Alberta, tribalism, luck and oil
People are tribal. It’s in our genes. We are a communal species. It makes us what we are, it brings us together, and it tears…
Pipeline myths
Some Albertans are unhappy that their guys lost the federal election, so they’re doing a MAGA. They are not accepting the result. They will take…
Party fealty—a public curse
The federal Conservatives’ fealty to Pierre Poilievre is puzzling to some. The man never caught on with Canadians, never achieving a decent popularity even when…
A carbon tax on the filthy rich?
The very rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, are different from you and me. Of course they are. They spend a lot more, pollute a…
Leo XIV—a new pope with some new/old ideas
So, an American pope. A first. Now both the world’s most powerful political leader and the world’s most powerful religious leader are both Yankees. Fortunately,…
Alberta opts for plutocratic elections
One of the first actions of the NDP when they were elected to govern Alberta in 2015 was to reform the province’s election rules. At…
Comments on the 45th
Canada’s 45th General Election is over and my reaction is mostly relief. A few short months ago, I was expecting our country would follow the…
Conservatives have a science problem
Conservatives are not at all comfortable with modern science. Our last Conservative government, the Harper regime, exemplified this distrust. It eliminated the long-form census, pulled…
Canada—a remarkable achievement
There is, if one is inclined to pessimism, ample opportunity to indulge these days. The political world alone offer a variety of depressing trends. Around…
Trump’s biggest threat
“The world is now seeing Trump’s America for exactly what it is becoming: a rogue state led by an impulsive strongman disconnected from the rule…
Avoiding a tariff while saving the climate
Justin Trudeau’s government introduced a carbon-pricing regime with two components: a levy on fuel paid by consumers (fondly known as the “carbon tax”) and an…
Mayors have their say
A group of 128 municipal politicians have written a letter to the leaders of the five main federal parties calling on them to address the climate…