Votes and voices suppressed
February 26, 2012 | 3 Comments
At last year’s Canadian Association of Journalists’ Annual Conference, one of the panels was a post-mortem on the recently held federal election. The panelists (Chantal Hebert, Elly Alboim and Jeff Sallott and Paul Adams of the Globe and Mail) debated the question of whether it could be called “the Twitter election”. The panelists addressed this [...]
Do it for Kate
February 23, 2012 | No Comments
Our beloved Kate Chappell is set to embark on another adventure. Through CUSO International, she will soon be heading to Kingston, Jamaica to work with YOU Jamaica, a non-profiit organization that does mentoring and career counselling with the country’s youth. CUSO will be partially funding this endeavour, but Kate also needs to raise some funds, [...]
Political Smears: Just The Latest In An Old Cycle
February 21, 2012 | No Comments
All of the insults and political attacks being thrown back and forth over the new Internet surveillance bill being debated in Parliament remind me in their own way of the last few federal elections. What many people seem to forget, in their attempts to score partisan points off one another, is that both sides are [...]
Smears? Meaner political discourse in Ottawa?
February 20, 2012 | No Comments
When messages appeared on Twitter about details of the divorce of Canada’s minister of public safety, I thought nothing of it. Unlike most of my friends and acquaintances, I have not signed up. Then, thestar.com published this column and Calgary Herald published this column. I prefer the tenor of Kris Kotarski to Tim Harper. Politicians [...]
Trudeau-mania, 2012 edition
February 16, 2012 | 2 Comments
Several things are true about the latest episode of Canadian political drama involving MP Justin Trudeau and his comments on Quebec separatism. (He said the following: “I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper — that we were going against abortion, and we were going [...]
A newfound appreciation for Rob Ford
February 1, 2012 | 5 Comments
Ottawa’s former mayor, Larry O’Brien, got into a bit of trouble. How ’bout we let him tell the story: Anyone who knows me understands that being politically incorrect (PI) has been a special strength all my life. Unfortunately being so blessed is not good for my relations with the chattering class and other such [...]
The human cost of manufacturing our iPhones
January 26, 2012 | 10 Comments
Canada has fared relatively well during the current economic crisis. There are many reasons why, as many as why the U.S. has suffered so much. One factor shielding Canada is also something that people lament: a lack of a substantial manufacturing base. This extends to an innovation or productivity gap. So while Canada has definitely [...]
The Blog of Foreign Affairs
January 25, 2012 | No Comments
This week, I have launched a new blog at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen called the 49th. Basically, it’s a Canadian political/cultural blog written for an American audience. I’ll be taking on subjects and linking to writers that I think will be of interest to our neighbours to the south. I’ll also be taking on [...]
So is dual citizenship really dangerous?
January 19, 2012 | 8 Comments
The more I think about it, the more the issue of citizenship seems to beg greater discussion than the rhetoric thrown around when political parties want to attack their competitors. (Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful comments on the previous post.) And the debate is unavoidable, since globalization continues to advance it. So Andrew Coyne [...]
More than one nationality is dangerous
January 17, 2012 | 5 Comments
The question of citizenship in political office has re-emerged. NDP MP Thomas Mulcair also holds French citizenship, which he secured through his wife, who was born in France. Perhaps this is just the Sun newspaper chain agitating the issue in a slow news period, as protest is minimal. Nevertheless, the question of dual citizenship pops [...]