[UPDATED AUGUST 28]. Just over a week from now, the people/peuple of la belle province (which is, of course, not a province like the others, because of its beauty and many other things) will be choosing their next provincial government. It still seems wrong to jump to any big conclusions just yet – especially perhaps […]

This past Friday the Victoria Times Colonist published a piece by Murray Brewster of the Canadian Press, entitled “Royal branding of Canadian Forces to be extended … Suggestions for smaller branches forwarded for approval to Queen.” As Mr. Brewster has explained: “Restoring the ‘Royal’ prefix to the navy and air force has … become a […]

Having spent a few weeks, a few months ago, visiting various parts of Europe with a few thousand mostly congenial Germans, we can appreciate the superficial motivations behind German Chancellor (ie Prime Minister) Angela Merkel’s visit with our Canadian PM Harper and others in Ottawa and vicinity today and tomorrow. (See “Euro crisis ‘elephant in […]

There seems at least some anglo central Canadian consensus that, as Lawrence Martin urges in today’s Globe and Mail, in the Quebec election that Prime Minister (Premier?) Jean Charest has just officially called for September 4, 2012, “The Péquistes don’t scare Canada now.” The latest survey data does show that “Parti Québécois takes the lead […]

We’ve lately had a (nother) sudden rush of new visits to a piece first posted more than a year ago – in the middle of March 2011. The title in this case is “A pretty girl is like a melody .. has Canadian election of 2011 finally arrived on back of first ever contempt of […]

Somehow it seems right to be thinking about Senate reform in Canada in the dead of summer. Like almost everything else this time of year in the true north strong and free, it seems quite agreeable (to some of us at any rate) but not entirely serious. (It will not last, etc, etc.) What is […]

Australia’s June employment numbers were released today, and they caused some domestic concern: “Australia’s employers cut 27,000 jobs last month, sending the jobless rate higher.” The national unemployment rate actually increased to 5.2%, up from 5.1% in May 2012. But hey, wait a minute. Our Canada-wide unemployment rate in June was 7.2%. As some like […]

[UPDATED JULY 10]. One progressive view of the Liberal Party of Canada leadership contest – which will have its final moment of truth sometime in April next year (or at least “in the first half of 2013”) –  is that it no longer matters. Consider, eg, these recent numbers: “Back on June 18 … we […]

At first I thought the estimable Ottawa pundit Lawrence Martin had stolen my idea (well, really just beat me to it, of course) for a Canadian Fourth of July 2012 posting. The Globe and Mail apparently published Martin’s column “Obama Remains Extremely Popular in Canada” yesterday. And it is still worth underlining its main theme: […]

On Canada Day 2012 a recent welcome comment from the unsung great historian of French and Indian Toronto’s great granddaughter has drawn our attention back to an earlier posting on “Canada Day 2009 : Percy Robinson and the reluctant Canadian republic.” Three years ago we urged that Percy James Robinson (1873—1953 and, among many other […]