Archive for May 2007

The summer of our discontent .. living dangerously in Canada in 2007?

May 31st, 2007 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

Usually Canadians can take comfort from the thought that, however crazy things may be in Canada, they are still a lot crazier in the colossal United States next door. But looking out on the sixth month of 2007 it seems possible that things are different this year. Just what is going to happen, e.g., on […]



Indexing Stephen Harper .. man from new west and old Canada (and empire on which sun never set)?

May 25th, 2007 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

“Your country as much as this country,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Canada’s brave soldiers, during his latest surprise visit to Afghanistan, “owes you a debt of gratitude and its unwavering support.” And with these words he summarized for some Canadians why he does not deserve to win a majority government in the next federal […]



Why is Attorney General of Canada so keen to shut down Roach vs. Queen?

May 20th, 2007 | By | Category: Canadian Republic

On Friday, May 18 CBC News reported that Toronto civil rights lawyer Charles Roach “has won a key battle in his bid to take the Canadian oath of citizenship – without pledging allegiance to the Queen.” The Attorney General of Canada had wanted the court case in which Mr. Roach is trying to do this […]



Margaret and Sophie in Ethiopia

May 14th, 2007 | By | Category: Entertainment

The females in our focus group finally agreed that, on the level of Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie in The Simple Life, Margaret and Sophie Trudeau in Ethiopia works. The appearance of Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau’s wife and mother in the CTV show A Window Opens, on Saturday, May 12, at 7 PM (whatever your […]



Half-listening to the news: cheers and jeers .. do we really know the difference?

May 12th, 2007 | By | Category: Entertainment

In the past couple of weeks I’ve been half-listening to the news and become more than irritated at a couple of stories. I have to wonder whether there’s a larger trend emerging.The first story surrounds Shane Doan, captain of the Canadian team at the World Hockey Championships in Russia. Next comes Imus, the US mega […]



French election shows neo-cons have won a lot .. even as George W. declines and falls

May 7th, 2007 | By | Category: Countries of the World

Even before the definitive result was known, it seemed clear enough from the cable TV news that the right-wing candidate, Nicholas Sarkozy, was going to win the final round of the French presidential election on Sunday, May 6, 2007. If it’s a choice between “Dracula and Mary Poppins,” as the London press proposed, it probably […]



Murder on the streets of Toronto the good .. Harper’s crime agenda and the case of Bly Markis

May 3rd, 2007 | By | Category: Crime Stories

Years ago now I was walking up Yonge Street in Toronto with a few friends one night, after some serious discourse in a bar. On a street corner a few blocks south of the subway at Bloor we were very surprised to come across a strikingly beautiful and even well-dressed young woman, squatting on the […]