Breaking Faith with Canadians.
Before people started accepting news in free form as whatever was trending on social media, we were encouraging business and government to work together. We called it by various names…
Provincial Politics
The auditor versus the label salesman.
It might not be a fair fight but Ontario voters are enjoying it. The ups and downs and the tantrums of former label salesman and now premier Doug Ford are…
Back to the Bully Pulpit.
It might have been a term coined by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt but our prime minister Justin Trudeau did the bully pulpit one better. It was living in Rideau Cottage…
Doug Ford buys Ontario.
Listening to premier Doug Ford blow on about his Buy Ontario pitch brings back memories. After all I go back to the days when the province used to promote doing…
Colour coding Doug Ford.
A month ago, Ontario premier Doug Ford turned thumbs down on colour coding the severity of the pandemic. Now he tells us the doctors have talked him into doing it.…
The ground game has gone south?
In my years in politics, I have taught thousands of people how the political ground game is played. It is basic to politics throughout North America. It takes lots of…
The kid who couldn’t.
Sam Oosterhoff MPP, is the youngest person, at 19, to be elected to the Ontario legislature. He might also be the MPP with the most to learn. The member for…
Foregone Conclusions.
A reader asked me recently why I was paying so little attention to the two by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre in Toronto. Knowing the two ridings like the…
Understanding ranked ballots.
It looks as though we need to be sure we are on the same side when it comes to understanding ranked ballots in voting. Some people think they are a…
Dougie Dumps Ranked Ballots.
You have to hand it to Ontario premier Doug Ford. He rarely gets much right. He just knows what he hates about municipal politics—anything that the downtown Toronto councillors like.…
The Temptation to be Tory.
It appears that the leopard is still unable to change his spots. At least conservatives such as Ontario’s Doug Ford and Alberta’s Jason Kenney fail to stray long from their…
Ford cures covid-19 numbers.
Premier Ford of Ontario has a salesman’s way with numbers. You want fewer people with covid-19 from the coronavirus, he gives you lower figures. He can even flatten the curve.…
Condemning the Ford government.
Only the other day, I was saying: The objective is to run the government in accord with their dogma. They are not running it for you. The front page Toronto…
Mr. Ford is enjoying the game.
Doug Ford has come a long way for a guy who made his mark selling labels for his father’s printing company. Today, in the midst of a pandemic, he is…
It’s not about Alberta, Mr. Kenney.
It is a shame that the voters in Alberta have not told Jason Kenney the hard truth. He has to understand that he took responsibility for Alberta’s economic problems when…
It’s all bad news for Jason Kenney.
If you had a Voodoo doll, would you call it Jason Kenney and stick pins in it? Well, somebody must be! Of all the business indices listed in the Toronto…
Ties that bond.
A friend sent me a copy of a letter he sent to two liberal members of the Ontario Legislature the other day. He was concerned about Ontario’s lack of planning…
Ontario’s petulant premier.
After more than a year of silly stickers on our gas pumps, Ontario voters have got the message. And the Ontario Court System has finally got around to noting that…
The boy who called Wolf.
It is important to remember better days in politics. Like the time I had a laugh with conservative premier Bill Davis. I was able to introduce him to a large…
If you cannot honour our past…
How can we expect you to honour our future? Just get your Goddamn hands off John A. Macdonald. Nobody has the right to damage or deface a statue of an…