Archive for October 2015

How will Canadian history judge Stephen Harper .. very early night thoughts from Citizen X ??

Oct 30th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

It seems appropriate – if also impossible in any deadly serious way – to suggest something about Stephen Harper’s legacy to Canada (and a small patch of the wider universe?), during his final days as Conservative leader and federal prime minister. (Justin Trudeau will officially succeed him on Wednesday, November 4. A  new interim leader […]



Recovering from the 2015 Canadian election with Louis Menand .. and the Cold War in New York, 1947—1967

Oct 25th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

You have to do something … to unwind mentally and readjust to ordinary life, after all the raw excitement of a historic democratic campaign (well … that’s what we think up here in this now all-red city [aka blue in the USA]  …  still trying in vain to emulate Manhattan …) So …  to  recover […]



Back to the real Canadian future with Justin Trudeau .. maybe?

Oct 20th, 2015 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

As we write in the early morning on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have won 184 seats in the Canadian House of Commons with 39.5% of the cross-Canada popular vote. (A mere 170 seats is required for a bare majority government : Mr. Trudeau is the new prime minister elect of Canada.) The […]



Citizen X on Canadian election 2015, VIII : Justin Trudeau is a rock star .. and that’s the simplest truth?

Oct 18th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

It’s now well into the evening … and we’re all back from Midland, Ontario, land of alluring autumn leaves and morning ice … and (October 16—18, 2015) archaeologists, aboriginal peoples, and others from Ontario, Quebec, and the Eastern States Archaeological Federation …  and, finally, a place where one studious young lady with cute curly hair […]



Citizen X on Canadian election 2015, VII : Trudeau-Mulcair, Just Trudeau, or what? .. we’re off to see Champlain

Oct 15th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

As also happened back in late August, I have been assigned the thankless  task of suddenly announcing that the entire counterweights Toronto editorial office is shutting down, until this coming Sunday afternoon or evening, October 18. The excuse this time is “Circles of Interaction: The Wendat and Their Neighbours in the Time of Champlain,” a […]



Various natives get restless as 2015 Canadian election day draws near .. but is a Liberal majority possible ??

Oct 13th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

The appearance of Justin Trudeau at the Beacher Café in Toronto this morning – just around the corner from our counterweights editorial offices (aka world headquarters)  – was a reminder that Canadian federal election day 2015 is now less than a week away. As another sign of something a little out of the ordinary, the […]



How many red sails in the sunset .. should we start getting ready for another PM Trudeau ??

Oct 10th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

Here in Toronto, where our editorial offices are currently located (most of the time), with just nine days before the fateful 2015 Canadian federal election on October 19, we are starting to learn that you have to be steely about the baseball Blue Jays. Meanwhile, back in the land of election data, if there is […]



Has Canadian federal campaign finally turned the corner .. and is “Justin” where it’s going at last, after all?

Oct 4th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

[UPDATED OCTOBER 5, 7]. With just two weeks to go to the Monday, October 19 election day, it’s beginning to look like the front lines of the 2015 Canadian federal election ground war we were lucky to hear from at this site last week absolutely did and do have a point. The Mulcair New Democrats […]



Citizen X on Canadian election 2015, VI .. Guru Grenier asks if Conservatives “inching toward victory?”

Oct 2nd, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

[UPDATED OCT 2, 1PM ET]. CBC Poll Tracker guru Éric Grenier published an intriguing piece yesterday – “Are Stephen Harper’s Conservatives inching toward victory? … Conservatives occupy best position they’ve been in since the campaign began.” Grenier notes that his current averaging of other people’s polls “gives the Tories a significant edge in the seat […]