Jul 28 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — There was something ersatz about the controversy over the new governor-general’s lack of bilingualism – or rather, since Mary Simon is fluent in both English and Inuktitut, her lack of proficiency in French. Francophone commentators who had never previously disclosed a belief that there should even be a representative of the Queen in Canada were […]
Jul 23 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — Like all political parties, the Liberal Party is a coalition of ideologues and opportunists: those who enter politics to get something done, and those who are in it for something to do. It has ever been thus. What has changed is the correspondence between the two. In previous generations, the ideologues made use of the […]
Jul 22 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — Around the world, COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing again, thanks to the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant. Among the hardest hit, surprisingly, are the countries that famously had the fastest rates of vaccination in the early going. Just a month ago Israel seemed to have beaten the virus, with an average of fewer than […]
Jul 14 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — The official line in Conservative circles is: Don’t panic. Campaigns matter, a week is a long time in politics, remember what happened to David Peterson, etc. The unofficial line is: Panic. It isn’t just that the Liberals hold a substantial lead in public opinion (six recent polls put them between eight and 14 points ahead). […]
Jul 2 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — “Prime Minister, why are you calling the election today?” He will pause. He will shrug, slightly; a small smile will cross his lips. He will say something about how there comes a time in the life of any parliament when a government needs a fresh mandate. He will say that with the end of the […]
Jun 30 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada, David Lametti, maintains he had nothing to do with his department’s unprecedented decision to ask the Federal Court for relief from an order of the House of Commons. The Commons has twice demanded that the government produce all documents related to the mysterious firing of two scientists […]
Jun 22 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — That was quite a scene on the floor of the House of Commons the other day: The president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Iain Stewart, “summoned to the bar” of the House (yes, it’s an actual brass bar) to be admonished by the Speaker for his refusal to hand over documents the Commons […]
Jun 19 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — The Green Party, it is well known, throbs with love for the planet, the trees and every thing that creepeth upon the earth. On the other hand, it has always seemed a little iffy about human beings, as if they were a kind of acne on the face of Gaia. More particularly, while the party […]
Jun 16 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — Maybe you think Doug Ford was wrong to invoke the notwithstanding clause to save his election spending law, Bill 254, after a judge overturned parts of it on Charter grounds. Maybe you think the increasing tendency for premiers like Mr. Ford to make use of it shows the clause should never have been adopted. Alternatively, […]
Jun 11 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — It isn’t happening in Quebec, but in Ontario, so there will be more of a fuss than would otherwise be the case. But there will be less of a fuss than the last time the Doug Ford government threatened to use the notwithstanding clause to override constitutionally guaranteed rights. The next time it happens, there […]
Jun 2 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — This year’s hockey playoffs have had a special poignance for Canadians, not restricted to long-suffering Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs supporters. While the U.S.-based teams’ arenas are filled with fans, the Canadian teams have had to play, dispiritingly, before rows and rows of empty seats. The difference – a United States that has almost […]
May 29 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — What does Quebec want? That has been the question on earnest Canadians’ minds for the better part of four decades. After Wednesday’s session of the provincial legislature, we need speculate no further: What Quebec wants is a flag emoji. A Parti Québécois motion demanding the internet (specifically, the Silicon Valley-based Unicode Consortium, which decides such […]
May 26 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — To read the latest annual report from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, you’d think everything was going just swell. For the fiscal year ending March 31, crowed a press release accompanying the report, the CPP fund “returned 20.4% net of all costs, the highest return since inception.” You had to read way, way down […]
May 19 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — In his last piece before retirement, the veteran Montreal Gazette columnist Don Macpherson warned his English-speaking readers they were on their own. Simply put, “we don’t count,” he told them. No political party, federal or provincial, is going to defend their rights. Not when they are outnumbered seven to one by the province’s French-speakers, and […]
May 15 2021 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — How did it come to this? Leave aside, for the moment, the implications – for free speech, for Canada’s reputation, for net neutrality – of Bill C-10, the federal government’s misbegotten effort to catch the internet in the same regulatory web as that which has long enveloped the conventional broadcasting industry. Leave aside, too, the […]