Tag Archives: Canada

The 2017 Juno Awards

I’m not a big fan of music awards. Inevitably the wrong artist or record wins, at least in my opinion. I even found that to be true when I was on a panel judging a national music award that shall remain nameless. I was the only judge from outside a certain geographic region – and […]

Considering Lisa

She may not be high in the polls at the moment, but Lisa Raitt could be the next Prime Minister of Canada. She wants the job, and says she will do a better job than the incumbent. Mind you, that might not be too hard. Raitt is one of 14 candidates for leader of the […]

Some Random Thoughts From This Past Week

Canada’s largest drugstore chain had a computer glitch. No credit or debit cards were being accepted. Who carries cash these days? What would we do if the system went down as a whole, not just one store but everywhere? We have as a society become so dependent on technology, who knows how we would react. […]

It’s Flag Day!

I remember the day, February 15, 1965. I was a student at Thorndale Elementary School in Montreal. The entire school was mustered outside as Canada’s new flag was raised for the first time on the school flagpole. It was the culmination of a national debate, first over whether Canada needed a new flag, then what […]

Random Thoughts For Saturday

You would think that after spending $425 million on renovations, the elevators wouldn’t break down daily. I suppose the out-of-order urinals the day the building opened (that still haven’t been fixed) were a warning sign.   Why does my phone plan give me international roaming everywhere I go in Europe, except for Germany? Guess which […]

Dancing In The Dragon’s Den

He’s a reality TV star turned politician, the bad guy with a populist agenda promising “jobs, jobs, jobs.” And he’s not Donald Trump. Kevin O’Leary, onetime star of Dragon’s Den and currently seen on television in Shark Tank, was in town this week looking to gain support for his bid to become the leader of […]

Assisted Dying III

I suggested last year it was all about the money. Depressingly, it looks like I was right. A new report has been issued on the cost of physician assisted suicide (which became legal in 2016) to the Canadian health care system. It looks like the savings will be about $139 million a year. More if […]

A Trump For The Rest Of US!

Canada at times suffers from an inferiority complex. We look at our brash, bold, successful neighbour to the south, and we want to be just like her. Now we have our chance. Businessman and reality television star Kevin O’Leary announced yesterday he is in the running to become the next leader of the Conservative Party […]

Let Them Eat Cake

The story is told, probably apocryphally, that at the outset of the French Revolution in 1789 the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, was told the peasants were rioting because they had no bread. Her response, immortalized in history, was “let them eat cake.” The result of such an uncaring response was the end of the […]

Electoral Reform I

I wrote this a couple of weeks back, then decided not to post it. Today I’m reconsidering. For Canadians I’m just retelling something they already know. But it occurs to me that not everyone has had a chance to join the conversation – and it is not limited to Canadians. So today a lesson in […]