Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

Dear Brenda, Today I went skiing. Yesterday I skated on Spencer’s amazing ice rink on Wawa Lake. The day before I snowshoed behind the hospital. And all of the fun and beauty of nature I experienced was due to Wawa volunteers. So I would like to send a virtual hug and/or a pat on the back to you who have ...

The Ministry of Transportation will be publishing sometime soon the results of a passenger rail survey it conducted in the region. The government claims this is an integral part of the process of keeping people safe, providing reliable transportation options and connecting communities in the North. Politicians of all stripes have long talked a good game about improving public transit ...

Les anniversaires sont, d’une manière générale, une chose que nous aimons célébrer. Nous aimons regarder en arrière pour reconnaître nos dates de mariage et nos anniversaires, car cela nous ramène des joies spéciales et irremplaçables d’autrefois. Les Canadiens qui regardent ou écoutent les nouvelles régulièrement se sont fait rappeler le 25 janvier un anniversaire beaucoup plus sombre. On nous a ...

Anniversaries are, generally speaking, a thing we enjoy celebrating. We like to look back to recognize our wedding dates and birthdays because it brings back special, irreplaceable joys from days gone by. Canadians who watch or listen to the news regularly were reminded on January 25th of a much darker anniversary.  We were reminded that the 25th was the one ...

Je ne suis pas du genre à regarder beaucoup la télévision et je n’ai vraiment pas beaucoup de célébrités que je suis ou que j’admire. Mais il y a un type populaire, et un Canadien en plus, que j’aime bien. Et c’est précisément à cause de ce qu’il dit et fait. Ce n’est pas un acteur ou un athlète, mais ...

I’m not one to watch a lot of television and I really don’t have many celebrities that I follow or admire.  But there is one popular fellow, and a Canadian at that, who I do like.  And it is specifically because of what he says and does.  He’s not an actor or sports hero but rather just a common guy ...

Frank magazine employed an effective and evocative word when reporting on dubious political statements back in its heyday:  nose stretchers.   What’s a nose stretcher?  Think of Pinocchio when he told tall tales.  Think of actor Leslie Nielsen in the movie, Airplane, whose proboscis grew each time he uttered soothing words to calm the frightened passengers without regard for the ...

Hooray for Nova Scotia who now presumes that adults are willing to donate their organs when they die. Organ donation is in most jurisdictions, an opt-in system. That means that you must state that when you die, you want your organs to be donated. Nova Scotia is now implementing a system that means if you do not want to donate ...

Much angst has been generated over the last decade about the future of the former Algoma Central Railway (ACR), its abandoned Soo-Hearst passenger train and its suspended Agawa Canyon Tour Train.  But have no fear!  The Soo political brigade had good news in the wake of the December 17th announcement by CN that the ACR is up for sale or ...

A Toronto Star headline above a December 23, 2020 column on how to deal with the pandemic-driven crisis in public transportation deserves an award:  “Keep the Christmas cash coming, Ford and Trudeau.”   That statement and the column unintentionally summed up what has been wrong with transportation in Ontario for decades.  It’s the unlimited flow of public cash for projects ...

Pendant les vacances de Noël, comme la plupart des gens, mon esprit était plein de souvenirs du passé, de l’année dernière et du « bon vieux temps ». J’avoue que j’ai été soulagé d’avoir une chance de m’asseoir et de me vider l’esprit à un certain degré de toutes les épreuves et tribulations que nous traversons tous ces derniers temps. ...

Over the Christmas Holidays, like most people, my mind was full of memories of days gone by, yesteryear and the “good ol’ days.”  I admit that I was relieved to have a chance to sit back and actually clear my mind to some degree of all of the trials and tribulations we all are experiencing in these times.  I thought ...

The recent performance by VIA Rail’s Canadian between Vancouver and Winnipeg – but not between Toronto and Winnipeg via Northern Ontario – on its first trip in nine months is the death rattle of Canada’s passenger trains.  It needn’t be.   Working on my book on this long and sad Canadian saga, I frequently look south at Amtrak.  There, a ...

A sure sign Canada’s rail passenger service is near death slunk into Winnipeg on Monday, December 14 – 15 hours late.  For the first time since March 12, VIA Rail’s Canadian arrived from Vancouver.   It was really only a half-Canadian.  It short-turned and went back west the next evening rather than continuing to Toronto.  The Canadian will do this ...

The provincial government unveiled a fancy new proposal titled Connecting the North: A draft transportation plan for Northern Ontario. The MTO has indicated they are exploring options for passenger rail services between Toronto, North Bay, Timmins and Cochrane.   However, the proposal fails to answer one obvious question: When exactly is our train supposed to return?   Last month, the ...