No Virginia, we’re not all Keynesians now

With the showdown over who will ultimately hold the reins of power in Ottawa in at least temporary abeyance, people are now focusing their attention on what if any action the government should be taking in response to still developing global financial crisis. Almost everyone seems to agree that Canada needs an “economic stimulus package”. What should such a “package” consist of though, and how big should it be?

Harper must defend conservative policy, not play political games

Let me make one thing very clear right from the start – I do not approve of the federal Liberal and NDP parties’ attempt to topple Stephen Harper’s minority government and replace it with a coalition government of their own. But “coup d’état”? “Sedition”? A “subversion of democracy”? Now that Parliament has been prorogued and the crisis averted until at least the end of next month, can we all please, please take a deep breath and relax?

Conservatives must resist the syren-call of "small-l" liberalism

Speaking to delegates attending the Conservative Party conference in Winnipeg Wednesday night, Prime Minister Stephan Harper emphasized the need for the party to be “practical and pragmatic” as opposed to “ideological” in its approach to dealing with the country’s business. I couldn’t agree more. So here are a few practical and pragmatic suggestions of my own.

Unfettered speech isn't dangerous, unfettered power is

One would think that if anyone could mount a strong defence of Canada’s much maligned human rights commissions and their role in regulating free speech in this country, it would be Maxwell Yalden. A former ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, Yalden was Chief Commissioner of the federal Human Rights Commission from 1987 to 1996 and Commissioner for Official Languages from 1977 to 1984. He also served on the UN Commission on Human Rights.

A feckless Conservative Party? Principled conservatives have only themselves to blame

It has been said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes, but in Canada, there’s one more thing you can count on, and that’s conservatives – both fiscal and social – accusing the Conservative Party of "abandoning" its principles and "deserting" its core constituents. It’s no great surprise then that a handful of prominent Canadian conservatives are now doing just that.

A small step toward fixing Canada’s broken immigration system

I’ve often said that the single greatest problem Canada faces today is the general, and in my view cataclysmic, decline in the quality of thought that politicians and policy-makers put into the positions they take on issues. Take the recent brouhaha over the government’s proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for example.

God save us from "public" health care

It’s ironic that the politician most credited with bringing health care under the control of government in Canada was also an ordained Baptist minister – in today’s secular parlance, a Christian fundamentalist. Given his strong religious convictions, one cannot help but wonder how Tommy Douglas would react to the drama now unfolding in a Winnipeg courtroom, where a Christian hospital is fighting, with the approval and full financial backing of the government (meaning taxpayers are footing the bill), for the “right” to stop caring for an elderly disabled man by the name of Samuel Golubchuk.