Category Leadership

Is It All Over?

Well that was anti-climactic. Despite his opponents spending hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat him, Donald Trump has apparently locked up the Republican Party nomination for this year’s American presidential election. It isn’t usually over after the first primary, but such is the state of the Republican Party. And indeed of America. Now Trump’s […]

Conspiracy Time

If your mind is already made up, do facts contradicting your position make any difference to you? Or do you ignore them? It is that time of year when conspiracy theorists are turning their eyes towards Switzerland. The World Economic Forum is meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The WEF is the whipping boy for thousands of […]

The Winner

The American presidential election campaign kicks into high gear today with the Iowa Caucus. The winners are basically predetermined, al three of them. Americans, having grown up in the system, instinctively understand the difference between a caucus and a primary, the form most states use to choose party delegates to a presidential nominating convention. If […]

A Sense of Duty

It was something no-one expected, except perhaps those closed to him. Former US President Jimmy Carter attended his wife Rosalynn’s funeral on Tuesday. Carter is 99, and has been in hospice care for months. Attending the funeral must have taken all the effort he has left in him. Those around him were probably saying not […]

Is America Broken?

You probably have noticed that there are crises everywhere you turn these days. Wars and rumors of wars, fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Apparently the US House of Representatives missed the memos. At a time when the world needs leadership, America’s Congressmen are staring at their navels and playing political games. Such things aren’t […]

Who Wants This Job?

Kevin McCarthy says he will not be a candidate for Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Can anyone else do the job? Certainly there will be a lineup to replace him. After all, the Speaker is in the line of succession should the President be unable to fulfil his or her duties. McCarthy was […]

Is She Serious?

Canada’s House of Commons chooses a new speaker today, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May has thrown her name into the hat. She won’t win. She may be the best qualified of the candidates, but qualifications don’t always mean much in an election. My question is more, why is she running? Party leaders aren’t normally […]

What Would You Do?

When is something unforgivable? I’ve been pondering that in the wake of Canada’s latest political scandal. If you haven’t been following it, here’s a capsule: After an address to the House of Commons by the President of Ukraine on Friday, the Speaker introduced a visitor who was watching the proceedings, a constituent who had fought […]

When Is It Enough?

I’ve been contemplating age. Not just my own. I’ve retired from the workforce twice so far. Once only lasted a few weeks, and indeed I hadn’t made a decision, I was just thinking about retirement. The second time I retired to move overseas and do volunteer work. In that case retirement was from the paid […]

The Housing Crisis

Housing might be the top political issue in Canada these days. More than wildfires, climate change or even food prices. Politicians are unanimous on the need for action and divided as to what the action should look like. Housing prices have almost doubled in eight years of Liberal rule, from $454,976 to $729,000. Average mortgage […]