TagDemocracy
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Continue Reading →: Back to 1977: Carney Turning Back the Clock on Free Expression
Back to 1977: Carney Turning Back the Clock on Free Expression
The speech was a signal. It reframed online speech regulation not as civil protection, but as patriotic duty. The villain was not abusive content, but the United States. The logic is as straightforward as it is cynical: use anti-American rhetoric to justify the revival of laws that target the fundamental rights of Canadians. By casting…
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Continue Reading →: Veto Nation: Carney’s Vision Is a Curse on Unity
Veto Nation: Carney’s Vision Is a Curse on Unity
Unity isn’t built by handing out vetoes like Halloween candy. But that’s precisely what Prime Minister Mark Carney proposes for Canada: a governance structure for major projects so Balkanized, so suffocatingly fractured, that it makes the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s liberum veto look like an efficient bureaucracy (more on this below). Carney wants every Premier and…
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Continue Reading →: Canada’s New Thin-Skinned Saviour?
Canada’s New Thin-Skinned Saviour?
New Prime Minister Mark Carney’s awkward debut with Canada’s press corps reveals a man unready for the rigours of political life. Accustomed to elite deference, Carney bristled at even friendly media questions, displaying arrogance, condescension, and a sense that Canada owes him. If he struggles with CBC softball, how will he handle Question Period? As…
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Continue Reading →: Voting for Non-Citizens: Inclusion or Manipulation?
Voting for Non-Citizens: Inclusion or Manipulation?
Granting the vote to non-citizens can be a tactical electoral subterfuge disguised as “inclusion.” The idea of permanent residents voting before (or without) becoming citizens has existed for several years. But does the idea have merit? The Canadian Civil Liberties Union virtually says Canada should do it because countries like Sweden are doing it. In 2018, the Edmonton Journal published…
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Continue Reading →: Incompetence, Crises, and Responsibility
Incompetence, Crises, and Responsibility
“You don’t care which government does what…” —Seamus O’Regan The government Justin Trudeau heads, even following the support of the New Democrats, has been in a cycle of crises to fix things they break or make worse. Most of these crises are born out of neglect and incompetence, compounded by consistent attempts to cover up…
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Continue Reading →: Must we like the people we elect?
Must we like the people we elect?
Charisma without substance is a dangerous thing.–Kim Campbell, Canada’s first and only female prime minister. Justin Trudeau’s popularity won him power in 2015. The popularity Trudeau enjoyed has steadily declined and has vastly dissipated. In the last couple of months, a strong wave of unpopularity has forced the PM to begin grappling with his political…
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Continue Reading →: Remembering Brian Mulroney (1939-2024)
Remembering Brian Mulroney (1939-2024)
The 18th prime minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, passed away on February 29, weeks short of his 85th birthday. He is being buried today. Consequential? “One of the most consequential Prime Ministers” is the expression you may have seen about Brian Mulroney half a dozen times since yesterday. It is a formula empty of substance to…
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Continue Reading →: Judicial Independence is Crucial to the Rule of Law
Judicial Independence is Crucial to the Rule of Law
From our Economic History textbooks, we learn that the independence and fairness of the British Courts made it attractive for investors to place their money into British ventures during the Industrial Revolution. Foreigners investing in British ventures felt sufficiently confident to bring a cause before a British Court and receive an impartial and fair hearing.…
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Continue Reading →: Jyoti Gondek Is Unfit To Be Mayor
Jyoti Gondek Is Unfit To Be Mayor
Thursday night, I attended my first Menorah Lighting ever. Had Jyoti Gondek, the Mayor of Calgary not announced her boycott of the event, I would have not taken the time to go. But I am glad I did. It was a great celebration, a reminder that light always prevails over darkness, and the only political…
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Continue Reading →: From Peronismo to Libertarianism: Milei’s Climate Change in Argentina, Part 2.
From Peronismo to Libertarianism: Milei’s Climate Change in Argentina, Part 2.
Here we are, continuing in Part 2 of our report on Argentina’s freshly-elected president, Javier Milei who will be sworn in on December 10. In Part 1, we delved into some media characterizations and the dominant ideological shift in Argentina. Now, we’re zooming in on the crux of the matter – Milei’s economic and political…