Defence Department won’t release combat and non-combat numbers in Afghanistan
Casualties in Afghanistan almost certainly number more than 1,000. No reporter has confirmed the figure. I tried and was told it is a state secret. The human cost of the war is likely 10 times what the government says, yet the number is confidential. On Sept. 4, I contacted the office of Defence Minister Peter […]
Tories’ bill to increase prisons draws little media
OTTAWA—Can a prison binge lower the crime rate? And can we afford it? Those questions provoke passionate debate in media outside Canada yet barely a murmur here. The latest Conservative bill to increase the prison population last week drew only passing mention in newscasts and daily newspapers. The Winnipeg Free Press ran the story a […]
Parliament Hill ripe for haunting ghost stories
No reporter has documented a good ghost story on Parliament Hill. I put this down to lack of journalistic enterprise. The place is ripe for haunting. Parts of the building are 150 years old and witnessed numerous untimely deaths due to fires, electrocution, heart attacks, bad liquor, knife fighting, etcetera. Paranormal events have been witnessed […]
New federal data confirms headlong plunge in domestic car sales
OTTAWA—Remember the Sunbeam Rapier? The question sprang into sudden relevance last week with new federal data confirming a headlong plunge in domestic car sales. StatsCanada’s New Motor Vehicle Sales identified a 24 per cent drop in late summer sales of North American autos. The report passed without comment on Parliament Hill. It is a good […]
Time to toss shovelful of damp earth on Obama’s fading media cult folks
October is hard truths—in baseball and farming and journalism, too. October is when wispy, ineffectual wishes fall from the sky and are ground into cold facts. Journalists should be October people. It is time to toss a shovelful of damp earth on a fading media cult, “the Obama factor,” (Toronto Sun); “Obama envy,” (The Globe […]
Recession’s over because we’re deeper in debt, printing more money, and because a man on TV said so
OTTAWA—The recession is over. The Bank of Canada said so. A few skeptics stopped short of celebration. “Troubled? Stressed? Turn to prayer,” the Western Catholic Reporter advised readers. Good Times, a magazine for retirees, published a list of “Top 10 Retirement Savings Tips.” No. 8 said get a job. The labour periodical Our Times asked, […]
Fisher remained outspoken where others sought refuge in silence
OTTAWA—Death smoothes the sharp edges of memory. Journalists last week eulogized their late colleague Douglas Fisher as a kind of Santa Claus, a gentle giant, a lovable curmudgeon. They could not have known him well. At 1960s-era cocktail parties Fisher used to light his cigarettes by striking a match on the zipper of his trousers. […]
Before you hit the hustings, brush up on your speechwriting
OTTAWA—The next election, whenever it comes, will bring speeches, thousands of them, relentlessly. Few people hear more speeches than reporters. Pity them. Even interesting people are dull speakers. I once covered a talk by celebrity architect Douglas Cardinal. His audience was eager and attentive—for six minutes or so. The speech was excruciating. After 15 minutes […]
Next campaign will mark 52 years of fake imagery in our politics
Iggy stood in a forest. The sky was blue. His shirt was blue. His eyes were blue. “Light blue symbolizes water, sky and heaven,” Psychology Today explained. “Medium blue: friendship and sincerity. Royal and electric blues: strength and vibrance.” Yes, that was it: Iggy looked strong and friendly. The debut last week of pre-campaign ads […]
British monarchy puts up with us, we put up with them
Canadians only keep the monarchy for the pure joy we derive from knowing it irritates Quebec separatists. If not for this spectacle we’d have long ago declared a republic. “It is archaic!” Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe once sputtered to reporters. “An affront;” “hare-brained;” “no business here.” Don’t like the Queen, eh? Hmm, you don’t say. […]
