Soul Searching for New Year Full of Peace and Goodwill

 These days, many Canadians are soul-searching, anxious about wars that don’t feel so far away, people dying daily, hate, political polarization and worry about those among us who are financially unstable, unable to pay bills or feed their families. At this time of year, many of us are in a

Can the Government Make Housing and Groceries More Affordable? Don’t Hold Your Breath

 Pierre Poilievre, who is always good for a catchy line, recently commented on the Liberal cabinet ministers’ meeting with grocery titans to try and persuade them to reduce prices: “It’s an act, and what we need is action.” Much of the political crowing about attacking the inflated cost of living, like

Failed by Governments Refugees Find Shelter in Churches  

 A month ago, refugees sleeping rough in downtown Toronto found themselves being bused and relocated to Revivaltime Tabernacle Church in North York. With no beds available in the already stretched Toronto shelter system, the church set up support for over 50 people in their basement. Another church soon joined to

How Trudeau Senior Refreshed his Image and Beat Stanfield in the 1974 Election

 This is a story with some relevance to the situation Justin Trudeau faces today. He seems to have lost the energy and spontaneity of his 2015 victory campaign, just as his father, Pierre Trudeau’s remoteness, had been a factor in his 1972 near defeat. Justin is being beaten in the

Let’s have a bit of modesty in Government’s ability to solve major problems

 There is a yearning in the hearts of Canadians that major issues confronting us will find solutions in our lifetimes. We hope housing may be once again more affordable, food prices will come down, Indigenous peoples will be reconciled, and the world will reduce its carbon emissions so that extreme

We all witnessed the failure of police to control the Freedom Convoy

 When thousands of angry, Trudeau-hating anti-vaccine truckers and their raging hangers-on from across the country occupied our capital for over three weeks, Canadians watched blanket TV coverage with horror and wondered what kind of country allows the lawless terrorizing of its national capital by “yahoos,” as Jim Watson, the mayor

Can a nuclear crisis like the Cuban Missile Crisis happen again?

 ABOVE: Russian President Vlademir Putin. (RIGHT) Screen capture of a Russian Nuclear division train heading toward the front line in Ukrainian. (Image via The Telegraph) On October 22, 1962, President John Kennedy made a scary TV address that showed the world aerial photos of Soviet nuclear missile installations in Cuba.

Can Justin Trudeau rebuild his popularity?

 Written in collaboration with Karen Gordon Politicians don’t go into elections to lose. It’s possible that the current low poll standings for Liberals against Conservatives and Justin’s personal popularity will remain low for the next three years. If Pierre Poilievre wins as CPC leader and finds a way to appeal to

Is renewal at the CBC another fruitless attempt at being relevant?

 The CBC’s flagship nightly news program, The National, enjoyed good ratings when helmed by national news figures like Knowlton Nash and Peter Mansbridge before changes led to a decline in ratings. Further format and host changes saw ratings pale beside CTV’s consistently strong nightly national news. Critics use this fact as a

Previewing a Trudeau-Poilievre fight to the finish

 If Poilievre wins the Conservative leadership race in September, and it looks like he might, we’ll be treated to a three-year war between him and Justin Trudeau before the next election. Despite the traditional media’s ridiculing of Poilievre’s more outlandish policies and claims, something is happening with this charismatic performer

Old Media Atrophying – Should We Care?

 Odd that I should be posing this question in a magazine, a so-called old or even “legacy” media. But it’s not the successful Ottawa Life and Toronto Life type of publication in question. No, it’s the strictly old daily “news” media – including news magazines, newspapers and the news on

A Revolution in Political Communications

 It’s a safe bet that the large numbers of younger Canadians among the 3 million new voters who cast ballots in the last election did not open a paper or watch TV news to get their political information. This is the internet, mobile phone and social media generation, and they