An embryonic gallery; check back in this space as I continue to add old newspaper and magazines articles…
Conservative Call to Action, Ottawa Citizen
Some of the prime minister’s key people have conspired to undermine Senate investigations, to influence a third-party financial audit and ultimately to pay off a senator, all, in tragic irony, to maintain an illusion of party ethics. The prime minister has, in the kindest interpretation, hidden the full truth.
Is that acceptable to you, as a Canadian and a Conservative?
As Conservatives, there is much Harper and his government have done to be proud of. But as more power is seized by the unelected members of Harper’s inner circle; as more of his key, chosen people turn out to be ethically unsound or worse, we must ask: how far will we let our own leader go?
Canadian Military Demographics: Who will serve next?, Montreal Gazette
We speak of the dead.
Coming home from Afghanistan in flag-draped coffins, paraded down the highway, passing fire trucks pulled over in silent salute,
each overpass overflowing with crowds waving and crying. On Hockey Night in Canada, Don Cherry shows their pictures and we learn, often for the first time, their names and backgrounds. We see the commonalities, aside from their deaths: They are white, young males from small towns.
…
While visible minorities today make up over 15 per cent of our population, they account for less than three per cent of our armed forces.
Statistics Canada projects visible minorities will make up 20 per cent of the Canadian population within 10 years. Beyond the implications for the maintenance and expansion of our armed forces, there are implications for public support of our military missions, and for the social cohesion of our nation. How far can a military diverge from the population it serves before it is seen as a mercenary force, or at least, a distinct military caste? How does the widespread lack of connection with our soldiers affect public opinion on military matters?
Alberta’s Oil Drunk Hangover, Montreal Gazette
In Fort McMurray, it’s been a bad year for the cocaine and snowmobile dealers but boom times for the repo companies; thousands of oil sands workers are returning to places as far removed as Newfoundland, China and the Philippines; and Alberta’s provincial government is forecasting a $6.9-billion shortfall this fiscal year, its first deficit in 15 years.
With the party over, how big is the hangover?