In Brief

“History has many cunning passages” — and in one of them Trump may have just boosted Canada’s national identity

Jan 18th, 2025 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO . SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2025. So far the height of the Canadian mainstream media response to Donald Trump’s latest absurd remarks on the Canadian future must be this past Saturday, January 11, 2025 op-ed in the Globe and Mail by Jean Chrétien, 20th prime minister of Canada, 1993–2003. (And […]



Greg Barns on the Australian Federal Election on or before 17 May 2025 — and the Canadian Federal Election possibly (or even probably?) before then in 2025?

Jan 13th, 2025 | By | Category: In Brief

GREG BARNS SC. HOBART, MELBOURNE, BRISBANE, PERTH, AUSTRALIA. MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2025. Not for the first time the political landscapes in Australia and Canada are worthy of comparison. This year both nations are holding elections and the opposition parties, the Conservatives in Canada and the Liberals in Australia, are led by right wing populists. The […]



More than 9 in 10 Canadians want MP s to swear an oath of office to Canada not to a monarch across the sea … but many MP s still don’t want to listen

Jan 4th, 2025 | By | Category: In Brief

ASHOK CHARLES. THUNDER BAY, TORONTO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2025. I am the Executive Director of Republic Now — a non-partisan organization launched in 2013, to press for the replacement of the British monarch, as Canada’s head of state, by a democratically selected Canadian. Early this year we were heartened by New Brunswick MP René Arseneault’s […]



Our top 10 counterweights stories for 2024 .. a year of (some) great ups and downs around the global village

Dec 28th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS. GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2024. Susan B. Glasser in The New Yorker nicely summarized one key but strange political event of 2024 in the USA : “The Weird New Normal of Donald Trump in 2024 … Radical revisionism is a strong contender for the theme of this disruptive year, in which some […]



Will Justin Trudeau resign? Will Canada’s Conservatives take over sooner than later? Or will Chrystia Freeland lead Liberals to yet another victory in 2025?

Dec 17th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, ONTARIO TONITE, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2024. Before setting all such things aside for extended New Year’s celebrations, I had just wanted to say a few quick words about recent statistics that suggest “Canadians sense of pride plummets to lowest level in decades.” (And this was happening for some time before the […]



The Ugly Americans are back in office (or will be soon) .. maybe the rest of us should just stop looking for a while!

Dec 5th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO . THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024. According to Wkipedia : “The Ugly American is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the US diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia.” It ”has remained continuously in print and is one of the most influential American […]



Something is broken in Canada — the parliament in our parliamentary democracy needs serious work?

Nov 22nd, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, CANADA’S CAPITAL FROM 4 ½ HOURS WEST. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2024. [UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, DECEMBER 3 : See below]. Even a close observer cannot see much of the Canadian House of Commons from the capital city of Ontario (which like both the province and the country at large boasts an Indigenous North American […]



Happy Remembrance Day 2024 from Sol Mamakwa, MPP for the still mysterious Far North of Northern Ontario

Nov 11th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, ONTARIO TONITE, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2024. Before leaving Remembrance Day 2024 altogether I want to underline one heretofore unique event on the theme this year in Canada’s most populous province. On Thursday, November 7, 2024 Sol Mamakwa, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the also somewhat unique far northwestern […]



Will Trump’s 2024 electoral triumph in US finally become like 2016 triumph of Brexit in UK — falling down to support from less than a third of UK voters today?

Nov 9th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, FERNWOOD PARK,TORONTO. FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 8, 2024. Like others I am altogether surprised by the Trump Republican victory in the 2024 US election. Over the past few weeks, however, I can claim to have written at least one arguably prescient sentence on the subject : “I also can’t help wondering if America is quite […]



Could some happy surprise be blowing in the wind of Democracy in America? Apparently not ..

Nov 4th, 2024 | By | Category: In Brief

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO . MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024. UPDATED WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 (SEE BELOW). There is much progressive excitement about the results of a regional poll that shows Harris ahead of Trump in Iowa! No one seems to think she will actually take “ruby red” Iowa Tuesday. But if she comes much […]