Tag: canada

POILIEVRE. AGAIN

How do I talk about Pierre Poilievre without sounding like, well, Pierre Poilievre?

I started this article on Friday and tossed it in my trash bin Saturday morning, mostly because of the tone I was taking, and because I had let him get under my skin again.  So I walked away.

Maybe I should just have confidence in my fellow Canadians to discern for themselves what kind of person he is.  And maybe they already have.  Maybe that’s why he’s not prime minister.  

But that said, he’s not gone.  Not yet.  Not by a long shot.

Continue reading “POILIEVRE. AGAIN” →

BAT 365: MIXING COFFEE AND POLITICS

It didn’t take long for the BATs — Boys At Timmy’s — to go sour on Mark Carney.

That’s not entirely accurate though, because in order to go sour on something, you must first have had some, albeit grudging, degree of sweetness, although that’s way too strong of a word to apply to the hard men who hold court at Tim Hortons franchises across this great land every afternoon of the week.  Long accustomed to being the primary political thinkers in their respective communities, they never really took to Carney in the first place.  Instead, when they saw the political winds shift biblically from the Conservatives to the Liberals, they decided to hold their fire and seek cover, at least and until their natural instincts of baked-in oppositional thinking kicked back in.

To see them, and to hear them rise from the metaphorical ashes and begin their campaign of perpetual sour grapes is sort of like watching a healthy ecosystem re-balance itself, like a creek snaking its way through a modern subdivision.  Except for the healthy part.

Continue reading “BAT 365: MIXING COFFEE AND POLITICS” →

GENERALLY SPEAKING

As Canada’s top soldier, the Chief of Defence Staff serves at the pleasure of the prime minister.  That means that, while Canada’s top soldier, you’re not the top dog when it comes to chain of command.

And that means that when you appear in public, or comment in public, it’s a really good idea that you exercise the prudence necessary to ensure that you articulate the policies, goals, and aspirations of Canada’s military in a way that’s consistent with what the political masters are saying, in this case both the prime minister and the Minister of National Defence.

So, for Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignon, it means that she needs to keep all the ducks in the proper row, as she’s ultimately accountable to Prime Minister Mark Carney and his defence minister David McGuinty.

Continue reading “GENERALLY SPEAKING” →

A DANGEROUS WOMAN GETS MORE DANGEROUS

Alberta lost around 5,600 people to Covid-19 during the epidemic that swept the world five years ago.  That’s close to 12% of the national total, not bad for a province with just about 10% of the national population.

It’s not clear what those numbers would have looked like had many Albertans not picked up their Covid vaccinations while in the heat of the battle, despite being citizens of Canada’s most vaccine-resistant province, although Saskatchewan has emerged as a bit of whack-job as well when it comes to common sense and vaccines. Alberta, after all, is the province that chased away Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief Medical Officer of Health.

Alberta, as you may already know, exists fully a century behind the rest of us when it comes to a lot of the important stuff.  As proud as they are of themselves as being the Texas of the North, that distinction only really applies to oil patches, cowboy hats, and an innate ability or inclination to just simply get everything wrong when it comes to their attitude around a lot of the important stuff, like the environment, or the basic stuff surrounding life and death.  And sadly, many in that province would rather die than admit they were wrong about something.

Totally in keeping with both herself and the hatchet-job government she leads, Premier Danielle Smith has announced that, henceforth, Covid vaccinations of the future will be available only if you pay for them, and not as a result of the government providing them.  The Alberta government estimates that the shots will cost around $110/dose, but Smith and her cronies will escape public discontent since everyone will blame it on the Trudeau Liberals.  Or the Carney Liberals.  Or any Liberals, really.

Continue reading “A DANGEROUS WOMAN GETS MORE DANGEROUS” →

CHARLES III COMES TO CANADA

Something will happen today that doesn’t happen very often, if at all.

Parliament re-opens today, or at least that part of it known as the House of Commons, and all the recently elected MPs, or Members of Parliament, will take their seats and ready themselves for the Throne Speech, or Speech From the Throne, an event that officially opens any new session of Parliament.

The Throne Speech is usually a task undertaken by the Governor-General, in this case the Right Honourable Mary Simon, on behalf of the sitting monarch.

