Selected dispatches from last week’s “whoopsie” file

How many Conservative cabinet ministers does it take to mislead Canadians? Last weekend, Stephen Harper trotted out his own trusty troika — Defence Minister Rob Nicholson, Veterans Affairs Minister (sic) Julian Fantino and Justice Minister Peter MacKay — for a $200 million photo op/announcement during the Halifax International Security Forum, a.k.a. Peter’s Playground (official cost: […]

Justin Trudeau, the allegations and the options

Halifax NDP MP and deputy party leader Megan Leslie says she “cannot believe” Liberal leader Justin Trudeau went public with allegations of “serious personal misconduct” by two Liberal MPs against two NDP MPs. But really, given the state of the nation — the fascinating, mostly thoughtful, sometimes insightful, occasionally knee-jerk conversations triggered by recent Jian […]

The journalist’s dilemma: covering breaking news in the Age of Instant

Last Wednesday, I was glued to CBC radio’s coverage of the Ottawa shootings while trying — and failing — to focus on making notes for my upcoming class. At 12:54 p.m., as a CBC reporter relayed the shocking news shots may have been fired inside the Rideau Mall — meaning there might be “more than […]

Where’s Leo? … and other notes from the health care week that was

I suppose if the Harper government can commit us to a war without borders — Iraq, maybe Syria — or actual end goals on the strength of a few hours of debate in the House of Commons on a Monday night in October, we should be grateful Stephen McNeil took a full week to ram […]

AIMS aims to cover its…

“The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax has not responded to questions.” That nugget was nested in the last line, last paragraph of a Globe and Mail story last week about the Harper government’s efforts to “intimidate, muzzle and silence its critics.” Ottawa is spending $13.4 million so its tax auditors can descend, lotus-like, […]

The government’s craven; we’re stupid. I’m OK with that

“Nova Scotia’s shale potential will remain in the ground,” harrumphed Financial Post columnist Terence Corcoran. Blame “growth-killing theories and activists.” “The McNeil Liberals have nailed shut one more economic doorway,”fretted Chronicle-Herald columnist Marilla Stephenson. “It’s a sorry day for Nova Scotia,” tut-tutted her editorial overlings. “Fear is trumping science,” piled on the Toronto Sun’s Brian […]

What would you do to un-Harper Canada?

Winner of the 2014 Atlantic Journalism Award for Commentary — Any Medium. For as long as I can remember, Canadian politics has been a pleasantly diverting if meaningless game of rascal tossing. We pick one set of rascals to govern us and toss the last set out. After a while, those no-longer new rascals run […]

Revolution rising

As the poor keep getting poorer, global uprisings get closer and closer. You have been warned. I’m a university professor. I make better than your average income. Although ours is not a union shop, our salaries reflect the successes of traditionally strong faculty unions at bigger institutions around us. I’ve also been teaching for […]

Peter MacKay: the columnist’s gift that keeps on giving

Peter MacKay is the columnist’s gift that keeps on giving. Even on the edge-of-summer, eve of a national holiday when newsmakers worth their spin doctors know better than to do anything newsworthy… Peter MacKay never lets us down. You may remember Peter, he of the “I solemnly swear” never to merge the Progressive Conservative Party […]

06/30/2014
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Does anyone believe Peter MacKay wasn’t involved… and other questions

We begin June as we ended May. With more questions than answers. Item: Enterprise Cape Breton President John Lynn got fired after hiring four Tories with connections to federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay — without benefit of documentation or competition. The federal integrity watchdog uncovered a “pattern” that created an “appearance of patronage.” But he […]