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Joe Strummer: well I love you baby
The sticker affixed to the London Calling album shrink-wrap, so many years ago, boldly declared that the Clash were “the only band that matters.” If that is true – if…
My latest: the alien
The thing you need to understand about Justin Trudeau is that he doesn’t live a life like you and I do. It’s like he’s David Bowie in Nicolas Roeg’s The…
My latest: take that, Prime Minister “Feminist”
Chrystia Freeland, Liberal leadership candidate. There can be no other rational explanation for why the former finance minister is sticking around. None. Having fired a rocket directly at Justin Trudeau…
My latest: Captain Canada, take a bow
Picture a schoolyard. Donald Trump is there. He’s the schoolyard bully. He calls the other kids names, he threatens them, he pushes them around. Sometimes, he even hits them, for…
My latest: no way, USA!
In October 1988, the Liberal Party started running an election ad in French about a free trade deal with the United States: “There’s just one line that’s getting in the…
my latest: Saturday people, Sunday people
On Google, the listing for the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, now says: “Temporarily closed.” But that’s not quite true, is it? It’s closed for good. At 4:10 a.m.…
Roxy
Roxy was her name. Before I even met her, that was her name. She was a black lab and boxer mix, and a rescue. I drove out to Woodstock with…
My latest: war is declared – on us
Trump Tax™️. President-elect Donald Trump may call it a “tariff,” but essentially that is what he is promising to impose on his first day in office: a tax. “Tariff” comes…
My latest: Trudeau is beyond redemption
In ‘Lee,’ Kate Winslet’s new movie about the celebrated World War II photojournalist Lee Miller, the descent into the heart of darkness is slow, but it is always the destination.…
Left, right, whatever
What I write sometimes makes people angry. Right and Left. Here’s what I’ve noticed. It’s interesting. I write about different stuff. Politics, music, culture, whatever. People react. Sometimes I take…
My latest: the haters’ war on books
Observing the braying, spit-flecked mob outside the doors to Toronto’s Park Hyatt Hotel on Monday night – replete with signs (falsely) accusing Israel of genocide, and hinting (clearly) at a…
My latest: the people aren’t always right
The people are always right, John Turner said. It was the evening of September 4, 1984 when he said that. Turner’s Liberal Party had just been crushed by Brian Mulroney’s…
My latest: it’s the economy, but you’re not stupid
It’s the economy, stupid. Democratic strategist James Carville famously uttered those words first, during the 1992 US presidential campaign. They’ve become the accepted political wisdom ever since. What’s fascinating is…
Remember
Here’s my Dad, age 20, at officer cadet training in Summer ’52, front centre. He joined the armoured corps but the war ended before he could go. He always regretted…