Canadian snowbirds chartering private jets to fly south for faster COVID-19 vaccine access
Some Canadian snowbirds are chartering private planes to head to Florida during the winter where anyone over age 65 is able to get vaccinated for COVID-19 right now. Ontario couple Annie and Ralph say they have travelled south for the winter for “several years,” and despite travel advisories from the federal government, decided this year […]
Ongoing U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports of solar products ‘unwarranted,’ says Ng
The federal government is pushing back against ongoing American tariffs on Canadian solar products. In a statement today, International Trade Minister Mary Ng calls the tariffs “unwarranted” and says they “clearly violate the provisions and the spirit” of the North American free-trade deal. She says Canada has asked to consult with the U.S. on the […]
Canada pressing Michigan to avert shutdown of pipeline critical to fuel needs in Ontario and Quebec
The federal government and several provinces are pressing the United States in hopes of averting the ordered May shutdown of a pipeline in Michigan, which business groups call a key fuel conduit for Ontario and Quebec. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce warns of significant disruption to fuel supplies to Canada’s two most populous provinces if […]
Ontario has broken two COVID-19 records with more than 3,500 new cases logged and 89 more deaths confirmed. Health officials confirmed 3,519 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, a significant increase from the 3,266 infections logged a day earlier. They also logged 89 more deaths related to the disease, surpassing the province’s all-time record of 86 […]
Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau will convene a virtual First Ministers meeting today, with speeding up COVID-19 vaccinations high on the agenda. Earlier this week, Trudeau voiced frustration over the pace of getting Canadians inoculated against the novel coronavirus. As of Tuesday, Canada had received nearly 425,000 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines — but […]
Read MoreCanada’s special adviser on the Iranian military’s downing of a passenger jet one year ago this week is rejecting Tehran’s offer to pay $150,000 to the families of those killed in the tragedy. Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal public safety minister, says Iran doesn’t have the right to offer compensation to victims’ families unilaterally. Goodale […]
Read MoreAn Ontario hospital executive who vacationed in the Caribbean over the holidays is no longer CEO of Niagara Health, according to a statement from the hospital network’s board of directors, but is still CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System as of 9 p.m. Wednesday. Dr. Tom Stewart had been the CEO of two hospital networks […]
Read MoreThe world’s oldest democracy has had a brush with its own mortality. An attempt to disrupt the U.S. transition of democratic power has delivered a wakeup call for a system poisoned by escalating political hatred. Make no mistake about what this was: “A failed insurrection” is what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it. So […]
Read MoreQuebec is the first province to impose a curfew in an effort to curb soaring COVID-19 infections, as the rise in infections across the country continues to strain hospitals and has left some morgues running out of space. Premier Francois Legault spoke of the need to take drastic action as he announced a four-week curfew, […]
Read MoreFeatured Ink
Conservatives are good at preaching about personal responsibility, bad at following it
For months, in the face of calls for his government to do more to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has preached the virtue of personal responsibility. But it doesn’t seem like his own MLAs or staffers were listening very closely. After all, six elected representatives and a growing number of press secretaries, […]
The Art of Protest
It was an impossible task to watch what was happening in the American capitol building yesterday and not be moved. Those of us who lived through the Vietnam era recall similar images in Washington, Chicago, and other locations, but this wasn’t that. Forceful demonstrations are common in these last few years, but yesterday’s event was […]
So when do we start promoting democracy?
If the sacking of a capital by forces loyal to a failed autocrat was happening in any other country it’s hard to imagine Canadian officials would stay this quiet. As a mob of idiots descended on the capitol building of the country that sometimes likes to market itself as the world’s leading democracy, to sack […]
Donald Trump unleashed dark politics in America. Could it happen in Canada?
