Views from the Beltline

Tribalism: a strong identification with and loyalty to one’s tribe or social group, often accompanied by an “us vs. them” mentality Back in the old…

The debate persists. Why are Canadians, citizens of a democracy, required to swear oaths of allegiance to a monarch? The answer of course is that…

Oil and gas is a very lucrative business, and very generous to Alberta and to Canada. Every year it favours us with many billions of…

The recent Assembly of First Nations chiefs produced some good stuff. For example, their resolution to oppose the Carney government's reforms aimed at streamlining major…

Last week, Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s co-president (last year he promoted his wife, Rosario Murillo, to share his presidency) announced the country would have no more…

I wonder if Prime Minister Carney and Premiers Smith and Ford enjoy irony. Because they recently delivered up a big dish of it. About the…

In Prime Minister Carney’s acclaimed Davos speech, he talked about a “rupture” in the rules-based international order that we had prospered under for most of…

Canadians are by no means alone in having separatists among them. Many countries contain cohorts of the discontented who believe they would be better off…

In 2015 I voted for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals primarily to end the dreary decade of rule by Stephen Harper. As Trudeau brilliantly said, borrowing from…

Democracy is in the doldrums these days. The Brits are going through prime ministers at a record pace and the Americans are seeing their democratic…

Britain has been playing musical chairs with its prime ministers. Last week the most recent office holder, Keir Starmer, who has been PM for less…

We tend to like things simple. Right or Wrong. Black or white. Mother Nature tends to disagree, however. She prefers complexity, and as a result…