Alexa McDonough (1944-2022)

Perhaps the best way to understand the vital personal role Alexa McDonough — the first woman leader of a recognized political party in Canada — played in changing Nova Scotia and Canadian politics for the better is to remember those days in the early 1980s when she was the only New Democrat, the only woman, […]

‘The worst thing…’

There were many moments in her long political career when Alexa McDonough believed the NDP was finally on the cusp of an electoral breakthrough — none as exhilarating but none as ultimately devastating as the 1988 Nova Scotia general election. Alexa McDonough, the former leader of the Nova Scotia and federal New Democratic Parties died […]

Canada voted, but your vote may not count… again

How likely do you think it will be that the Liberals bring in electoral reform in this term? Your first two guesses don’t count. So, one more federal election, one more failure to get the results we voted for, one more missed opportunity to change our archaic and unfair electoral system. You may remember the […]

This government brought to you by…

The last minute of play in this period is brought to you by… What would happen, I often wonder, if the company that pays for that last minute of play in each period of Halifax Mooseheads home hockey games stopped sponsoring it? Would the 20-minute period be reduced to 19? Among life’s eternal, infernal mysteries, […]

Is that any way to start a discussion?

The United Way’s report on what it takes to live in Halifax, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s knee-jerk response to the report and the need for an open, honest debate… So what’s the difference between minimum wage and a living wage? In Halifax, about $10 an hour. That was the recent surprise-but-no-surprise conclusion […]

So long, Peter, we knew you too well

Is Peter MacKay resigning from federal politics to spend time with his growing greeting-card-perfect family? Or to grease a personal private sector future filled with lucrative corporate board memberships and international consulting gigs, nicely anchored by a 20-year MP’s pension worth almost two-and-a-half times the average Canadian salary? Or to jump the listing Harper ship […]

Corporate charity: who is it good for? Them…

“Hi there,” began the breathlessly chatty, early February email from someone named Emily from something called Veritas Communications. Emily was just writing to let me know “Seretha W. of Hammonds Plains, N.S., recently received $20,000 from Dr Pepper Canada to be put towards her education goal of obtaining a Master of Nursing degree. As part […]

Continuing Canada’s tragedy of terrors

This week, the Harper government will extend and expand our supposedly no-boots-on-the-ground, six-month military mission in Iraq. The purpose, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson, is to “degrade and destabilize this gang of thugs [Islamic State], and in doing so, strip [it] of its power to threaten the security of the region, or to […]

Mike Savage Part 1: Not quite his father’s son

It’s hard to imagine a 30-minute conversation with former mayor Peter Kelly that could skip seamlessly: from the rebuilding Halifax Mooseheads; to a previous life as a backbench opposition MP (“the only less relevant position being a backbencher on the government side”); to the job of Halifax mayor (“I like it, sometimes more than I […]

Bourque, Zahef-Bibeau, personal consequences and public accountability

There is little doubt re-watching video of Justin Bourque chillingly describe the targeted killing of their husbands, sons, fathers — “It’s sad,” Bourque explains blandly. “They might have had a wife and kids, but every soldier has a wife and kids, right?… It’s all about whose side you chose, and they chose the wrong one” […]