Archive for October 2006

Deja vu all over again .. Justin Trudeau weighs in: Is Quebec a Nation?

Oct 27th, 2006 | By | Category: Canadian Provinces

Now the late Pierre Trudeau’s eldest son, Justin – a.k.a. husband of “Canada’s Princess” Sophie Gregoire – has entered the new great debate started by Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff. I.e. should the Canadian constitution at long last recognize that la belle province is a nation within Canada, or something like that? Like his father, […]



The French fall classic 2006 .. and Central Europe in Toronto Art

Oct 23rd, 2006 | By | Category: Entertainment

Probably very few citizens of the USA today would want to call Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals the French World Series of 2006. But this does make some sense for Canadians, francophones and anglophones alike, who know their own history. Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, and […]



New fractured scene in Ottawa .. Canadians should just get used to it?

Oct 19th, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

It is a certainty that the American people will be voting this coming November 7. And who knows what wonders may be wrought? But the latest gurglings from Ottawa suggest that the Canadian people could be waiting quite a while longer. (And seeing that the last Canadian federal election was less than nine months ago, […]



The excellent Governor General Jean : Is she just the Canadian Liberal still in office?

Oct 15th, 2006 | By | Category: Canadian Republic

On the face of things the big Canadian political excitement this weekend is the last federal Liberal leadership debate in Toronto today, Sunday, October 15. But the 2006 race to lead the legendary old Grits – “Canada’s natural governing party” for at least about two-thirds of the 20th century – won’t quite catch fire (if […]



Canadian Thanksgiving 2006 .. what does the eclectic identity of this country mean?

Oct 10th, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

Canadian thanksgiving, up north where the leaves fall from the trees earlier in the colder weather, is not quite the national holiday it is several weeks later in the USA. But this year we have at least had some reminders of just how confusing what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just called the “unique history […]



Woodward’s flawed report .. and the five US geographic commands in the global village

Oct 6th, 2006 | By | Category: USA Today

The trouble with what Bob Woodward seemed to be saying in the October 3 excerpt from his new book in the Washington Post – and on Larry King’s CNN TV show the night before – was that it reduces the whole healthy US domestic controversy over the Iraq War these days to a question of […]



Liberal leadership race in Canada .. rolling update and autopsy on super weekend 2006

Oct 2nd, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006. 10:30 AM. [OCTOBER 3 UPDATE AND RESULTS AS OF OCTOBER 5 ADDED]. With more than 85% of the so-called super-weekend results calculated for convention delegates in the Canadian federal Liberal leadership race, Michael Ignatieff enjoys a tidy if far from overwhelming lead. Bob Rae is in a clear second place, with Gerard Kennedy and […]