Feb 13 2019 — Robyn Urback — CBC — The destructive power of the SNC-Lavalin scandal — of which we appear to still be in the early stages — lies in its sheer comprehensiveness. It is not simply an indictment of the Liberals’ professed commitment to transparency. Or of the illusion of a shift away from Harper-era “self-serving” partisanship. Or of the Trudeau government’s […]
Feb 1 2019 — Robyn Urback — CBC — It is possible, theoretically, that the cryptic, confusing, rather odiously smelling Raj Grewal affair is, still, somehow, a kosher one. That the now-independent MP for Brampton East managed to both fuel and pay off millions of dollars in gambling debts only through loans from friends and family. That he has repaid what he owed and […]
Jan 22 2019 — Robyn Urback — CBC — The viral video of the standoff between Covington Catholic High School students and Indigenous Americans ought to be one hell of a wake-up call. It should rattle every journalist. Many of the people who are supposed to be fact-finders — skeptical investigators — accepted the narrative that a group of teen boys in MAGA hats […]
Jan 10 2019 — Robyn Urback — CBC — Most of us have the good fortune of getting away with our idiot mistakes. Every one of us has driven too fast, or taken our eyes off the road for a split second, or operated a car on autopilot and arrived home having forgotten how we got there. Even you, skeptical reader, self-professed perfect driver, […]
Dec 11 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — Looking back now, Doug Ford’s campaign promise to conduct an independent audit of Ontario’s finances — essentially duplicating the work of the already independent provincial auditor general — was a harbinger of how this government would go about finding its “efficiencies.” The new PC government would hire former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell to lead its […]
Nov 30 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — It was Joseph Stalin who rather astutely observed that “one death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic.” That is as true today as it was during the heyday of the Soviet Union. Indeed, I suppose if anyone could credibly speak to our collective inertia toward mass execution, it would be one of the […]
Nov 20 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — The toxic culture at St. Michael’s College School was a secret in the same way that the Harvey Weinstein abuse allegations were a secret or the reports of sexual assault within the Canadian Armed Forces were a secret: If you were close enough, you already knew. I went to a high school in midtown Toronto […]
Nov 9 2018 — Robyn Urback — This business is easier on the conscience when the players, however bruised and battered, get to leave the ring with some dignity. Politics is a blood sport, yes, but it tends to leave one’s personal character intact, even if his or her political reputation is damaged.
Nov 2 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — This is a note to the youth of the nation. A warning, of sorts, of the evils that lurk a few months yonder. When the winter turns to spring — when the snow melts and the trees bud and the birds renew their songs — a menacing refrain will once again fill the air. It […]
Oct 26 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — It’s a fallacy that the office holder of the president of the United States serves as a credible moral steward for the American people. The Oval Office has, after all, hosted slave owners and adulterers, accused sexual predators and liars, thugs and warmongers — men who would preach goodness and morality, yet live (and often […]
Oct 22 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — We probably aren’t as charitable toward those who have evolved in their beliefs — or even done a complete about-face — as we ought to be. That’s likely because we tend to conflate genuine ideological evolution with opportunistic turnaround — with new positions adopted for money, power or influence. We often assume opportunism when politicians […]
Oct 11 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — So many things would be different if the world were just and good: your high school bully would end up in jail, dogs would evolve to outlive humans, and one of America’s most famous sexual predators would be destitute and alone, eating chilli out of a can in sweat-stained pyjamas.
Oct 5 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — There is almost nothing about the Judge Brett Kavanaugh saga that has been fair. It’s not fair that a wrench was thrown into his nomination at the 11th hour, even though Sen. Dianne Feinstein was, for weeks, in possession of a letter that alleged the Supreme Court nominee drunkenly sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when […]
Aug 24 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — Maxime Bernier is fed up. Fed up with the Conservative Party, which he tried to lead just a little over a year ago. Fed up with political correctness — so much so that he made sure to say it in both French and English. Fed up with the lack of substantive policy debate — something […]
Aug 14 2018 — Robyn Urback — CBC — A member of the news media was assaulted by a protester in Toronto this past weekend. The altercation happened on camera, in front of police, with dozens of people standing by. The incident in which a journalist was struck by an activist — ironically, at an anti-hate rally — seemed entirely unprovoked: a pathetic attack […]