RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026. Today marks the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. In the middle of so much so wrong about the USA today, the event reminds us that some sides of the American past, present, and future still look “close enough for jazz.” Every […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2026. It seems likely enough that Doug Ford, Premier of Canada’ most populous province of Ontario , is not too popular with US President Donald Trump these days. See eg : “U.S. Chamber of Commerce event with Doug Ford cancelled after White House complaints, sources say” […]

RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2026. Two recent polls suggest this coming fall’s Alberta separatist referendum is not at all likely to lead to any actual separation from the rest of Canada. Ipsos, in the field May 28–June 1, 2026, found “Limited and Declining Support for Separation in Alberta … Only 18% say they […]

RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2026. In some ways calling Canada’s most populous province of Ontario “Central Canada” is a misnomer. The geographic dead centre of the country is in Manitoba, just next door west of Ontario. (And the current Premier of Manitoba, Wab Kinew, was born in Kenora, Ontario — the real-world metropolis […]

RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2026. Here, humbly offered, is yet another quick note on the new gathering storm over Canadian separatism. As in : “Leaders across the political spectrum are responding today to news that Alberta’s fall referendum will now decide whether Albertans want a vote on separatism this coming October.” I’m not […]

RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2026. As an introductory aside this past Sunday, May 3 marked the 557th anniversary of the birth of the first modern political scientist, Niccolo Machiavelli, in the old city state of Florence, Italy (aka Firenze, in Italian). Machiavelli has an inapt reputation as “an immoral cynic.” But his writing […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026. Among Canadians it has become a commonplace that the belittling attacks of President Trump in his intermittent 51st state war on Canada have finally inspired a new wave of Canadian patriotism, deeper and tougher than anyone alive today can remember. Similar breezes may be at […]

RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026. Two key current political events — one international and the other national — have helped cheer up we progressive voters on the north shore of Lake Ontario (most easterly of the North American Great Lakes). The international event is of course the April 12, 2026 election in Hungary. […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2026. Robert Reich, Democratic President Clinton’s secretary of labor, 1993–1997 and retired UC Berkeley professor, is far from the only eminent US commentator who has been raising deeply serious questions about President Trump’s mental health in the early spring of 2026. Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNOW, as […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2026. According to Yahoo News : “More than 8 million people turned out at over 3,300 ‘No Kings’ protests across all 50 states on Saturday, organizers said, calling it the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history. The first two rounds, in June and October 2025, drew […]