Jamie Carroll

PICTUTED ABOVE: Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence. So last week I was critical of Doug Ford in terms of his competence to govern – imagine the shock from voting for someone who’s biggest policy issue was the price of beer not [...]

Right now Ontario is paying a huge price for cheap beer. Look, governing is complicated and should only be undertaken by serious people. But the thing about democracy – and we can debate if its a bug or a feature – is that we get the government we deserve based on how and for whom we vote. [...]

Look, Mark Carney is running. For the House of Commons? Yup. For a cabinet seat? Duh. For the Prime Minister’s Office? Yeah, probably that too. The man has become ubiquitous: a special advisor to the PM; author of a new book on the economics of climate policy; media panels; and now as a featured [...]

It is once again time to play official Ottawa’s favourite game show: wild-ass nonsensical election speculation! You’ll forgive me for not being excited. The volumes of ink (digital and otherwise) spilled on prognostications of one sort or another during a minority government could drown [...]

Look: I’m going to start with a complement! While to some extent is a result of demographics, it is clear Jason Kenney is no longer trying to kill us. Alberta’s vaccine roll-out will be one of the first to inoculate Canadians under the age of 60 and by the end of April even us folks in our [...]

Above: Shannon Phillips was the former NDP MLA from Lethbridge, Alberta and a member of Rachel Notley's cabinet. (PHOTO: via CBC, The National) Folks outside of Alberta likely haven’t heard much about this story. But they really should. You see, the MLA (that’s like an MPP for Ontario [...]

So I watched it. That interview. Like everyone else, apparently. But then I took some time and thought about what it all meant. First and foremost, I was an avowed monarchist going in and nothing I heard or saw changed that. From that perspective, the interview was profoundly frustrating – more [...]

One of my all-time favourite scenes in the West Wing was a short interaction between Josh Lyman and Will Bailey. Josh: 68 per cent think we give too much in foreign aid, and 59 per cent think it should be cut. Will: You like that stat? Josh: I do. Will: Why? Josh: Because 9 per cent think it’s [...]

Above: Paul Newman in an outake from the film Cool Hand Luke. The captain in Cool Hand Luke (1967) wasn’t referring to Canada’s vaccine roll out but man, his famous line is apt. Let’s be clear: most Canadians want the Covid-19 vaccine ASAP. So do most Belgians. And Germans. Argentinians. [...]

Above: Ontario's Rod Philips and Alberta's Tracy Allard both travelled outside the country for Christmas and pre-taped videos for social media that gave the impression they were celebrating the holidays at home. If you believe Rod Philips resigned you likely think Julius Caesar died of natural [...]