Peter MacKay has an ad

— 05.30.2020 08:31 AM

I think it needed an editor – it’s about 30 too long. The “sharp end of the Covid stick” was weird writing. A war room is likely going to find that some of the people in the spot aren’t Canadians.

But it’s smart. It doesn’t even mention Trudeau or his leadership rivals, and thereby avoids partisanship at a time when we know we all need to be coming together. It looks and sounds Prime Ministerial.

It is the Biden approach to political opposition: lift people up, pick your targets carefully. It probably will win him the leadership.


Comments (52)

Things I can do because I am white

— 05.29.2020 07:41 AM

[From Michael Maynard.]

I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it.

I can go birding (#ChristianCooper).
I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery).
I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothamJean and #AtatianaJefferson).
I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride).
I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark).
I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).
I can play loud music (#JordanDavis).
I can sell CD’s (#AltonSterling).
I can sleep (#AiyanaJones)
I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).
I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).
I can go to church (#Charleston9).
I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).
I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell).
I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant).
I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).
I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).
I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones).
I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) .
I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).
I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott).
I can be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover).
I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).
I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).
I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).
I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo).
I can run (#WalterScott).
I can breathe (#EricGarner).
I can live (#FreddieGray)
I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED. (#GeorgeFloyd)

Educate yourself.


Comments (18)

Premier Premiers: Ford, Horgan up

— 05.28.2020 07:18 AM

Seven-in-ten residents approve of British Columbia’s John Horgan (71%) and Ontario’s Doug Ford (69%). Ford, until now, has never held majority approval since his election – an uptick likely attributable to a change in character some have dubbed the “new Doug Ford”. From segments aimed to reduce stress during the pandemic, like “Cooking with Doug”, to auto-tuned songs of his speeches, Ontarians have seen a different side of their premier. Perhaps most importantly, previous ARI polling shows that most Ontarians are satisfied with his coronavirus response, with nine-in-ten saying he has done a “good job”.

Likewise, Horgan’s job performance managing the coronavirus outbreak on the west coast, sees a recovery after a dip in approval due to the Wet’suwet’en protests against the Coastal Gaslink pipeline that shook his province earlier in the year.


Comments (8)

A Star is mourned

— 05.27.2020 08:10 AM

When I was contemplating a move from Vancouver to Toronto, the Star found out via an editor I knew there. I met with some senior folks at the paper, and they offered me a business reporter job.

It was a serious offer, and I took it seriously. In the end, however, I went to work at McMillan Binch (and not Osler’s, which also made me a generous offer) in their Bay Street office.

It was the right decision at the time. The media and assorted creative industries were busily digitizing their content, back then, and entities like Napster were about to make them profoundly regret it. Giving away newspapers for free didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me either.

The ownership change at the Star is good news for a newspaper that some of us knew was days away from a total financial collapse. The Bitoves are business geniuses, and business genius was in seriously short supply in the boardroom at One Yonge for the past decade.

We live in a time of great change, obviously. The media needs to change, too, or it will die.

I am glad the Star now won’t.


Comments (18)