Friday May 09, 2008
Latest Columns 
Trailer Park Boy throws winning paunch at maverick MPP's fundraiser
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008 12:00 AM Page A10
The guy walking around without a shirt was a tipoff that this wasn't a normal political fundraiser. Another sign that something unusual was afoot was that the politician at the centre of things was wearing a T-shirt that said ''Let's do the big dirty'' and quoted from a book titled On Bullshit.
An economic disconnect
Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 12:00 AM Page A6
Workers at Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. have ratified a contract that freezes their wages and takes away a week's holiday pay. Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove calls it a victory.
Hatfield-McCoy routine needs fresh ammo
Published: Monday, May 5, 2008 12:00 AM Page A4
Expectations were high for the political equivalent of a WWE Smackdown.There was no wrestling ring, but Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty came to the same suburban hotel to make their cases for the best way to rescue Canada's biggest province from the economic funk into which it is falling. The fact that the hotel was just a few kilometres from Mr. Flaherty's federal constituency merely added to the sense that Mr. McGuinty wanted to be a provocateur.
For a day, our Hatfields and McCoys play nice
Online Edition: Sunday, May 4, 2008 08:49 PM
When it comes to equalization, simple is the key
Published: Friday, May 2, 2008 12:00 AM Page A7
The thing about Canada's equalization system is that it's much more about politics than it is about economics. And that's why it's going to take political will to change the program so that it stops being, as one analyst called it, ''the poison pill of Confederation.''
Equalization is broken and it can't be repaired
Published: Thursday, May 1, 2008 12:00 AM Page A7
Dalton McGuinty says the federal equalization scheme is ''perverse'' but that's not the half of it. No one has any idea whether it works the way it is supposed to but, meanwhile, it is acting as a brake on Ontario's economy and fostering a culture of dependency among those who live off it.
A power transmission line? Not in their backyard
Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 12:00 AM Page A6
You can file this one away in a drawer reserved for subjects that are a bit boring but are also very important. Come back and look at it in a few years when the lights are flickering.
Hey ho, hey ho, the status quo has got to go
Published: Monday, April 28, 2008 12:00 AM Page A8
It was a sunny spring day and that's why there were fewer ties and jackets than usual - there was even one golf shirt - but members of the Ontario Legislature acted in a serious, business-like way in sending Toronto's transit workers back to their jobs.
Schools and pools set to close? Sounds a lot like the Harris era
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008 12:00 AM Page A4
Demonstrations about the closing of Toronto's swimming pools, fears of widespread school closings and accusations that the majority government is arrogantly changing the rules of the legislature to evade accountability.
Law on groundwater murky
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:00 AM Page A9
The Ontario government was draping itself in green on Earth Day for its decision to ban the sale and use of domestic pesticides but there's another, equally profound, environmental issue on which it is struggling to find its way.
