The Liberal Party of Canada has some reasons for feeling good  at its Montreal convention this weekend.  (Eg : “Majority says it’s ‘time for another federal party to take over’: poll” ; “More Canadians share Justin Trudeau’s values: poll” ; and “Liberals open wider lead over Conservatives: poll.”) Two members of CBC TV’s most widely […]

Just over a week ago we heard that “Proroguing Parliament till October buys Harper and Tories time … The restart effectively gives Mr. Harper two high-profile opportunities … to sell Canadian voters on the notion he is still the person to lead the country.” The first opportunity is “a Speech from the Throne that will […]

Dr. Dave Town from Orillia, Ontario offered an intriguing comment on my recent post about Senate reform,  “Is doing anything sensible with the Senate of Canada just a vain fantasy?” (And I believe he is the same person I have now intriguingly discovered on the “gossip-stew of the internet” : successful chiropractor by day, public-spirited  […]

Kudos to Google Canada for including a “Mountie in the iconic bright red uniform and broad-brimmed hat … in front of mountains, forest and water” on its home page today, in commemoration of the “140th anniversary of the North West Mounted Police.” In case you have forgotten, the North West Mounted Police were established by […]

One thing about life in the global village nowadays is that the subtleties of political debate keep getting lost in the demands of 140-characters-or-less, and similar rules elsewhere. (And if you think things were always that way, try reading a 19th century newspaper.) A case in point glows brightly in this past Wednesday’s Washington Post […]

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013. GANATSEKWYAGON, ONTARIO, CANADA. Today marks the funeral of the fabled Iron Lady back in the old imperial metropolis across the sea. And according to Matthew Coutts at the Daily Brew :”Canadian Conservative leaders including Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in attendance when Margaret Thatcher, the woman some consider the mother […]

[UPDATED APRIL 16]. MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013. MOON RIVER.  Hélène Buzzetti at Le Devoir has probably said it best, in the official language of the first people who called themselves Canadians: “C’était écrit dans le ciel et le ciel aura vu juste. Justin Trudeau, le député de Papineau, la rock star de la politique fédérale […]

With some three weeks to go before the Liberal Party of Canada chooses its next leader, there seems little doubt that Justin Trudeau will be the man (or woman, of course, as the case may in theory be : “Joyce Murray and Martha Hall Findlay are fighting over who’ll finish second.”). Even those who are […]

Sometimes, when not much seems to be happening on the current political scene, you can catch glimpses of a more fascinating long-term future in the minor events of the day. The headline on Andy Radia’s recent interview with the now retired Stockwell Day, in the wilds of BC, may qualify under this heading, despite all […]

This past Thursday Steve Paikin wrote a short “Inside Agenda Blog” on the TV Ontario website called “Why Stephen Harper May Step Down This Summer.”Â  The Huffington Post repeated the item in its Politics Canada section. On Friday Andy Radia on the Yahoo Canada site wrote that “Steve Paiken – a journalist for TV Ontario […]