Bitumen in Toronto: Scenario #1
Toronto’s Yonge Street Subway bisects Toronto from Union Station at Front Street to 15.7 kilometres north at Bishop Avenue, just above Finch Avenue. It is at this northern terminus that…
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The silence of Stephen Harper.
You do not necessarily think of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a quiet person. When you see television news clips of him in the House of Commons or addressing a…
Standing by in Britain and South Africa.
Watching a network promotion on Global Television the other day, we learned the details of the network’s royal baby watch in England. The watch is orchestrated under the aegis of…
Wynne’s Whigs deny democracy.
It is probably the most anti-democratic news out of Queen’s Park since Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty quit and prorogued the Legislature last year. It was bad enough that Premier Kathleen…
Finding the political middle.
The political middle in Canadian politics is a ghost. Many speak of it but nobody has ever found it. Instead, we are a country that compromises in extremes. It remains…
The bother of bitumen.
It should be made clear: bitumen is not oil. Distilled, bitumen becomes asphalt pitch, refined it can become synthetic oil. Bitumen is not ‘heavy oil’ and it is a lengthy,…
Honouring Canadian accomplishments.
We need to do a better job of recognizing real accomplishments by Canadians. We have people in this country who commit heroic deeds, overcome seemingly impossible obstacles, show unexpected leadership,…
July 1, 2013, Canada is 410 years young.
From that first explorer’s trip against the current of the St. Lawrence River, Canada began the transition to a country. And our ancestors came to build it. We were the…
Why is Ontario buying into by-elections?
By-elections are sometimes fun but the five coming up in Ontario will be a serious waste of time and money. Why are we doing it? What will we prove? All…
Big Brother blows the bitumen bugle.
When you live in a country where most of the news media is controlled by friends of the government, do you think you should believe all the news? Do you…
Babel backs a ballot bollix.
A year ago, there was an interesting meeting with the City Clerk in Babel. A very charming and knowledgeable person, she was generous with her time and interested in the…
And that must be the length of it.
When you are always intending to write something about blogs and finally get around to it, you wonder why. As a blogger, you should be able to say something positive…
The delayed masquerade of the Tories.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been saved by the rain on the plain. With Calgary recovering from serious flood conditions, it is no time for a Conservative Convention. Stephen Harper…
Does that mean he “Coyned” it?
It was National Post political columnist Andrew Coyne who used the term. He wrote that “Toryism, in its current incarnation, resembles less an ideology than a pathology.” If too many…
Harper’s homeboy, Hudak.
Ontario television viewers saw a new attack advertisement the other day. It looked like another attack advertisement by the Conservatives. And it was. It was just not by the federal…
Some summer talking points for Justin.
There was a wonderful picture of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and resigning MP Bob Rae as they walk down a corridor in the Centre Block of Parliament the other day.…
Babel Backward has an editor?
It came as a surprise when reading all the self-congratulatory stories in the Babel Backward (our name for the Toronto Star’s local grocery-flyer wrap, Barrie Advance). We found out that…
A thoughtful farewell to Bob Rae.
This is not a form of eulogy. We will probably have Bob Rae to kick around for some time to come. He was never our favourite Premier of Ontario. He…
But how was Harper’s golf score?
Hopefully, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a better golf score than German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It really does not make sense for the world leaders to meet at a golf…