Canada has done everything it can to seal itself off from the havoc that Donald Trump created in his country during the pandemic. But the damage that Trump has done to democracy, culminating in the surreal, mob scene at Capitol Hill on Wednesday, is a contagion that needs more than border closings to contain. Sore […]
An attempted insurrection offers one final humiliation to Trump’s enablers
Hours after brainwashed thugs stormed the U.S. Capitol and tried to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden, a cavalcade of humiliated Republican senators tacitly admitted that they had been appeasing a madman. The supposed election integrity issues that had been material enough for them to object to Mr. Biden’s electors way back at … […]
Trump must be stopped now or anarchy will prevail
Michael Cohen, the long-time fixer for Donald Trump, said a couple of years ago that “given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power.” Was anyone listening? Many thought the reckless demagogue wouldn’t go that far. They found out differently […]
It’s all about the base for O’Toole
Erin O’Toole wants all Canadians to see themselves in his Conservative Party. “Canadians haven’t always seen themselves in our party. We are going to change that,” he says in a new online ad. O’Toole recognizes that winning an election will require him to convince voters who backed other parties last time around, and he has […]
The tens of thousands of white people who rioted at the U.S. Capitol were reclaiming white supremacy
Let it be remembered that it was white people who were allowed to breach the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress, white people who broke the building’s glass windows and rummaged senators’ desks, white people who laid violent siege to the seat of American democracy, white people whose attacks led to Vice-President Mike […]
On This Day in Canada’s Political History: Beverley McLachlin Becomes Canada’s First Female Chief Justice of Canada
January 7, 2000, is a great day for all Canadian women – and men – to recall! It was, of course, on this date in 2000 that Beverley McLachlin became Canada’s very first female Chief Justice. She served a total of 17 years in this vital post, in the process also becoming the longest-serving Chief […]
Ottawa’s COVID Rogues: The End of ‘No, Minister’?
Years from now, the Adventures of Rod Phillips will be a COMMs 101 case study in optics mismanagement. For one thing, there was the sheer stupidity of the finance minister of Canada’s largest province, responsible for every nickel spent by Ontario, going on holiday outside the country in the middle of the biggest health, employment […]
The slow arrival of COVID-19 vaccines is the latest setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in confronting the biggest challenge of his political career. His overarching responsibility is to reduce the number of infections and mortality from the pandemic and mitigate its devastating impact on the economy. Tragically for the country, that delay extends the […]
Read MoreWelcome to the most exhilarating, exciting and exhausting job in politics. As the top political staffer, you have an enormous opportunity to leave the province a better place than you found it. And given the circumstances of your arrival, that might actually be easier than you think. A government under fire is an enormous opportunity, […]
Read MoreA perfect storm is battering the brand of politicians across party lines and provincial boundaries, worsened by having leaders caught up in the turbulence. While we should be severely outraged by the slow rollout of vaccines in provinces given months to prepare for a mass inoculation, it’s the 20 or so beach bums who are […]
Read MoreWhat did you do over your holiday break? For a growing list of Canadian politicians, the answer is: I wrecked my career. Despite the growing pandemic, they travelled outside of the country — all the while exhorting the rest of us to stay home — with predictably shameful results. Ontario MPP Rod Phillips tweeted holiday […]
Read MoreNEW YEAR, SAME PROBLEMS — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised on Tuesday that 2021 will be better than 2020, pointing once again to shipments of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being delivered to provinces and territories and repeating his government’s pledge that anyone who wants a vaccine will have one by September.
Read MoreIt’s not easy to find, but on page 142 of the federal government’s fiscal and economic update, in a little shadowed box, there’s a number that will have a big impact on Canadians for generations to come: “Accumulated deficit: $1,423 billion (55.5 per cent of GDP).” That is Canada’s estimated federal debt in 2024. Of […]
Read MoreWed., Jan. 6, 2021timer4 min. read The British government recently tried and failed to have a “fiction” warning stamped on broadcasts of the popular TV series The Crown. No such disclaimer has been demanded in Canada, for a couple of possible reasons. First, Canada merits barely a mention in the series, despite its own rich […]
Read MoreAmid the many uncertainties that this new year brings, we can make one prediction with confidence: In 2021 – and beyond – many Canadians will need some kind of training to ensure they have the skills needed to succeed in their current job or to find a new one. However, as of today, Canada has […]
Read MoreOntario’s recent finance minister may have characterized his Caribbean vacation as a “dumb, dumb mistake” but sorry, Rod Phillips, you’re instead a poster boy of our entitled political class, at the lead of a sorry pack of like-minded elected leaders and aides across the country. “Hunker down,” intoned Premier Doug Ford, “stay at home,” while […]
Read MoreJanuary 6, 1919. Yesterday we together marked the solemn day that President Calvin Coolidge died. Today, we continue in the theme and mark the fact that it was on this date in 1919 that the great Teddy Roosevelt died. I will leave it to others to comment on this remarkable man’s Presidential legacy. For me, […]
Read MoreEntertainment Plus
Stephen Colbert furiously reacts to Capitol riot: ‘Have you had enough?’
Stephen Colbert is fed up, and he’s not taking it anymore. The late-night host delivered an angry, pointed diatribe against Republicans, U.S. President Donald Trump and Fox News in a live monologue on The Late Show on Wednesday night, following a chaotic and upsetting day in Washington, D.C.
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