Aug 11 2022 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — The vacuously comforting, deceptive words Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones uttered in response to the crisis plaguing the province’s health care system should be blasted over loudspeakers across Ontario’s emergency rooms (the ones that are still open). “Let’s be clear: There is not a crumbling system in the province of Ontario.” Her voice will bellow […]
Aug 3 2022 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Of all the things we begrudge politicians, taking personal vacation time with their families has to be the pettiest. No politician is really immune: George W. Bush was often criticized for his frequent trips away from the White House when he was U.S. president, including a five-week getaway to his Texas ranch in 2005. Ontario […]
May 26 2022 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — I’m with Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre: fire the gatekeepers. Banish them from Canada. As Mr. Poilievre says, it’s time to make this country the “freest on earth,” and the only way to do that is through an incoherent collection of restrictions on certain individuals, groups or institutions, such as banning the Bank of Canada […]
Sep 9 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — There was probably no way Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole could have defended his platform promise to repeal the Liberals’ 2020 ban on certain firearms without risking support from crucial suburban voters. Not with just two weeks left until election day, that is. The public’s literacy on gun regulations in this country is remarkably pitiful, influenced […]
Jul 1 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — There was never really a question as to whether Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett would suffer any consequences for sending a cruel and stupid text to independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould. Yes, it was callous (and somewhat illogical) for Ms. Bennett to imply that her former fellow caucus member – who resigned from cabinet in […]
Jun 10 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — How does one reach the level of shamelessness to at once pledge that the government will do everything in its power to combat discrimination and Islamophobia in Canada, and then, moments later, shrug off questions about Ottawa’s indifference to a patently discriminatory provincial law that prohibits those who wear religious symbols from working certain jobs?
Apr 22 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — On April 14, three flights from Delhi arrived in Canada carrying passengers infected with COVID-19. Though the number of infected passengers on each was not disclosed, Canadian authorities labelled multiple rows throughout the planes as “affected,” which would suggest that more than one passenger was carrying the virus. On April 15, two more flights from […]
Mar 7 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Back in November, top public-health officials in Ottawa said they were working on a campaign to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. It was an indulgent thought back then – before a single vial had landed on Canadian soil – and could arguably still be one now, as long as vaccine demand outweighs supply. But the delivery […]
Feb 17 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Ontario is currently in the first of a three-phase COVID-19 vaccine rollout and while its been marred by shipment delays and confusion from suppliers and the federal government, several regions in the province have begun to outline their local plans. The Government of Canada is responsible for obtaining the supply of approved COVID-19 vaccines while […]
Feb 3 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Despite the enthusiasm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to bring to his announcement Tuesday, when he said that Canada had struck a deal to manufacture millions of COVID-19 vaccines at home, the agreement won’t do much to get us out of the acute phase of this pandemic. That’s because the deal with Novavax to churn […]
Jan 7 2021 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Hours after brainwashed thugs stormed the U.S. Capitol and tried to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden, a cavalcade of humiliated Republican senators tacitly admitted that they had been appeasing a madman. The supposed election integrity issues that had been material enough for them to object to Mr. Biden’s electors way back at … […]
Dec 30 2020 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to “move heaven and earth” to protect seniors in long-term care. It would be too gracious to say he has failed. More accurately, it seems he didn’t try. Mr. Ford vowed months ago to create an “iron ring” around long-term care homes to spare residents, staff and families the same […]
Dec 17 2020 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — For Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, the battle against the federal carbon tax is a comfortable, familiar fight. Four years ago, back when he was environment minister, Mr. Moe walked out of a ministers’ meeting in Montreal in protest of the federal government’s then-newly announced carbon pricing deadline. Echoing the words of former premier Brad Wall, […]
Dec 3 2020 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Anti-vaxxers have found their useful idiot in Conservative MP Derek Sloan. Mr. Sloan, who has previously suggested that mask ordinances are about government control and compliance – not about stopping the spread of an incredibly infectious virus – has sponsored a petition in the House of Commons that is rife with hysterical misinformation about COVID-19 […]
Nov 30 2020 — Robyn Urback — Globe and Mail — Crafting a detailed and meaningful fiscal update during the worst period thus far in Canada’s continuing battle against COVID-19 – a time in which we can only guess at when virus-control measures will lead to sustained economic recovery – seems a bit like an exercise in horoscope-writing. (That’s no offence to astrologists, who are free […]