Welcome to FPTP-Central.
It was never of our choosing. First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting was just something we were used to. We never thought we would be an advocate for it. It was more of…
Federal Politics
Canada comes over from the dark side.
It is a night and day comparison. Stephen Harper embodied the Darth Vader of Canadian politics. Liberal Justin Trudeau is bringing us into the light. He promised Canadians the change…
Win some; lose some.
It is the morning after the federal election and there are a series of thoughts to share. They are somewhat disconnected. They range from Peter Mansbridge’s tennis shoes to John…
Cheer tonight: the real work starts tomorrow.
Everything seems to say we were right in our morning line. The odds in early September on which party will win were 3 to one in favour of the Trudeau…
But the Hair is the Conservative Party.
Nobody expects humour on the editorial pages of Toronto’s Globe and Mail. The old and creaky building on Front Street has never had time for humour while reporting on the…
Running for the Roses.
The horses have rounded the final curve and it is a straight run to the finish line. It is a time when jockeys whisper, whip or whine to encourage their…
Dan Gagnier did nothing wrong.
As was explained by Babel-on-the-Bay a few times, Trudeau campaign co-chair Dan Gagnier was an unusual choice for a campaign management team. Yet we regret that he has chosen to…
The Hair needs the Fords?
Recently we were writing about bumper-sticker campaigning. Nothing seems to say this better when six days before the election, the Ford brothers come out to help the Hair campaign in…
They promise to be interesting times.
The supposed Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times” is neither Chinese nor really a curse. Many of us revel in a hectic and exciting life and we would…
The only poll that matters.
The rollercoaster ride in this federal election has been the provided by the pollsters. They are guilty of creating more confusion, consternation, calculation crises and constipation than at any time…
With thanks to the Hair.
This has been the weekend for firming up the opinions and decisions on our federal election in Canada. We are in the last week of a long and exhausting campaign.…
It’s been a bumper-sticker campaign.
Recently a reader accused Babel-on-the-Bay of using ‘bumper sticker’ arguments. The truth is that the simpler you make your arguments the more people listen to them. In these days of…
From here, you can smell the fear.
There was a candidates meeting the other evening for the federal election candidates in the local electoral district. It was this national election in microcosm. The event in a church…
We are standing on guard.
Canadians can vote today. You can see the end of the longest federal election campaign in modern history. You can vote throughout this weekend. You can also give thanks. And…
Where do the nice gals and guys finish?
Canadians have always recognized politics as a blood sport. There is no quarter given. Nice gals and guys finish last. And in a campaign this year more noted for its…
Is it the Trans-Pacific Profit Protection Pact?
There is a disquieting trend emerging in all these trading partnerships that are being negotiated around the world. Who do they benefit? The right wing talks about all the potential…
The blatant bigotry of the Hair.
The Hair had the support of the Bloc’s Gilles Duceppe in promoting bigotry the other evening. In the last of the badly arranged debate sessions of the 2015 election, Canadians…
That kinder, gentler Canada is bunk.
It used to be amusing that Americans thought of Canadians as being more liberal and more polite. They would puzzle over our accents and did not pretend to understand how…
Turning the corner on the 2015 election.
There are many wonderful readers of Babel-on-the-Bay. The other day one of our stalwarts sent an e-mail saying how warming it was to read that the Harper government is toast.…