Whatever else, the current generation of Montreal (and Vancouver?) Trudeaus have a keen sense of timing. (And timing, grandfather Pierre once pronounced, is everything in politics.) As the Edmonton Journal has explained: “Justin Trudeau became a father shortly after noon Thursday [October 18, 2007] when his wife Sophie Gregoire gave birth to … Xavier James […]
TORONTO, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007. “This year’s 9/11 video from Al Qaeda,” we learn from the New York Times, “seemed to be intended for the Americans the group attacked six years ago: it features English subtitles and an introduction by Osama bin Laden.” What we all know now that we didn’t quite know then is that […]
“Before 1914,” the historian John Lukacs wrote in his provocative 1984 book Outgrowing Democracy: A History of the United States in the Twentieth Century, “the most renowned international currency was the British pound, and the financial capital city of the world was London; by 1918 the dollar replaced the pound, and New York, London.” Rumours […]
Even in Canada the rising great mess in the Middle East is the focal point of the summer this year. And for Canadians especially it is not just Iraq – it’s Afghanistan and now Pakistan too. Meanwhile, Stephen Harper is on the road in the Western Hemisphere (Colombia, Chile, Barbados, and Haiti). And a somewhat […]
Friday, July 13, 2007 turns out an unlucky day for the fallen media baron Conrad Black, who used to be a Canadian citizen but gave that up to become a British lord. A US jury in Chicago has finally found him guilty on four of 13 white-collar-crime charges. That might sound not too bad, all […]
Soon enough some 2,500 brave soldiers from French Canada’s fabled Vingt-Deux Regiment will be dangerously at work in Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, at a send-off on June 20 “anti-war sentiment spilled on to the floor of the Quebec National Assembly.” But this did not perturb commanding Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, who just said: “It is good to […]
Usually Canadians can take comfort from the thought that, however crazy things may be in Canada, they are still a lot crazier in the colossal United States next door. But looking out on the sixth month of 2007 it seems possible that things are different this year. Just what is going to happen, e.g., on […]
The sun is shining at last in some parts of the country. But other voices are still asking why 63% of a random sample of Canadians recently told pollsters they want to elect judges. Others again are still trying to sing happy 25th birthday to the Charter of Rights. And Jean Chretien has at last […]
It seems no matter where you are these days the news is a little strange. Mars, it has just been reported, has a lot of ice. (And Earth has global warming. Go figure.) Then “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has admitted being responsible from A to Z’ for the 11 September 2001 attacks,” and many other “major […]
Being a millionaire nowadays of course means nothing. A decent executive house, in most places where decent executives would live, starts at around $1 million. According to one recent estimate: “There are about 250,000 people in Canada [alone] with a net worth of more than a million dollars, not counting real estate.” Being a billionaire, […]
