Posts Tagged ‘ Senate reform in Canada ’

Senate reform for better regional representation still a great idea .. but it has to recognize the cross-Canada democracy

Jun 20th, 2021 | By | Category: In Brief

COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. JUNE 20, 2021. We (well most of us anyway) like Justin Trudeau’s current Liberal government of Canada more than some we know. It is not even close to half-perfect, but to us it’s still head and shoulders above any available alternative. One thing we do not at all admire from the […]



Six notes from the Six, waiting for Raptors parade : Hillier vs French, Senate reform, Federal Liberals, Citizenship oath, 2011 voter fraud, BoJo in UK

Jun 16th, 2019 | By | Category: In Brief

(1) Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff, Dean French, is going ahead with “a defamation lawsuit over posts made on social media by Randy Hillier, the maverick MPP ejected from the governing Progressive Conservative caucus.” And “Maverick MPP Randy Hillier says lawsuit by top Doug Ford aide is meant to silence him.” All this […]



On the edge of 2019 : will Trump jump? ; Fats Waller ; Trudeau’s Senate ; CANZUK still crazy after all these years

Dec 17th, 2018 | By | Category: In Brief

On the third-last Monday of 2018, here are four short notes on the world as it looks up close in We the North of the North American Great Lakes : 1. Is Trump getting ready to jump (what would Machiavelli think?) This past Saturday morning Maggie at “Hear Me Roar” – who specializes in “The […]



On the “speculative play King Charles III” in Toronto .. and the future of the British monarchy in Canada

Feb 13th, 2018 | By | Category: Canadian Republic

As an altogether confirmed Canadian republican (not at all the same as an American Republican of course, especially today), I ordinarily do my best to ignore the British monarchy. But two contemporary media events have slightly increased my interest in the subject. The first is Harry Windsor’s forthcoming marriage to the mixed-race (and unquestionably hot) […]



“And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north” : Democracy in US & Canada 2018

Jan 21st, 2018 | By | Category: In Brief

I.  LIVING NEXT DOOR TO INCREASINGLY JUST PLAIN CRAZY ELEPHANT [UPDATED JAN 23]. Is anyone surprised that there is a US federal government “shutdown” on the anniversary of Donald Trump’s first year in office? If you actually are interested, try : “On Trump’s First Anniversary, a Government Shutdown” by John Cassidy in The New Yorker […]



We’re off to the bear-flag republic to study the natives, after 3 months of puzzling and mercurial new president

Apr 20th, 2017 | By | Category: In Brief

This coming Saturday morning the entire staff here (except for Dominic Berry, who has a big date with his current squeeze at a local sporting event) will be boarding an airplane at YYZ, bound for our regular seminar with technical support staff currently residing in the land of the Golden State Warriors. (They are now, […]



Maybe new Advisory Board for Senate Appointments in Canada should experiment with selection by lottery too

Oct 28th, 2016 | By | Category: In Brief

The juxtaposition of the last days of the twisted 2016 US election campaign and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest round of “independent” appointments to the still seriously unreformed Senate of Canada casts some harsh light on what the new Liberal government in Ottawa is trying to do with this archaic Canadian institution – still too […]



Ave atque vale Stephen Harper MP : his Conservative government of Canada could have been a lot worse

Aug 26th, 2016 | By | Category: In Brief

Those of us who regularly have breakfast while watching cp24 in Canada’s most disliked city region will already have seen the reassuring video of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, resigning today as Member of Parliament for Calgary Heritage. I never voted for Mr. Harper’s party, and I remain opposed to most of its declared  policies. […]



Happy saxophone holidays to the shadow of your smile (and other close-to-year-end notes), 1965—2015

Dec 10th, 2015 | By | Category: In Brief

“The Shadow of Your Smile” was one of the last enduring popular songs in the tradition of the Great American Songbook – whose truest heyday was “from the 1920s to the 1950s.” With music by Johnny Mandel and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, it first appeared in 1965, as the Academy Award winning Best Original […]



Really 5 or 6 different Canadian regional elections on same day in 2015 (or Senate reform where are you?)

Aug 17th, 2015 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

[UPDATED AUG 18TH]. The second week in the long official campaign for the Canadian federal election of 2015 is over. And the congenital regional diversity of it all is what sticks in my mind right now. I’m watching from the old East Toronto, close to the most easterly of the Great Lakes. Reading “Liberal leader […]