Busting the rail monopoly myth: Railway Association
I am writing to express my opposition to the view that was expressed by the Forest Products Association of Canada column entitled, “Getting government right for the forest industry” printed in the May 11 edition of The Hill Times. It is indicated that one of the critical strategies to improve the performance of Canada’s forest […]
Never has legal profession so dominated political life
You can’t throw a fastball in this town without beaning a lawyer. That is no reason to stop trying. Never has the legal profession so dominated political life. Contrary to myth, most politicians are not lawyers. Only 12 per cent of MPs and three of 10 provincial premiers have law degrees. Yet increasingly, those who […]
Mulroney paints himself as victim
Brian Mulroney is 70. He wintered in Palm Beach. It didn’t seem to do him any good. He appeared, pale and puffy, an old man struggling to explain why he did his banking in $1,000 bills. Inappropriate, he said. Decidedly not illegal. Other words came to mind. “Sad,” the Halifax Chronicle-Herald called it. An old […]
Don’t listen to spin, university graduates don’t necessarily make better MPs
There appears a new rule in national life: Only university graduates need apply. Proponents are outspoken on this. They would judge books by their covers, though very many pretty books have empty pages. The Public Policy Forum, an Ottawa think-tank, published a report last week detailing deficiencies of the 40th Parliament. It noted ethnic diversity […]
Mass media revel in a catastrophe, eh?
Fear is the cheapest commodity media peddle. Scavengers find it anywhere, just lying on the street, and bundle it up as newsworthy. It costs little, and carries no consequence. As the wry Windsor Star once put it, “Nothing’s more refreshing than a catastrophe.” Any scare will do. The Vancouver Sun last year warned readers to […]
Mass media revel in a catastrophe, eh?
Fear is the cheapest commodity media peddle. Scavengers find it anywhere, just lying on the street, and bundle it up as newsworthy. It costs little, and carries no consequence. As the wry Windsor Star once put it, “Nothing’s more refreshing than a catastrophe.” Any scare will do. The Vancouver Sun last year warned readers to […]
How urban Canada turned into Anytown, U.S.A.
OTTAWA—How did urban Canada turn into Anytown, U.S.A.? It happened through little municipal dramas, like the kind played out last week in Ottawa. City councillors debated whether to build a mall on one of the nation’s last surviving downtown fairgrounds, 19th century Lansdowne Park. In its 134 years the park has hosted bicycle races and […]
Pundits say Canada needs a leader who can explain big picture reassuringly, but how?
What this recession needs is a good photo op. Don’t think the Prime Minister’s Office isn’t working overtime on this. No PMO produced more amateur theatricals than Stephen Harper’s. Here comes Steve in a hard hat. There goes Steve patting small children. Oh, here’s Steve striding purposefully towards a podium flanked by rippling flags. The […]
CBC praised as ‘important,’ and ‘much loved,’ yet data tell a story network doesn’t
It’s time once again for a rip-snortin’ review of public broadcasting. Adjust all hearing aids. Has anybody seen my glasses? If you want to clear the room of people under 45, wheel in the Ovaltine and muse, “Whither the CBC.” Word of 799 job cuts and closure of small news bureaus by the Canadian Broadcasting […]
Progressives need to forget about issues and focus on own emotions
ATLANTA, GEORGIA—Progressive politicians, such as the U.S. Democrats who now control Congress and the presidency in the United States, are slowly and belatedly realizing that while issues—be it the economy, the Iraq War, energy, immigration, or health care—play a major role in elections, what makes politicians successful are their personal stories, their principles, their ways […]
