I Am a Democrat … and an Elitist
There is much talk about populism these days. The term has a variety of definitions, but the general idea is that society is separated into two groups at odds with…
democracy
A Collection of Loyal Quotes: Part Five
“A king is a king, not because he is richand powerful, not because he is asuccessful politician, not because hebelongs to a particular creed or to anational group. He is…
Democracy Speaks and Turkey’s Strongman Takes a Hit
A list of strongmen leaders running pseudo-democracies to justify their autocratic rule usually includes Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He has expanded the power of his presidency and increasingly curbed…
The Spirit of Democracy Shines in Hong Kong
The condition of democracy is much in debate these days as fascist-tinged populism manifests itself from the United States to South America to Eastern Europe. It is, therefor, encouraging to…
Long Hours & Many Miles
“The hours are long, the workload can be overwhelming. The people you work for don’t always like you and, after four years, they can fire you without saying why.” so…
Western Alienation? What Western Alienation?
It’s one of those times. Alberta is enduring an oil bust so “Western alienation” is back in the news. The word of interest here is “Western.” Although some Albertans may…
The Business Levy or Why I Support the Fraser Institute and You Do, Too
Two institutions hold the keys to the money vaults of the country. One is concerned about the welfare of society generally, the other about its own welfare only. One is…
Referendums or Citizens’ Assemblies?
Holding a referendum on whether to remain or leave the European Union was one of the dumber decisions in the long history of the British political class, as is becoming…
Austerity and the Decline of the Collective
(Notes for Second Annual Arnold Amber Memorial Lecture, Toronto, May 29, 2019) I am honoured to be celebrating the life and values of Arnold Amber. Celebrating social justice and human…
Democracy Delayed
I regret that for the foreseeable future I will not be writing any commentary upon the state of our democracy on these pages due to personal family challenges that must…
The Comprehensive Democrat
When we think about democracy we tend to focus on politics and government. These are rightly at the centre of democratic dialogue as they are our overarching social institutions, but…
The State of Democracy
There is, it seems, a war against democracy. I hesitate to use the word “war” as it tends to suffer from overuse these days—war on drugs, war on terrorism, etc—but…
Help, Barbarians at the Gate!!
I just realized that, from British Columbia’s eastern border, the barbarians are in control all the way to Quebec. Scheer and Kenney, Moe, Pallister and Ford. Two thousand miles of…
The Future of Democracy (repost)
This previously published bit from 2009 in which Steve May‘s seriesis highlighted perhaps shows how little things have changed in 10 years. Much of his series is focused upon “green”…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne highlights how the fight over carbon taxes fits into a broader framework of class warfare – and how the right’s climate…
Lies & Spin (repost)
“In a political landscape where lies and spin is the norm we must thank and support those individuals who do not fall prey to this insidious trend, and condemn and…
Threats to Democracy (repost)
“An obstacle to democracy is that the value of its name often exceeds the principles of its practice.” From an old speech by former MP David Kilgore – In his…
Low taxes are nothing to brag about
I’ve written an opinion piece that appears in today’s Regina Leader-Post. The piece argues that the Saskatchewan government shouldn’t brag about the province’s low-tax climate (which it recently did). Rather,…
Democracy Defined
This blog was started about a decade ago to highlight the lack of respect for our democratic conventions by the then second term Harper Regime and to highlight efforts to…
Democracy on Trial – In the United Kingdom
The New York Times headline reads, “‘We’re in the Last Hour’: Democracy Itself Is on Trial in Brexit, Britons Say.” As I’m going through the article, over on LBC radio,…