Ottawa Scene

Could some Liberal-New Democrat “non-aggression pact” really be the progressive wave of the future in Canadian federal politics this time ????

Apr 14th, 2023 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. APRIL 14, 2023. Wiser heads than ours have remarked that Canadian federal politics today reflects the consequences of “proportional representation” elections without actually having proportional representation. Stephen Harper’s new Conservative Party of Canada had one majority and two minority governments between 2006 and 2015. And now Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party of […]



Re-evaluating Justin Trudeau .. is Canada’s progressive hero showing feet of clay?

Oct 22nd, 2022 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK. RANDALL WHITE, FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO, FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER 2022. Like a few others (as best I can tell) I think I am finally ready to express my ultimate personal disappointment in PM Justin Trudeau. I say this while remembering that just over a year ago I wrote about “Why is so much […]



Giving Canadians stable progressive government for the next three years in a stormy global village

Apr 15th, 2022 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

“LAMENT FOR A NATION”. COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON, 15 APRIL 2022. According to pollster Nik Nanos the recent “Budget promises haven’t increased Liberal support” in Canadian federal politics. But this may not matter much. The March 22 “Supply and Confidence Agreement” between the Justin Trudeau Liberals and Jagmeet Singh New Democrats likely enough means that […]



Langevin, Macdonald, and Ryerson in the wake of the Kamloops graves : where do they belong in Canadian history?

Jun 11th, 2021 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK – RANDALL WHITE, FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. JUNE 11, 2021. I think Stephen Maher’s June 7, 2021 Maclean’s article, “John A. Macdonald can wait — We are at the beginning, not the end, of a process of reassessing our history“, says a number of good things on an important issue at the right […]



We’re having pandemic elections in New Brunswick, BC, and Saskatchewan. Why not in Canada too?

Oct 21st, 2020 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

UPDATED 4 PM ET, OCT 21 ; 2, 9 PM ET, OCT 22 ; 11 PM ET, OCT 23 ; 12 NOON PT, OCT 24. RANDALL WHITE, TORONTO. TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING, OCTOBER 21, 2020 : This Wednesday, October 21, 2020 marks the one-year anniversary of the October 21, 2019 Canadian federal election that […]



Dual citizens of Canada have as much right to become prime minister as any other kind of Canadian citizen

May 22nd, 2020 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

Before the issue vanishes altogether from the daily news I just want to quickly unburden myself of my quite certain and crystal clear views on dual citizenship and full-bore participation in Canadian democratic politics. My media texts are “Scheer didn’t follow through on renouncing US citizenship” by Rachel Aiello on the CTV News site (May […]



Are Prince Andrew and even Prince Charles really suited to their current symbolic roles in Canada’s Constitution?

Sep 26th, 2019 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS NOTE : One bright feature of the bubbling 21st century Canadian republican movement is the way it brings together many different sides of life in Canada today. On this site we are resolute Canadian republicans, but we don’t always agree with other equally resolute fellow republican friends. We believe Canada should be actively […]



Did Vancouver Pride Parade prefigure next federal government in Canada?

Aug 6th, 2019 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

It’s the early days of August – “for the people and their favourite islands.” Beyond the great but too often sad entertainment of current American history next door, no Canadian of any sense is thinking about anything at all serious. And that certainly goes double for the Canadian federal election this coming October 21. Photographs […]



Top 5 list : why we still support the Justin Trudeau Liberals for October 21 .. in spite of all their faults ..

May 5th, 2019 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

(1) Opinion polls certainly do suggest that the Justin Trudeau Liberals in Canada have serious problems right now. It is also true that a late April 2015 Abacus poll shows vaguely comparable results to a 2019 Angus Reid poll for broadly the same time of year. In late April 2015 Abacus was reporting Cons 36%, […]



Pacific Scandal is great grandma of SNC-Lavalin : but all “systematic organization of hatreds” is obsolete today

Feb 15th, 2019 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

[UPDATED FEBRUARY 18. SEE BELOW]. On Valentine’s Day 2019 it is hard to know just what to make of the first prime minister of the 1867 confederation of British North American Provinces now known as Canada. (Well … my thoughts here are actually being posted just after Valentine’s Day, but that’s just because I’m a […]