But today, Governor-General Simon will yield that privilege to the monarch himself, in this case King Charles III, King of England and Great Britain, and also King of Canada.

To my knowledge, a reigning monarch has read the Throne Speech twice in our nation’s history, with Charles’ mother Elizabeth II having done so both times, once shortly after taking the throne, and the second in 1977.

So why now?

Continue reading “CHARLES III COMES TO CANADA” →

A KINDER, GENTLER PIERRE?

After sorting through the “carnage” of the last federal election results, Conservatives have been busy trying to figure out what exactly the hell happened.

The party won more seats, grabbed a bigger share of the popular vote, and made in-roads into areas and ridings where Tories once dared not walk.

Oh, and their leader lost his seat.  Badly.  No recounts needed in Carleton.  The boss got bossed right out of town.

Not long ago, snagging over 40% in public opinion surveys and the popular vote would signal a Conservative majority government, something everyone, including myself, was predicting not long ago.  And not just a simple majority, but a massive one.  Yet even with all the gains the party posted, the Liberals got more of all of the above, in seats, vote share, and their leader actually winning his own riding, interestingly the riding next door to the Tory leader’s.

Continue reading “A KINDER, GENTLER PIERRE?” →

CANADA’S MILITARY PROCUREMENT

What a beating Canada’s military capacity seems to be taking.  And it’s a beating coming at us from our erstwhile friends allies, nations with short memories who ought to know better.

These are important considerations for us to keep in mind as we spend our way to the 2% of GDP threshold we committed to as part of our membership in NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Some European countries question our reliability as an ally if we can’t seem to reach that 2% threshold, which is bonkers.  Canada has a much higher GDP — Gross Domestic Product — than all but three of our European NATO allies, those nations being Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.  The first we defeated in battle (twice), the second we fought to restore their territorial integrity (twice) and the the third we came to the rescue of (twice).

My point is the higher the GDP, the more money on defence spending that 2% represents.  Which means that, despite spending less than that percentage, Canada spends more in real dollars than 26 of our European allies.

So stuff it.

Continue reading “CANADA’S MILITARY PROCUREMENT” →

POILIEVRE, BY-ELECTIONS, AND OFFICIAL RESIDENCES

Rideau Cottage, Stornaway, and 24 Sussex Drive.

Three of Canada’s official residences, two in stages of disrepair, while the third is, well, a cottage.

The Americans have their White House, the South Koreans have their Blue House, and most of the world’s nations have some form of presidential palace, although the word palace doesn’t really have a good Canadian feel to it.  That said, the point is that most countries have an official residence for their head of state, although I’m not counting Hitler’s Führerbunker, since that place wasn’t really big on splashy amenities and I don’t recall any elaborate state dinners being held at the place that served as home for the Nazi dictator’s final days.  To fit into my discussion, I’d prefer there not be bullet-hole pockmarks in the brickwork, bomb damage to the exterior and the grounds, and the torched remains of the owners in the front court.  Decidedly not the look and feel I’m going after here.

Continue reading “POILIEVRE, BY-ELECTIONS, AND OFFICIAL RESIDENCES” →

STAMP OF APPROVAL

It’s by no means a strange thing for a nation to commemorate influential inspirational people on their currency and their postage products like stamps.

Every time you touch money, or every time you post a letter, you’ve been hands-on with this idea.  Honestly, if your picture makes  a currency denomination or a postage stamp, then you’re a big deal, and almost always in a good way.

That’s why I’m absolutely convinced that Donald Trump will be commemorated on a national postage stamp.

I just happen to believe that the postage stamp in question will be Canadian.

Continue reading “STAMP OF APPROVAL” →

LEFT/CENTRE LANE MERGE?

Conservatives and Liberals, the Blues and the Reds, have been political combatants in this country from the very beginning.  They’ve contested every election ever sense, with the Liberals taking enough of those contests to be regarded at one time as Canada’s “Natural Governing Party.”

When you butt heads that often, over that many years, it’s completely understandable that a natural enmity would emerge between the two, something that leaks right down to the roots, right down into generations of families identifying themselves as being one or the other.  And if they go red, then they hate blue, and if blue, then red.  

It’s one of the reasons why political discussions at dinner parties are a 50-50 proposition. 

Continue reading “LEFT/CENTRE LANE MERGE?” →

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