All entries by this author

Can anyone believe a New Democrat majority? Welcome to the 21st century Alberta .. and the rest of Canada too!

May 6th, 2015 | By | Category: Canadian Provinces

I can’t think of another election where what I wanted to see happen has actually happened to quite the same extent as in Alberta on May 5, 2015. (It’s almost scary.) See, eg, “Alberta Election: NDP surges to majority government” and “New Democrats crush Progressive Conservative dynasty.” As one Conservative Albertan pointed out on CBC […]



All those things that don’t change in Alberta .. or do they, at last – blowing in the four strong winds ??

Apr 29th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

Just before midnight, at this past new year’s eve party in beautiful downtown East Toronto, who would have thought that an Alberta provincial election would suddenly be the most gripping event on the Canadian political landscape in the first half of 2015? Remember : we’ve already been fooled once in this game. And, as George […]



A new moment of truth for Justin Trudeau .. what will he do?

Apr 17th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

This past Wednesday Éric Grenier almost dramatically announced on the CBC News site : “Justin Trudeau’s Liberals lose lead to Tories for 1st time in 2 years.” The helpful chart that traces opinion polls on Canadian federal politics since the last election in May 2011 – in the Wikipedia article “Opinion polling for the 42nd […]



English-speaking Canada before 1763

Apr 10th, 2015 | By | Category: Heritage Now

Canadian history would be easier to digest if its main story-line was just that the French and Indians began the modern country in the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, and then the British monarchy and its rising global empire took it over at the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham, as […]



Of course as current third party the NDP is bound to talk up some kind of Liberal-NDP co-operation, but ..

Apr 3rd, 2015 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

Moving into the second quarter of 2015 may remind political junkies that the much anticipated Canadian federal election this year will probably come in the early fourth quarter. So, as some wise guys argue, the election is still six months away. Things looked different six months ago than they do now. Who knows just how […]



Nous le Nord : giving Drake a key to the city in “the most open-minded place you can find yourself”

Mar 12th, 2015 | By | Category: Entertainment

According to Paul Rimstead (I think), Bud Grant, the old Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach from the USA, used to say that “Canadians should be more like Texans.” Today it might be said that Stephen Harper from Alberta has now realized this dream. And whether you approve or not is the main ballot question in this […]



First Quest for the Northwest in Canada, 1615—1760

Feb 19th, 2015 | By | Category: Heritage Now

If you place a large map of North America on a table, and then turn it so that the Gulf of St. Lawrence is your central point of vision, your eye can easily move south and west, traveling the St. Lawrence River to the lower Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, all the way down […]



Is Dimitri Soudas who the Liberals really want?

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

What are we mere mortals to make of the news that “Eve Adams, former Conservative MP, joins Liberal Party … ‘She wanted to be her community’s voice in Ottawa, not the prime minister’s voice in her community’: Trudeau” ???? Or even more intriguingly : “Former Conservative advisor Dimitri Soudas to join Liberals with Eve Adams” […]



Tales from the northern woods .. sex at the CBC, Don Cherry, Obama, Nanos numbers, Bank of Canada surprise

Jan 23rd, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day up here in the northern woods, but still cold.  And like others I’m getting a little tired of waiting for the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign to seriously begin. All the professionals (including those on this website) are saying the campaign has already begun. But if you know anyone […]



Are the Harper Conservatives really en route to improving their re-election chances by leaps and bounds ????

Jan 17th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

If you have been in any way distressed by this past Thursday’s Global News headline on the Canadian federal election this year,  “Conservatives pull ahead of Liberals, could be on cusp of majority: poll,” take heart. There is at least some countervailing good/bad news. To start with, the poll in question – which reports Conservatives […]