plain. While Canada’s electoral system isn’t as insanely nondemocratic as the US’s winner-take-all (or “first-past-the-post”) by state, with the…
Berman Flails Over Jurisdictions
Sure, most Canadians are appalled at the recent decisions by the Talibangelists on the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), and the loss of rights and freedoms their overturning Roe v. Wade…
Canada Day 2022 – doesn’t look like this national holiday will herald the best summer ever, either
Last year on this day traditionally reserved for national celebration, the headline of the post that occupied this space read: “While Jason Kenney promises the best summer ever, it’s hard…
The Talibangelists Are Winning
I imagine what I’m feeling now about the rise of the extremist, pseudo-Christian right (aka the Talibangelists, aka Christofascists) in the USA, Canada, and in other democracies is what my…
A thought on how Sundre can start to put the embarrassment of the racist jackassery in its rodeo parade behind it
Surely there must’ve been a few folks in the Central Alberta town of Sundre who, when they noticed the racist jackassery of the now notorious “the Liberal” manure-spreader parade float…
Protecting free speech on campus? Forget about it, Pierre Poilievre is just dog-whistling
Federal Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre seems to have generated a lot of publicity for himself lately with a much re-tweeted pledge to force Canadian universities to “protect free speech”…
As predicted, Canadian Conservatives want you to shut up about U.S. Supreme Court’s repugnant Roe v. Wade ruling
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling stripping half the United States’ 330 million people of their constitutional right to abortion, Canadian conservatives were busy trying to deny…
Portraying Alberta and federal Conservative parties as hot messes, Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner says she won’t join UCP leadership race
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner has declared herself out of the race to lead the United Conservative Party in a scathing, 2,800-plus Substack article that dissects the in-fights and extremism…
Parliament’s budget watchdog concludes TMX is almost certainly a loser – no matter what Ottawa does
The soaring cost of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion has pushed the still-uncompleted megaproject Ottawa bought for Alberta further into the red, says a report released yesterday by the Parliamentary…
Ontario election post-mortem: Strategy shift needed for the progressive left?
On paper, one could argue there were winning odds stacked for the progressive electoral left in Ontario ahead of the 2022 provincial election. Doug Ford as premier of Ontario mishandled…
Ontario election: Where did 825,000 swing voters go?
On June 2, after four turbulent and often chaotic years, Ontario voters handed Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative party a second majority government. Every single PC cabinet minister was…
Ontario Provincial Election Musings
Regarding the Ontario Election: I will not repeat everything verbatim that I said on Twitter, but I will say this to the Ontario Liberal Party. Get some serious policy rethink…
Ontario, I Am Ashamed and Embarrassed
This morning, Ontario, I am ashamed of you. Ontario, you had an opportunity to do the right thing, and chose — deliberately chose — not to. I am ashamed and…
The hopeless malaise of the Ontario election
Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford. Photo courtesy QP Briefing. Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives spent the election in Ontario hiding from protestors, the press, and the public. Ahead…
Right v. Left in Modern Politics
There’s a lot of palaver on social media about right v. left (or left v. right if you are so inclined), with webs of comments about the differences between these…
Kenney Government’s persistent habit of advocating U.S.-style gun laws bears repeating, and remembering
On May 17, just three days after the racial-hate-motivated massacre at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., the Kenney Government was publicly complaining about new federal regulations intended to ensure…
Jason Kenney, through a glass darkly
Jason Kenney has long maintained an address in fantasyland. Back in 2016 he somehow came to the now clearly erroneous conclusion that only he could fashion a robust and longstanding…
Putting the performance back in petroleum politics, Mr. Kenney goes to Washington
Everybody in the room yesterday at the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing in Washington, D.C., knew perfectly well the United States is never going to stop buying…