Category Politics

Election Night

The polls are never wrong. We know that. But sometimes they are, so I have no prediction as to the outcome of today’s Canadian federal election. There are some things to watch for though. The Conservative lead in the polls has vanished with Justin Trudeau’s departure and Donald Trump’s ascension. But when people mark their […]

Low Level Mischief

When the self-styled Longest Ballot Committee convinced dozens of people to run for Parliament in a federal byelection last year, I was amused. Ninety-one names on the ballot seemed a little ridiculous, but that’s democracy. As I understood it, the idea was to protest the Liberal Party’s broken promise to make 2015 the last “first […]

Jumping The Gun

Canada’s federal election is this coming Monday, but these signs went up on Parliament Hill last week. I guess there’s nothing like being prepared, but things are probably pretty quiet in the Members’ Orientation Centre this week..

One Week To Go

Canadians go to the polls in a federal election next Monday. A record number turned out at the advance polls this holiday weekend. Nobody knows if that is good or bad, but it shows interest in the election. The Prime Minister has been saying that Canada faces the biggest crisis of our lifetimes. I thought […]

So True!

I’ve seen this floating around social media a few times this past week. If you are Canadian you are smiling when you see these iconic images. Mind you, everyone’s experience of a country and culture is different. I haven’t asked my wife if she can name what all four of these are – but if […]

The Big Risk

Looks to me a lot like hubris, that excessive pride in your accomplishments. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a federal election for April 28. I think his Liberal Party is going to lose, and, if it does, Carney will enter the history books as Canada’s shortest serving Prime Minister. Probably not how he […]

Food For Thought

President Trump does not seem to notice or care that if you betray people, or jerk them around, they will revile you. Over the last few weeks, the Europeans have gone from shock to bewilderment to revulsion. This period was for them what 9/11 was for us – the stripping away of illusions, the exposure […]

The Next Prime Minister

I’m a little surprised. I had expected the Russians (or the Americans) to hack into the Liberal Party’s computers and disrupt the leadership vote that was to choose a new leader for the party, who would become the Prime Minister designate. The announcement that Mark Carney would inherit Justin Trudeau’s crown was somewhat anti-climactic. The […]

Dear Wayne

Your wife has told the media you are brokenhearted at Canadians’ reaction to you these days. Funnily enough, that is how Canadians are feeling about you. Your continued silence says that you just don’t get it. I’ll try to explain. You were our hero. Whether we should put a hockey player on a pedestal is […]

Music For Our Times

My friend Paul posted a video that puts some of the more recent news events in perspective. Not that those who need to hear it will listen.