May 19 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Always bet on chaos. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after spending more than a decade in Alberta, it’s that politics here inevitably gravitates towards the most dramatic outcome. The long-running UCP leadership review, one that saw Jason Kenney receive just 51.4 per cent support from the 34,000-plus ballots cast, is just the latest data […]
May 18 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — In America, the recent hate-motivated massacre at a Buffalo grocery store is just one of a mind-numbing array of mass shootings that seem to happen almost every day. It won’t prompt legislators there to pass new gun control laws, and it won’t have a meaningful impact on their politics. If the murder of 20 children […]
May 17 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — There are plenty of lessons to learn from the ongoing cryptocurrency crash, which has already vaporized more than $1 trillion in wealth worldwide. Chief among them is the inherent danger of financial speculation and the perils of concentrating too much of your wealth in one asset, a lesson investors seem to need to relearn every […]
May 12 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Political coverage is often criticized for focusing too much on the horse race aspects, and that’s especially true during an election campaign. But sometimes, a horse race is a perfect metaphor for politics. Last week at the Kentucky Derby, an 80-1 long shot named Rich Strike moved from the back of the pack to win […]
May 5 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — For weeks now, Pierre Poilievre has been campaigning on a pledge to “fire the gatekeepers” and make Canada “the freest country on Earth.” In a recent YouTube video, he suggested “freedom is like oxygen. You only notice it when it is gone.” But now, as millions of Americans gasp for metaphorical air in the wake […]
May 4 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Bribing voters with their own money is a time-tested political strategy, but few have ever taken it to the level Doug Ford’s government just did. In their April budget, the Progressive Conservatives promised Ontarians a record $198.6 billion in spending, including major new allocations for highways, transit and health care. That’s $40 billion more than […]
Apr 29 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Be afraid, Canadian Conservatives. Be very afraid. Only a few months ago, many of your leading lights embraced a movement that stated its intention to overthrow a democratically elected government. It was, as you know, led by a motley crew of grifters, racists and far-right conspiracy theorists who have since been charged with a dizzying […]
Apr 26 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Like a lot of people, when Elon Musk first announced his intentions to buy Twitter I thought he was either engaged in high-level trolling or trying to create an excuse to sell the shares he’d acquired. Like a lot of people, I was wrong. Now, the question is whether his bet on the social media […]
Apr 18 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — If perfect is the enemy of good, that’s especially true when it comes to climate policy in Canada. Just ask Steven Guilbeault, our environment minister. He didn’t get into federal politics to defend the decision to approve a major new oil project, much less be the person who helped make it. But his current role, […]
Apr 13 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Once again, our hospitals are straining under the weight of a growing load of COVID-19 cases, a burden amplified by the sheer number of health workers who are being felled by the virus themselves. In Ontario, the number of hospitalizations has risen above 1,000 for the first time since February, while wastewater data suggests as […]
Apr 7 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — As a lifelong Conservative and son of Alberta who was born in Calgary just as the National Energy Program was being created, there are probably few politicians Pierre Poilievre dislikes more than Pierre Trudeau. It’s ironic, then, that he appears to be following a similar path as the former Liberal prime minister. In the early […]
Apr 6 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — The contrast couldn’t have been much more striking. On the same day the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report showing both how far the world is from meeting its climate targets and the central role wind and solar energy have to play in getting it back on track, one of Canada’s biggest oil […]
Apr 1 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — For millions of Canadians, the recent deal between the Trudeau Liberals and Jagmeet Singh’s NDP will be about progress on pharmacare and coverage of dental services. But for Justin Trudeau, it was almost certainly about buying more time and space to reach his government’s climate goals. Now, with the release of the government’s emissions reduction […]
Mar 29 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — “If it bleeds, it leads.” That used to be the unspoken rule of thumb for journalists charged with deciding which stories deserved a spotlight. But now, it’s evolved into something different: “If it clicks, it sticks.” And that hunt for eyeballs has rarely been as obvious, or as problematic, as it was during Justin Trudeau’s […]
Mar 25 2022 — Max Fawcett — National Observer — Pierre Poilievre, the putative front-runner for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, is wrong about a lot of things. He’s so consistently and noisily wrong, in fact, that being aggressively wrong has become his stock in trade. But one thing he’s right about is the sorry state of Canada’s housing market and the […]