EARLIER THIS WEEK, on CTV news, I predicted that two political parties would be looking for new leaders if the Ontario Liberals prevailed. Election day had yet to expire when Tim Hudak announced he would be stepping down, fulfilling a half of my proposition.
Tag Archives: Politics
Justin Trudeau: the unserious person’s unserious candidate
THERE WERE ALREADY a lot of reasons I found Justin Trudeau untakeable when he recently added more.
Dear Readers: Which New Book Would YOU Most Like to Read?
GREETINGS, Friends and Comrades.
The last two weeks have been on the quiet side, here at this little website of mine. This is not due to any lack of activity, industry or interest. I am busily at work on finishing up books, and I’ve got some other projects on the go as well. Also, I’ve been doing more radio and TV work than usual. But the really engrossing news, for me at least, is that I’m developing my next book. Here are the outlines of several new works, one of which will be the focus of my year. I’d love to know what you think about each, and especially which you’d most like to read. Your comments and ideas are much appreciated ….
Ontario Politics’ Franchise Problem
I CAN SUMMON with clarity the celebration of Fall 1990 that inducted the provincial NDP government of Bob Rae. I’d moved to Kingston a month earlier, at the end of August, and like everyone else was shocked to see that the NDP would not only form a government, but a majority government at that.
What Did the Prime Minister Really Know About Bruce Carson’s Past?
MEET BRUCE CARSON, as early as the 1970s a compulsive thief and fraudster and, in more recent decades, a fixture of Parliament Hill. He is the man who today begs the necessary question, Who exactly has failed to do their job?
There’s No Hope of Renewal for Rob Ford, or for Toronto, Until Rob Ford is No Longer the Mayor
THE LATE COMEDIAN Mitch Hedberg had a line that he “used to do drugs.” A moment for the applause, and then this: “I still do drugs, but I used to, too.”
Can the World Do Anything for the Girls of Nigeria?
AS I WRITE THIS, the swell of a Western grassroots outcry against the Nigerian outfit, Boko Haram, appears to be forming across social media.
Shawn Atleo’s Political Education
The former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shawn Atleo, may now be realizing that the inspirational and aspirational modes are insufficent.
I‘VE MET EVERY Assembly of First Nations National Chief going back to the late 1980s, when Georges Erasmus was the leader. Taken as a group, they cover a broad range of personality and disposition. I’ve gotten to know Georges the best, having written for him across a decade and more, but Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is probably the AFN chief who put me most at comfort, right from our first conversation, in a North Bay restaurant.
It’s Not About Ford: It’s About How A Hateful Ford Nation Poisons Toronto
THERE’S A DISTINCT ethical calculus that applies to addiction. Here’s an example: mayor Ford’s indiscretions over the years – the bad choices of personal friends and associates, the bursts of erratic behaviour, the denials that there’s a problem – are “the drugs talking.” He’s not completely in control of himself. The drugs and alcohol are, and his actions should therefore be seen as at least in part the symptoms of an illness, or a compulsion, that keeps him in its grip. He’s an addict, and he needs help, and it’s a good thing he’s now seeking it.
FNCFNEA: An Interview with Grand Chief Gordon Peters
Download entire interview (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.
Grand Chief Gordon Peters is a citizen of the Delaware First Nation, near Chatham, Ontario, and the Chair of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians Chiefs Council. The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the political interests of its member Nations in Ontario – the Oneida, the Mohawk, the Delaware, the Potawatomi and the Ojibway.
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FNCFNEA: An Interview with Chelsea Vowel
Another Way of Looking at Minister Flaherty
THE CURRENCY of the word outpouring was notable this week: over at the National Post, Michael Den Tandt has not only described the phenomenon, but indulged it himself. His essay “Former finance minister Jim Flaherty’s death leaves a void in the Conservative party” issues high praise, pressing Kipling and Aristotle into the service of a lush panegyric. Again, nothing unusual here – it’s what everyone is doing these days, not only at the National Post, but elsewhere.
In Defence of Rudeness
MY WRITING FALLS into several categories. There’s the paid, professional writing I do for others, on a range of topics. There are historical pieces, obituaries and profiles of famous people and places. There are meditative or reflective articles, what are sometimes called “human interest stories,” concerning parenting or ageing or travel, and so on. Then there are my political and polemical works, digging into a position and attacking an idea or a public official. Today, we’re going to consider this final category, and the charge it invariably engenders, from a small minority of readers, that I’m impolite, judgemental, arrogant and mean.
This essay is an apology for rudeness in the old sense of the term apology – an account, explanation and defence.
Second Thoughts About the Word Bullying
TODAY I LOOKED UP the word bullying in the English As It Is Actually Used Dictionary:
Bullying, vbl. n. [bʊlɪɪŋ]: A word that by 2014 was being used by some adults to describe what all the adults were doing to all the other adults, everywhere.
On any day in any news source, there are articles about adult bullying, as well as commentaries and anecdotes and calls to put an end to it, wherever it happens, which according to some people is everywhere.
Feminism, for and against
IF YOU HAVEN’T yet heard of Sheryl Sandberg’s Ban Bossy campaign, here is a video, and below is a brief overview of the Facebook COO’s effort, in which she is joined by Condoleeza Rice, Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner, Diane von Furstenberg and Jane Lynch:
When a little boy asserts himself, he’s called a “leader.” Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded “bossy.” Words like bossy send a message: don’t raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys—a trend that continues into adulthood. Together we can encourage girls to lead.
Pledge to Ban Bossy.
Journalism, Essays, Broadcasting, Books 