Alberta needs a new Lougheed for a new era
Fifty years ago, Alberta entered the modern era. With the provincial election of August, 1971, Albertans dismissed Social Credit, their governing party for 36 years,…
A Vote Compass surprise
Being a sucker for surveys, I couldn’t resist the Vote Compass survey on the CBC News website. The survey purports to locate your position on…
Alberta’s debt to the Maldives
As humanity continues to heat the planet, there are winners and losers. Let me rephrase that. Ultimately nobody wins; in the long term if global…
Voting strategically in an election we don’t need
So we are to have an unnecessary election. Didn’t we make our views clear enough in 2019? We didn’t give one of the parties a…
From Cuba to Myanmar, the military as entrepreneurial enemies of democracy
Heavily dependent on tourism, the Cuban economy has been hit hard by the pandemic’s restrictions on travel. The loss of Canadian tourists is a particularly…
Canada’s progressive tilt—mitigating first-past-the-post
From 2006 to 2015 we endured a decade of Conservative rule even though the Conservatives never won the support of even 40 percent of Canadian…
Climate change tops voters’ priorities … seriously
The most recent Angus Reid Institute poll on Canadians’ priorities and voting intentions had at least one big surprise. That, at least to this observer…
Burning up the credits
Purchasing carbon offsets is a popular way to act against global warming, or at least to alleviate one’s conscience. An offset allows a business, government…
“Why are we building houses if we don’t have enough water?”—A big lesson from a little town
Oakley, Utah, is small but appealing. Nestled in the mountains beside the Weber River less than an hour’s drive east of Salt Lake City, the…
More evidence to support taxing the rich
As nations reset their economies following the Covid crisis, one focus is on reducing the inequality that has become an increasing threat to political stability.…
Oil workers at the centre—getting transition priorities right
"They will not be left behind.” So said Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan at a news conference this week. The “they” he was referring to…
Is Facebook killing people?
President Joe Biden missed his goal of 70 percent of Americans vaccinated against Covid by July 4th. Some cities are now urging even vaccinated residents…