Category Archives: Canada

Galloway

I’ve just read the Federal Court’s decision in the Galloway case. It’s as odd and interesting as the controversy itself. Here’s why: Media reports have suggested that Galloway was ruled inadmissible under Section 34(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allows immigration officers to exclude a foreign national on security grounds if the [...]

On Subsidizing the Press

Apropos my previous post, I note that David Akin is highlighting the Conservative Government’s decision to subsidize a politically conservative regional news magazine. Says Akin: This, of course, was the day after CBC announced about 800 layoffs because of a budget shortfall it hoped Canada’s government, on behalf of all taxpayers, might cover. For better [...]

Sigh

Warren Kinsella, Aug. 3, 2008: THE NOTIONAL PEST, JUNK BOND MAKER: [I] will continue to remain amused that a newspaper that loses nearly a million bucks a month continues to give the rest of us lectures about fiscal restraint and probity and conservative principles. Warren Kinsella, Feb. 20, 2009: CANWEST TURMOIL CONTINUES: Advice to former [...]

Dear Ottawa

Wake up: MOSCOW (AP) – Russia is planning to create a dedicated military force to help protect its interests in the disputed Arctic region. The presidential Security Council has released a document outlining goverment policy for the Arctic that includes creating a special group of military forces. The report was released this week and reported [...]

Who Are These Interlopers?

Paul Wells and Adam Radwanski have the temerity to be eminently reasonable in their reactions to the Gary Goodyear thing. Wells: Gary Goodyear can believe what he wants, as long as there are systems in place that ensure an Andrew Hendry can get a Steacie Fellowship. And apparently there are. If the junior minister for [...]

At the Risk of Being Labelled a FanBoy…

… I have to say: this guy’s good at his job. By “his job,” I mean governing a G7 nation. Two points. First, isn’t it fascinating to see Harper interviewed by someone with whom he doesn’t have the dysfunctional relationship he has with the Parliamentary press gallery? I’m not laying blame for that relationship; goodness [...]

About Iggy and those N.L. MPs

The conventional wisdom in newsrooms and among the bien-pensant across the country is that Parliament is dysfunctional and our political class embarrassing. But presented this week with an instance of sophisticated politicking, the commentariat have, almost without exception, cried bloody murder. What is wrong with these people? The complaints about our dysfunctional Parliament are right, [...]

A Fiscal Churchill

I’m not feeling particularly eloquent right now, so I’ll be blunt: Churchill was Churchill for two reasons: (1) he was always Churchill; that is, on the defining issue of his time, he held a consistent position for more than a decade before that position became politically popular; and (2) Munich; that is, Churchill’s position only [...]

So Confused…

For two and a half years we were told that the Tories were bad because they were too ideological. But now we’re being told that they’re bad because they’re not at all ideological. Wh-wh-gaaa! I mean, either is a fair critique, in the abstract. And you could argue – as I’m sure many a tired [...]