The Calgary Grit is preparing the ground for the election by going previewing election strategies for each party. I’d considered doing something similar but I’m L.A.Z.Y., so good for him. His first recommendation is that Layton make the idea of NDP/Conservative cooperation look safe, to avoid a flight of NDP votes to the Libs. Here‘s […] More »

I once made a list of fun things to do while on a conference call. I can’t find that list now, sadly, because I could really use it. But I remember a few things on it, like: “Have a dance party for one” “Pee, and then flush the toilet with your toes while leaning out […] More »

Blog This has a new blogger, our first voice from Canada’s East Coast. Audra is her name, and she runs a progressive communications company out of Halifax called Lefty Lucy Communications. Follow the links on her site and check out the story of how she helped get the Government of Nova Scotia to discontinue tourism […] More »

According to a recent story in THIS Magazine, Canada Steamship Lines has been routinely dumping excess cargo, much of which is toxic, into the Great Lakes for decades. CSL’s links to Prime Minister Paul Martin are well-documented. This disgusting, polluting practice, known as cargo sweeping, is decidedly illegal according to a number of national and […] More »

For many Quebecers, the election of Andre Boisclair as leader of the PQ is a sign of the relative maturity of the Quebec electorate compared with people in the ROC. After all, Boisclair is young and handsome, gay, and has admitted to using cocaine while he was a PQ cabinet minister. Attempts by his political […] More »

Well, okay, since it’s new, and folks are talking about it—let’s talk about it. I bought the new-look Maclean’s and have read through it. Here’s my quick post mortem: Cover design: grippy, newsy enough. I like the maple leaf apostrophe. I think the lower corner flap fold thingy looks quite cheesy—it’s not the principle of […] More »

Slate Magazine’s editor-at-large Jack Shafer writes this week about how we’ll know that the baby boomers have lost control of the media…just watch the headlines. Shafer argues that as Gen X and Y ascend, gone will be references to the Beatles (say it ain’t so) to be replaced by the Beasties (that’s Boys, for you […] More »

Strangely, I was not invited to the big Maclean’s party, but I understand from both D.B. Scott and Antonia Zerbisias that it was a hell of a night. Or, at least it was big enough and posh enough and packed with celebs enough to theoretically be a hell of a night. From Zerbisias’s final words, […] More »

A couple of quick points about the upcoming federal election and associated issues: 1. In today’s Globe and Mail, John Ibbitson has a very sensible column in which he calls yesterday’s mini-budget “phony” and “fictitious,” and recommends that we ignore it. So why then does his newspaper devote the entire front page to the update, […] More »

I just got a call from Ekos, the polling people, who were doing a random survey commissioned by the Government of Canada. Normally I am against polls because they often pose misleading questions to respondents, and during elections (or anytime these days) they encourage “horse race” political coverage in the media. But this morning, when […] More »

Recently, the National Post has been runing a series on so-called “Beatiful Minds,” the public intellectuals most worthy of attention and admiration, according to Post contributors. The series wrapped up today with a tongue-firmly-in-cheek nomination of Naomi Klein, penned by cartoonist Gary Clement (it was titled “How No Logo changed my life” and included such […] More »