All entries by this author

Is Canadian multiculturalism changing .. where will it go if it is?

Jan 13th, 2007 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

Whatever may or may not be the leading edge in Ottawa these days (to say nothing of Washington, DC), the first few weeks of 2007 have been notable elsewhere for fresh bubblings about Canadian multiculturalism in the news. Two new studies from the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy have helped turn the heat […]



That was the year that was .. 2006 quite remarkable .. and what about YOU in 2007?

Dec 23rd, 2006 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

The usual year-end reflections on the state of the universe have added bite this year. Starting with Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and finally reaching all the way to the United Nations (to say nothing of the still wider eco-sphere), 2006 has seen some remarkable changes. It is probably a good thing that just […]



America’s breadbasket moves to Canada .. and other signs of near-holiday madness

Dec 8th, 2006 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

As virtually everyone prophesied beforehand, on Thursday, December 7, 2006 the Canadian House of Commons defeated a motion to re-open last year’s legalization of gay marriage, 175123. Meanwhile, a December 5 item in the New York Times, headlined “America’s breadbasket moves to Canada?“, seems to have provoked remarkably little attention elsewhere. (Probably because it does not […]



Stephane Dion is new Liberal Party of Canada leader .. what happens now?

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

MONTREAL. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2. 7:00 PM ET. The wide-open Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention focused more quickly than many were predicting. This morning’s second ballot results came in at: Michael Ignatieff – 31.6% ; Bob Rae – 24.1% ; Stephane Dion – 20.8% ; Gerard Kennedy -18.8% ; Ken Dryden – 4.7%. On the rules of the game Ken […]



Snow in Vancouver .. as 265 Ottawa MPs drink Québécois nation Kool-Aid

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

OTTAWA. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2006. 10:30 PM ET. Earlier this evening the Canadian House of Commons voted 265-16 in favour of the resolution “That this House recognizes that the Québécois are a nation within a united Canada.” At about the same time old federal Liberal policy guru and Pierre Trudeau admirer Tom Axworthy was on […]



Countdown to Liberal convention .. can Kennedy-Dion beat Bob Rae (and Michael Ignatieff)?

Nov 17th, 2006 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

It is not surprising that some of the same minds who think Michael Ignatieff will make an excellent leader of the Liberal Party of Canada also think that Governor Howard Dean, will be an excellent person to “give the keynote address at the Party’s upcoming Leadership and Biennial Convention” in Montreal, Tuesday, November 28 Saturday, December […]



Not a slap on the forehead? .. democracy in America 2006: ya gotta believe its some step ahead

Nov 8th, 2006 | By | Category: USA Today

UPDATED NOVEMBER 9. According to Canada’s self-confessed national newspaper, as originally reported by the indispensable Associated Press, the “best face” George W. Bush’s spokesman Tony Snow could put on the (now altogether clear) results of the US mid-term elections was “some people saw it coming. It was not a a slap-on-the-forehead kind of shock.’” Just slapping […]



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, […]



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 […]



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 […]