Aug 2 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — From Alaska’s northernmost city of Barrow to the island of Rhodes in Greece, people have been coping with the impact of unprecedented heat this summer. On the Greek island, tourists and residents took action to try to put out fires at seaside resorts, and visitors later went on with their holidays at fire-scarred beaches. Tens […]
Jul 26 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — It’s a sure bet that most of the hundred or so people shouting obscenities and waving “Fxxk Trudeau” flags at the prime minister in Belleville last week didn’t know he was making an appearance in the eastern Ontario town to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the Liberals’ signature family support program. The Canada Child Benefit, […]
Jul 12 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — No Member of Parliament settling into their summer break could fail to notice the array of polls showing the Conservatives with an impressive, solid lead in popularity over the Liberals. In fact, it’s not surprising that, as Canadians try to cope with the bizarre turn of economic, social, financial, and work-related events set in motion […]
Jun 28 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Like everything else touched by COVID -19, the economy is breaking all the moulds in the aftermath of the pandemic. Six months ago, analysts were, for the most part, predicting a Canadian recession in mid-2023 as the impact of higher Bank of Canada-generated commercial interest rates cut into consumer demand and the housing market experienced […]
Jun 7 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — As the next federal election draws nearer, Canadians will be hearing a continuing refrain from the Conservatives on the need for tax cuts to reduce the tax burden and help spur economic growth. Party leader Pierre Poilievre is already playing this card, as has every leader of Canada’s main right-wing party going back 40 years. […]
May 17 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — After a decade of the pursuit of power in the United States Congress and the White House, the right-wing revolution in America is now picking up new momentum at the state level, where extremist authoritarian rule-making that once would have been considered totally out of the question is becoming commonplace.
Apr 5 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Sometimes people pull together in hard times, but the political fault lines in Canada only seem to be hardening in the tumultuous aftermath of the pandemic. The response to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest attempt to balance the country’s priorities in the face of gathering regional, economic, and political headwinds is a reminder of how […]
Mar 15 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Budgets are always a balancing act, but Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be walking a virtual high wire with her March 28 economic and fiscal plan. The federal government is running out of options as it confronts the aftermath of a once-in-a-century health emergency, the inevitable rude awakening from a decade of artificially low borrowing […]
Mar 8 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Some analysts appeared surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin had survived in office for a year after launching a disastrous attempt at a quick military takeover of neighbouring Ukraine. Putin has made Russia a subject of international condemnation, caused long-term damage to the domestic economy, callously sent tens of thousands of Russian soldiers to their […]
Feb 22 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Ontario Premier Doug Ford was missing in action when the convoy thugs took over the nation’s capital and prompted a national political crisis, Justice Paul Rouleau has made clear in his Feb. 17 report on the incident. Rouleau doesn’t mince words when it comes to Ford’s hands-off approach to the blockade of streets and the […]
Jan 18 2023 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — It’s hard to know if U.S. President Joe Biden can really look past Pennsylvania when it comes to international commerce. But history-making developments brought about by the Russians and Chinese in the past few years appear to be forcing a reshaping of the Democrats’ inveterate protectionist mentality. Expecting a narrative in which Prime Minister Justin […]
Nov 30 2022 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Justice Paul Rouleau’s report on the use of the Emergencies Act, due next February, will make for fascinating reading. But on the key prescribed point—whether the use of the act by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was justified—Rouleau’s findings will probably amount to a technicality. What will be compelling is what Rouleau says regarding the […]
Oct 12 2022 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — The positive cultural value available from Canadian sport appeared to be on the upswing in 2019 when the CBC belatedly relieved us from having to put up with the backward, bigoted nonsense spewed by Don Cherry every week. After 38 years, the former Coach’s Corner co-host was fired for “offensive and discriminatory” comments on Hockey […]
Sep 14 2022 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — Pierre Poilievre got a lot of applause during his victory speech on the night of Sept. 10, but the strongest ovation from the assembled Conservatives came when the new leader talked about axing the Liberal government’s COVID-19 health measures. What made Poilievre’s leadership campaign different was his open appeal to the supporters of February’s trucker […]
Aug 24 2022 — Les Whittington — Hill Times — In 2008, when then-prime minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal apology to former students of the residential schools program, Pierre Poilievre said the Indigenous recipients of compensation payments needed to get to work, not get money from Ottawa. “My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. […]