David Frum has posted a rebuttal to my rebuttal of his rebuttal of Stephen Marche's New York Times op-ed against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's nine years in office. It's thin gruel, unworthy of a response except that it typifies the smugness and intellectual dishonesty that often characterize Frum's style of argument. He suggests my piece betrays embarrassment over Marche's heated commentary among "upholders of Canada’s liberal orthodoxy." No. I thought Marche's piece was great, as did hundreds of Canadians who commented thoughtfully and gratefully on the Times website. Frum doesn't trouble to counter any specifics in the case against Harper except for a...

13 September, 2015

In a National Post column about the recent spate of candidates fired for past misdemeanors and errant views—or views opposition mischief-makers could portray as errant—Andrew Coyne decries the assumption party leaders should be all powerful: The only reason we accept that a leader should have the power to “fire” the duly-nominated representative of the riding association of Someplace-Whereveritis is that we have also accepted he must be held personally accountable for every slip of the lip or peccadillo committed by every candidate for his party in every riding in the country. And the only reason we accept that is that we have...

13 September, 2015

In August, Toronto-based Esquire columnist Stephen Marche wrote a New York Times op-ed excoriating Stephen Harper's nine-year tenure as prime minister. This drew a rebuttal on The Atlantic's website from the Canadian-born conservative pundit David Frum, who pooh-poohed Marche's catalog of grievances as exaggerated, and the upset they inspire as delusional. Yesterday, The Atlantic published my response: Frum, a sometime advisor to the Conservative Party, expresses befuddlement at Marche’s failure to appreciate Harper’s calming grip on the Canadian tiller. Given Harper’s many offenses to the country’s long tradition of political and social liberalism, it’s hard to believe Frum’s mystification is sincere. He...

12 September, 2015

Newspaper editor turned civil servant turned citizen journalist Bill Turpin scraped data from the CBC website on the history of Canada's federal debt and produced the following summary: In nine years, Harper ran up $131 million billion in new debt, while Martin and Chretien took half again as along to run up just $60 million billion. (Martin's contribution to this total was $17 million billion in debt reduction.) Yes, Harper had a historic recession to manage, but the history of debt accumulation under Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, and Kim Campbell vs. John Turner and Pierre Trudeau would show a similar pattern—as does the history of federal...

27 August, 2015

Last summer, disability rights activist Gus Reed, a member of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on Accessibility, helped draft a provincial discussion paper on proposed accessibility legislation [pdf]]. Last December, Reed reviewed all the submissions the government received in response to the paper, including a disappointing one from Dalhousie University. Written by University Provost and Academic Vice-President Academic Carolyn Watters, Dal’s submission followed what might be called the HRM model of accessibility policy: earnest declarations of fealty to the principle of inclusion, followed by myriad excuses why the university can’t possibly be expected to do anything that advances accessibility on campus. [caption id="attachment_15237"...

20 August, 2015

Genesee & Wyoming, owner of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, has been fighting two levels of government and Cape Breton's business community for the right to shut down the Point Tupper-to-Sydney end of the line — virtually all of the railway in Cape Breton. Speculation is G&W wants to pull up the CB track, much of which is in good shape, and use it to replace crappy, worn out rails on the Truro-to-Pt. Tupper end of the line. The company has been gradually hauling cars and engines from depots and sidings in Cape Breton, so they won't be...

14 August, 2015

Several brave Cape Bretoners talk about the impact of opiate addiction on their lives and their families. The video is the work of The Lighthouse Church and Undercurrent Youth Centre in Glace Bay. They are seeking more emphasis on addiction prevention in the form of greater support for youth centres. H/T:  Stacey Pineau...

06 August, 2015

On the surface, it looks like a great evening for Stephen McNeil's governing Liberals: Decisive wins in two Cape Breton seats previously held by the NDP against a squeaker loss in Dartmouth South, a seat they won last time. Liberals took 44.3 percent of the combined vote in the three ridings, down just slightly from the 45.7 percent that swept them to power two years ago. In fact, it's the NDP who should be celebrating. The party has been leaderless for two years, its caucus reduced to a five-seat rump, its base smarting from the ineptitude of its rookie turn at the helm. That the party was able to take 35 percent of yesterday's combined vote...

15 July, 2015

From the brilliant Bill Turpin, via Facebook: The life of a PI isn’t supposed to be easy. Still, late on a Friday afternoon it’s nice to go across the street for drink. No such luck. I was reaching across my desk for my fedora when she sashayed in. Mother Canada. The famous MoCan herself. I gave her the once-over but couldn’t see what all the excitement was about. She was a cross between the Virgin Mary and a plastic Jesus. “What can I do for you, doll-face?” I asked. “I want to set up shop on your land. You know, to support the troops....

24 June, 2015

The only daily in Cape Breton and the largest daily in Nova Scotia devoted half their front pages Wednesday to error-riddled stories alleging steel plant slag spread on abandoned Devco Railway beds may be causing cancer. The stories are wrong. There is no evidence slag causes cancer. There is abundant evidence—right here in Cape Breton—that intensive processing of steel plant slag and its widespread application in the construction of gravel roads does not cause air pollution or give rise to health concerns. None of those incontrovertible facts stayed the Cape Breton Post or the Halifax Chronicle Herald from recklessly fanning false fears of cancer in our community. The stories don't quote a...

18 June, 2015
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