Just when I was feeling all global and disconnected from my national heritage, along comes a story like “Alberta man admits selling prize antlers.”Can you imagine a national news web site in any other country running a that headline as its number two domestic news story? (Okay, drop the “Alberta” part. Now can you imagine it? I didn’t think so.) Kinda makes you all proud and weepy.… Read more...

Hats off to Paul Wells for finally doing the math and figuring out that the Conservative Party is actually kind of a, well, flop.I know how odd that sounds. Aren’t the Conservatives riding high, buoyed in the polls and nipping at the Liberals’ heels? They’re certainly doing better than either the Alliance or the Progressive Conservatives — the two ingredients in the CPC recipe — were doing before… Read more...

The new flag of Iraq has been chosen by the people in a country-wide referendum, following a weeks-long process where ordinary citizens could submit their designs alongside the creations of award-winning artists and —…Well, no. Actually, the 25-member governing council just kind of imposed it.Now, somewhere in Baghdad, the graphic artist who turned the council’s design-by-committee process into the final artwork is lying in a… Read more...

Paul Martin and his cabinet sit down tonight for a discussion of election timing. Here’s a preview:Martin: I’ll have the veal medallions with carrots, and the Cabernet Sauvignon. And thanks for doing this, Joe.Clark: No prob. What will the rest of you predominantly gentlemen be hav–Martin: Wait, wait. Is veal the right call here?Robert Speller, Minister of Agriculture, Such As It Is: Absolutely. It sends the right message… Read more...

The Bush administration has had few real successes in Iraq. Capturing Saddam Hussein was one. And keeping the real cost of the war from Americans has been another.A Pentagon policy has spared the war’s supporters the sight of flag-draped coffins coming home: “There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Delaware] base… Read more...

Ottawa — Canada’s democratic deficit rose four per cent in the first three months of 2004, the Ministry of Finance reported today.The rise is mainly due to Paul Martin’s announcement in March that he would delay the Ottawa Centre by-election until Nov. 29, his appointment of candidates in British Columbia and Quebec, and politically motivated delays by the Liberal Party’s so-called “green light committee”.Media concentration had already driven… Read more...

Last February, as usual, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority’s board of directors started its meeting by adopting the agenda and the last meeting’s minutes, and then hearing from delegations.What wasn’t usual was one of the presenters: Henry Orsini, the nine-year-old son of a transit activist with B.E.S.T.. Orsini has launched a campaign for a 50-cent transit fare for kids. He designed… Read more...

I’m still reeling from this morning’s statement from Svend Robinson, the 25-year veteran New Democrat MP.It feels weird to call Svend a “veteran” anything; he still looks every bit the fresh-faced crusading newcomer — even on a day as painful as this one.I was at the news conference where Svend became the first gay Member of Parliament to come out publicly. It was one of those great electrifying… Read more...