Stephen Harper meets the Facebook election

Is it just me and my Facebook friends or is Stephen Harper in deeper doo doo than we know? I will acknowledge—before someone else does—that I am of the artsy, progressive-left-when-it-suits-my-personal-interests persuasion, so it’s no surprise many of my friends are fellow travelers. I live in a federal NDP riding in a province governed, for […]

Graham Steele, Paul Martin and the disapproving ghost of Tommy Douglas

Is Nova Scotia Finance Minister Graham Steele former federal finance minister Paul Martin in NDP drag? Consider. The night before Steele delivered his bad-news budget last week, his boss, Premier Darrell Dexter—as bosses are wont to do; can you say Jean Chrétien?—stole his good-news thunder. The $222-million deficit Steele had forecast for 2010-11 had magically […]

Banning developer cash: methinks thou dost protest a bit too much

Well, Brad Johns certainly kicked over a few hornets’ houses. The Sackville municipal councilor had the temerity last month to suggest “individuals or businesses directly involved with the development industry” be banned from contributing to local candidates’ elections. Within days, prominent Halifax developer Wadih Fares was demanding an apology. “Who does he think we are? […]

When elections are fought by the numbers most of us don't count

And they’re off… to another election in which most of us won’t count. No one will admit it, of course, but take it from me. This won’t be an election about ideas. Ideas don’t win elections. Can you say carbon tax? Or Kim Campbell? Forget meaningful debate about corporate tax cuts, budget deficits, debt, wars […]

Was our mayor as dumb as he pretends?

Here’s what we are supposed to believe. Howard MacKay’s Power Promotional Events was in deep doo doo. Tickets for its July 24 Black Eyed Peas concert on the Halifax Commons were selling so poorly the promoter was on the edge of cancelling that concert as well as a two-day country show set for the same […]

Beware taxpayers defenders defending corporate rip-offs

So let me see if I have this straight. The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, which prides itself on being the fists-up, fang-baring defender of downtrodden taxpayers, has its knickers righteously twisted because the province says it can save taxpayers $4.7-million a year… Uh… this does not compute. Or perhaps it does. Some background. Nova Scotia’s Transportation […]

Is it time to ban the ban?

If it is possible—and it seems it is—for the Halifax Traffic Authority to lift the overnight parking ban a month before its official best-before date because the weatherman isn’t expecting snow for… well, a week, but who’s counting… then why is it not possible to hold off on imposing the ban until the first snow […]

For mayor, surely we can do better

Let me ask an awkward question. Why is that we—citizens of the modestly immodest cosmopolitan, metropolitan metropolis of Halifax—seem incapable of electing a mayor who offers vision and hope, and is not… well, how can I put this? Exhibit Number 1: the late Ron Wallace, prominent local optometrist, nice guy and undistinguished Liberal MLA who […]

What Havana could teach Halifax

After spending the last three weeks in Havana researching a book—and avoiding winter—I have reached a few modest conclusions. First, there are things Haligonians could teach Habaneros. About pooper scooper laws, for example. Havana’s sidewalks are a canine-created minefield. That becomes more understandable, of course, when you realize Havana has a shortage of plastic bags. […]

Reading Recovery created a reader… and a writer

Education Minister Ramona Jennex’s this-really-is-good-news-considering announcement she’ll cut school funding by “just” two per cent next year masks a truth she dismissed outright last week. “Based on this budget,” Jennex declared, “a child in a classroom should see no difference in… the education they receive.” My experience suggests otherwise. That’s not to minimize Jennex’s achievement […]