Jan 9 2023 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — You don’t have to be a political junkie to realize that democracy is in peril these days. In Canada, both in the last Ontario election, and then again in a recent federal byelection, voter participation was like the attendance at Twitter’s first Christmas party under Elon Musk. Then there are the extremist politicians. The hard-right […]
Dec 19 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Among the many questions swirling around the Liberals’ thrashing of Conservatives in the Mississauga Lakeshore byelection is this one: where was Pierre Poilievre when his candidate needed him? Perhaps he was on YouTube preaching to the converted. Or going for a stroll wearing his ‘Tarsands Strong’ hoodie. Maybe he was preparing a draft of the […]
Dec 12 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — It would be an easy week to gloss over a huge danger looming in the war in Ukraine. After all, Brittney Griner was finally freed from a Russian prison after 10 agonizing months. Never mind that in order to win the freedom of the star basketball player, the Americans had to give up a truly […]
Dec 5 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Let’s start with the good news. As premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith is a political mayfly; not long for the job. By May 29, the woman who was made premier by one per cent of Albertans will be a gaudy footnote, in the dismal decline of a conservatism firmly captured by anger. This group continues […]
Nov 28 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — There were a lot of things wrong with Pierre Poilievre’s recent video on his bonkers drug policy. And they go much deeper than a single issue. For one thing, no public figure should use real human misery as the backdrop for a political pitch. If he insisted on doing so, how much better it would […]
Nov 21 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Now that Donald Trump, like most weenies, has been roasted, the burning question south of the border is who will be the Next One. Why roasted? Simple. Trump has proven himself to be a Losing Legend. First the House and Senate in the 2018 midterms, then the White House after one term, and finally the […]
Nov 14 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can imitate Trumpian politics to his heart’s content. But that is old, tired, and empty politics. The way Pierre Poilievre tells it, everything in Canada is broken. And Justin Trudeau is to blame. As a political strategy, that might work with members of the Flat Earth Society, or those who think […]
Nov 7 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — In the debris field of contemporary public life, there aren’t many political heroes. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is an exception. He has done extraordinary things. He has crowd-funded a war. And not just any war, but an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. No mean feat. He has stared down a psychopathic dictator in Vladimir Putin. Last March, […]
Oct 31 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Under his watch, a major city in Ontario was under siege for three weeks. The downtown core of the national capital was paralyzed by “protesters” who wanted to bring down the federal government, without the bother of an election; and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s federal Conservative cousins were busy sipping coffee and taking selfies with […]
Oct 24 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Prime Minister Liz Truss held office for just 45 days, the shortest tenure of any PM in British history. The country that once prided itself on having the fifth largest economy in the world is now in post-Brexit chaos. Standard and Poor’s has downgraded the country’s debt, and savage cuts in public spending appear inevitable. […]
Oct 17 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — “I don’t see any signs of traction for Pierre Poilievre.” These words were spoken on background by a senior Liberal who is less than enamoured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. With a long history in the party running back to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, he is critical of the way in which the current prime minister […]
Oct 10 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — It is just a fish story, but it has a moral. Two participants in a fishing derby in Ohio recently stuffed their catch with lead weights to increase its weight. Some $29,000 in prize money was at stake. The cheaters got caught, and the real winners, whose fish wouldn’t trigger a metal detector, got the […]
Sep 26 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — I suppose when you think you are the second coming of Peter the Great, you can convince yourself of anything. While world leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were at the United Nations calling for an end to the bloody and senseless war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin thumbed his nose. The Russian president called up […]
Sep 19 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — And so begins the spittle-flecked rule of Pierre Poilievre at the helm of the Conservative Party of Canada. With an apology for harassing texts, firings at the Conservative Party Fund, and another attack on the media, Poilievre, spurs and all, has announced that there is a new marshal in town. But it has been a […]
Sep 12 2022 — Michael Harris — Hill Times — Since childhood, I have been moonstruck. Sometimes, of a summer night, it seemed close enough to touch. I used to leave the curtains in my bedroom open to let the magical, silvery light flood in. The moon was entrancing in each of its phases, but ineffably beautiful when it was full. In its ageless solitude, […]