Late last month there was a motion introduced by MP Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Quebecois advocating for theabolition of the monarchy. I have been somewhat busy thismonth due to municipal elections in New Brunswick and wasnot able to get to it right away. As it turns out the Parliamentof Canada
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Views from the Beltline: Separation of God and state
This week the House of Commons debated a motion by the Bloc Québécois regarding the House’s morning prayer. Yes, the morning prayer no less. As a number of MPs pointed out, the House has somewhat more important issues to deal with. Furthermore, the Bloc might have waited until June when
Continue readingAlberta Politics: On Alberta’s anti-equalization referendum, BQ’s Blanchet tells UCP’s Kenney: Bring it on!
As the folk wisdom goes, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. Jason Kenney got his wish yesterday when Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told him, in effect, to bring it on. “Let’s open the constitution,” Mr. Blanchet said with a gallic shrug and a sly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: To listen and to learn in Ottawa.
Yesterday it was noted how quiet the Ottawa scene has been while history is made in America. But we ignore Ottawa at our peril. You have to listen to buzz in the quiet. There is the testiness of the conservative caucus—planning for the partisan attacks to come. There is the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Please Justin, get a haircut.
We hear through the grapevine that Justin Trudeau and his liberals are thinking election. Since I am supposed to have an opinion on this proposal, I will need to reach deep into my conscience to see if I could support such foolishness at this time. The one thing that is
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Federal Conservatives seek emergency support to help kick unemployed people off emergency support!
Surely there’s a special corner of Hell for the leaders of political parties who try to get unemployed people kicked off federal pandemic emergency supports at the same time they demand federal emergency supports for their private army of trolls! Or am I the only one who finds it ironic
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who Knew?
Politics can be full of strange happenings. Canada had an election seven months ago. The guy who was prime minister is still prime minister and doing very well, thank you. He lost 20 members of his party caucus and his party came second in popular vote. You would think he
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Virus-blocking masks are part of our future — it’s time to dump Canada’s unconstitutional anti-mask law
Universal adoption of homemade face masks would have huge health and economic benefits in the current global coronavirus pandemic, says a paper published a few days ago by seven Yale professors. “We estimate that the benefits of each additional cloth mask worn by the public are conservatively in the $3,000-$6,000
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is the Conservative Opposition a national government in waiting or a separatist bloc? Andrew Scheer must decide
Who said, “At time of global economic instability, Canada’s government must stand unequivocally for keeping the country together”? I won’t tease you. It was Stephen Harper, on Dec. 3, 2008. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Prime Minister of Greece). Prime minister Harper, desperate to avoid a non-confidence vote
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In the job nobody wanted.
Watching the West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson trying to interview Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, on Sunday caused mixed emotions. Here is the guy who took on the job for the Bloc that nobody else wanted and he is running rings around the Global Television interviewer. And he is
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Federal Election 2019 Reflections
The big surprise of the election has to be the Bloc Québécois resurgence, although I am sure they probably saw it coming even if the rest of us didn’t. This certainly makes leader Yves-François Blanchet’s position secure. The other surprise was the late campaign resurgence of the New Democratic Party
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: Welcome to Scheerless Tuesday!
OK… LPC 157 : CPC 121 : BQ 32 : NDP 24 : GPC 3 : IND 1 : PPC 0 A Liberal minority government it is, eh Canada. A Liberal minority government is NOT the worst thing ever. In fact, w/ the seat count, either the NDP, or the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: N.B.’s Blaine Higgs showed the proper path to power after a close vote, but don’t expect Albertans to believe it
If the Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer should win the most seats in the House of Commons tonight but Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to hand over power on the perfectly reasonable Parliamentary grounds he thinks he can command the confidence of the House, much of Alberta will go
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On the home straight.
We are in the final week and nobody really knows how this election will play out. We tend to confuse what we hope will happen with what is really happening. The pollsters seemed locked in secondary races and are ignoring the real one. Maybe green leader Elizabeth May is the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There was actually something new in the leader’s debate Monday — alas, it’s not a good thing
The United States’ two-party political setup may not be much of a template for actual democracy, but at least it has lots of potential for interesting leaders’ debates. A televised leaders’ debate in a vibrant multi-party democracy like Canada? Not so much. For one thing, you have to invite the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: TVA provides a forum for losers.
Making sense of the political sparring on Pierre Karl Péladeau’s French language television network, TVA, on Wednesday was easy. It was the time for Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrat’s Jagmeet Singh to come on strong and hard. This was their first major chance to make
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Why listen to Bernier?
Chantal Hébert made an interesting case the other day. She wrote in the Toronto Star that Maxime Bernier of our new People’s Party of Canada should be allowed to be part of the leader debates for the October 21 election. Despite it being doubtful that Bernier will retain his own
Continue readingwRanter.com: Cultural and religious issues dominate as election day nears
Thank God for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I say that not because trade is an inherently Jewish issue, nor because I know for certain the recently negotiated deal will be good for Canada, especially since its details have yet to be released. Irrespective of its long-term effects, the TPP might
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: All this Quebec candidate would ask for? A “cellphone, a penis and lots of chips”
All Bloc Québécois candidate VirJiny Provost would want in the event that she was the sole survivor of a catastrophic nuclear attack is a “cellphone, a penis and lots of chips.” The post All this Quebec candidate would ask for? A “cellphone, a penis and lots of chips” appeared first
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and his New Separatist Friends
Yesterday I wondered whether Stephen Harper was helping to bring the Bloc Quebecois back from the land of the dead.By fanning the flames of xenophobia and bigotry, and replacing the Great War on Terrorism with the Great War on the Niqab.Which if you read the hideous comments in the newspapers,
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