Remember after last fall’s Historic Health Accord, when Paul Martin fixed health care for a generation? And a few of us (Spector, Coyne, Gwynn) pointed out that the health accord was actually a new constitutional regime that implemented substantial elements of the Meech Lake Accord? And Team Martin was celebrating a new era of “asymmetric […] More »

CBC TV sucks. The Sports department is continuing its losing streak, dumping Chris Cuthbert in what is one of the most-boneheaded moves since the Flames traded Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman. Meanwhile, Da Vinci is gone, replaced by some combination of This is Wonderland and The Newsroom. Wonderland is so-so, but the Newsroom stinks. It […] More »

It is with mixed feelings that I note that Marc-Boris St-Maurice, my former leader, has quit as leader of the Marijuana Party and joined the Liberals. Under Marc-Boris’ energetic leadership, I was convinced in 2000 to run in the Toronto riding of St-Paul’s, against the incumbent, Carolyn Bennett. While I managed to take 514 votes, […] More »

No disrespect to the man who holds my ticket out of the second circle of hell, but I am beginning to question the public relations savvy of Dr. Rowan Williams, aka The Archbishop of Canterbury. At a time when all flavours of Christianity around the world are dealing with various internal intolerances, abuses and squabbles […] More »

It kills me to say this, but Liza Frulla has a lot to be pleased about. She did a good job keeping culture away from major budget cuts. Of course, I’m still waiting for stable funding for the CBC, which Chretien promised, oh, 12 years ago now. More »

Reading up on a bit of Quebec history a while ago, I came across an interesting comment by an old-school hard-line separatist named Pierre Bourgault. He denounced most Quebecers, including most of his fellow PQ supporters, as being not really committed to sovereignty for Quebec, despite an apparent rise in support for sovereignty. “I don’t […] More »

I hope Margaret Atwood is taking notes, because I think we’re about to enter The Handmaid’s Tale, part Two—The Empire Strikes Back. Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline , is seeking access to the medical records of late-term abortion patients, with the apparent motive of prosecuting child rapists. Okay, so he’s a pro-life Republican and, sure, […] More »

No, not Motley Crue (though they are coming to Montreal in a few weeks). Warren Kinsella. (Yah, I know, he said he liked the book I half-wrote so it’s sucksucksuck from Potter.) Here’s Warren explaining Stephen Harper’s job to him Here’s my schedule from my days in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, […] More »

So the National Post reports today that Boston’s FleetCentre arena, home of the Celtics and the Bruins, has auctioned off 13 days of naming rights — each for a single day. Golden Palace.com, a Toronto-based internet gaming site, paid US$35,000 for the first day, and subsequent days have fetched US$2,500 to US$5,000. Owners of the […] More »

Jason Sherman’s night of political theatre is returning to Toronto’s Factory Theatre on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. The fall show (see story in This Magazine) sold out in 10 minutes. www.thewreckingball.ca More »

What do we need to know about the federal budget on a snowy midweek morning? A) It was delivered; #2) the Conservatives are still (astutely) afraid of an election, so they’ll support it and the government will survive. Enough said. Time to turn the dial away from CBC radio’s endless yammering and enjoy some classic […] More »