In what increasingly does seem like the wild and crazy “northern uprising” of the 2014 Ontario election, the counterweights editors aptly enough opined only yesterday : “anyone who is hoping that Kathleen’s Liberals will win at least another minority government on June 12 probably ought to be a bit worried. If the May 9 Ipsos […]

GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014. 3:00 PM ET. So (as the premier often begins her remarks on any subject) … a lot has happened in Ontario politics today – and sooner, it seems fair to say, than the smart money thought. This morning NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced that her party would not be […]

The April 25, 2014 Supreme Court of Canada response to the Harper government’s queries on Senate reform includes some poignant passages. This is one of them: “The Constitution Act, 1867 contemplates a specific structure for the federal Parliament, ‘similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom’ … The Act creates both a lower elected […]

One of Canada’s leading go-to guys on political opinion polls, Éric Grenier, posted some intriguing Ontario politics notes last Saturday – under the headline “Tim Hudak And Ontario PCs’ Polling May Be On The Rise (Maybe).” Grenier pointed out that : “A survey conducted by EKOS Research for iPolitics between March 27 and April 3 […]

At least some people are talking about how interesting the Quebec provincial election campaign has suddenly become. See, eg : “Marois says rest of Canada would be welcome to visit independent Quebec” ; “Independent Quebec would keep Canadian dollar, Marois says” ; “Marois tells Canada not to be afraid of Quebec election outcome” ; “Naked […]

It was warmer here yesterday, but now the cold and even some snow have returned. This past week, when records for low temperatures were broken in some places nearby, I  took a certain solace from “Man found ‘frozen solid’ on Highway 401 transported to hospital.” It reminded me of a sentence composed 45 years ago […]

Back on January 21, I was reporting that “A new poll suggests the Progressive Conservatives are off to a strong lead in two Ontario byelections being held next month … The poll, conducted Jan. 15, took a random sample of voters in both Thornhill and Niagara Falls … In Thornhill, 44 per cent of voters […]

Late last spring Kathleen Wynne got into some trouble in some parts of her most populous province for such headlines as “Ontario’s Wynne wants to see Senate reformed” and/or “Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne wants to reform Senate, not abolish it.” At least on some accounts of the mind of Ontario, this does seem like what […]

As trained as we are to be cold and calculating in the big city, sometimes it is almost impossible not to be pleased by something in the news. My pleasure over the past few days has been (what I at least take to be) the broad public reaction to Toronto City Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong’s proposal […]

Last Week Susanna Kelley at ontarionewswatch.com noted that “former Liberal MP Ken Dryden” has been pointing to “a palpable anger out there amongst the citizenry.” This probably has some heightened resonance in Canada’s most populous province. And in the same context Ms Kelley has observed : “Few with any political sense are willing to make […]