As I struggle each day to write another book I can't help but think that this activity will one day be as obsolete as hand-pumping water from a well or stoking the kitchen stove with wood in order to cook dinner.

Our #BlueskyBookClub pick today is from Senior Consultant @alysonfair.bsky.social: At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, by Carol Off It's a powerful reminder that civil discourse isn’t just nice, it’s necessary. #BlueskyReads #BestPoliticalReads #ConversationMatters #canpoli

Voting in favour of a bill that you know will hurt your people but presuming they won’t find out until you are re-elected is the height of cynicism. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...

Republicans want to slash food and medical aid for impoverished Americans in order to subsidize Jeff Bezos extravagance. These things are directly connected. How do these people sleep at night?

It's dubbed the "None is to many" law. Canada sends asylum seekers back to the United States under a treaty that's supposed to protect their rights. We know it's not happening. Canada has legal obligations here. My latest substack. Free to read. Free to subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Violent attacks on journalists who are trying to cover the protests around Los Angeles, according to @adamrose, the Press Rights Chair at Los Angeles Press Club.

Trump wants to create violence in California as a distraction while his agents round up families, farm workers and students for detention and deportation.

Canada is sending refugees back to the US -- a regime that violates their rights and deports women and children. We have obligations to those people. It's time we honoured them. Mr. Carney, tear down that wall. My latest substack. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Canada's Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States is endangering the lives of countless people. It's immoral and probably unconstitutional. Mr. Carney, tear down that wall. My latest substack. Free to read. Free to subscribe.

Beauty pageants, the flag, the search for symbols. “We are defined by what we do, not by what we wear or what authority figure we can trot onto stage. We have a lot of reconciliation still to do at home but, mixed as it is, I believe our record can speak for itself. It's better than most.”

Why is it so hard for Canada to show the world what we are? Canada: a nation in search of an identity and a symbol. My latest substack. Free to read; free to subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Canada is standing up to the global neighbourhood bully -Donald Trump. And the world is watching. Their takeaway? Never underestimate nice people. My latest free Substack. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

For #gettinglitwithlinda, @caroloff.bsky.social addresses her new book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage & examines how #freedom, #democracy #truth are being hijacked & weaponized to diminish liberal democracy. @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social embed.acast.com/$/6086d520cf...?

This may be just the dress rehearsal. It will be of much greater concern if Trump appears in uniform as a general.

In Canada, a government can actually override someone's charter rights and do it legally. In fact, Pierre Poilievre vowed he would do that - using the notwithstanding clause. Trump Says ‘I Don’t Know’ When Asked About Due Process and Upholding Constitution www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/u...

What do Pierre Poilievre and Australia's Peter Dutton have in common? They both followed Trump's anti-woke crusade and paid a price. Losing their big leads in the polls -- and even their own seats. Conservatives are moving on. Their leaders should, too. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

"We're so cute when we're angry" was a subtext to much of the international response to Canada's election. --Do not underestimate "nice" people. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Spoiler for tomorrow's episode. Pro broadcaster/journalist versus hobby podcaster. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT is presented by @thewalrus.ca @caroloff.bsky.social thewalrus.ca/podcasts/wha...

Pierre Poilievre tied his wagon to Trump's anti-woke crusade and the conservatives paid a price for that. Canadians moved on; Poilievre did not. My assessment in this latest substack. Free to read; free to subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

A poignant takeaway from Monday night. Jagmeet Singh's gracious resignation speech. And then to see his little girl jump into daddy's arms as he left the room with with wife Gurkiran Kaur. Singh is a class act. Please stay in public life, @jagmeetsingh.ca #NDP images.app.goo.gl/vJWWA7usxrzP...

We put the snow shovel away today. That's as optimistic as I'm going to get.

Trump needs to insert himself into everything. It’s the narcissism. But is he endorsing himself? Poilievre? Or just doing his chaos thing?

This is just awesome👇👇 @caroloff.bsky.social #Canada #CBC #PublicBroadcasting

@caroloff.bsky.social writes with both urgency and clarity on the importance of the CBC: "What does the CBC even mean? It means a glimpse into something unknown, a chance to take stock of another Canadian’s struggles, and maybe to care a little bit more." substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Carol Off hits it out of the park with the most insightful and poignant defence of the CBC, and its importance to Canada’s social fabric, that I have read to date. Well done!

There are major threats to Canada's sovereignty right now. Losing our public broadcaster is one of them. The CBC -as we know it -will cease to exist if Mr. Poilievre wins on Monday. I think that matters. My substack is free to read; free to subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Poilievre will likely do what he says he will do- if he wins. Which means we could be days away from the end of the CBC. My contribution to the debate. The substack is free. No need to subscribe though welcome if you do. What does the CBC even mean? open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Do you remember during the 2015 election when Harper's conservatives proposed the "barbaric cultural practices" hotline? Hoping to win voters by fanning Islamophobia. Harper was defeated. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

It was deeply disturbing to see pro-Poilievre agitators try to hijack the debate the other night. And it was a wake up call to all who value legitimate journalism . My latest substack. Its free. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Pierre Poilievre says he's dedicated to "free speech" while the pseudo "news" groups- his cheerleaders-- attempt to shut down legitimate media. My latest substack -- Part 2. You don't need to subscribe to read. Why we need more news reporting open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Right-wing agitators like Rebel "News" masquerade as journalists. Meanwhile, Poilievre says he'll defund CBC news reporting that he calls propaganda. And he'll cancel money for local journalism. What's the agenda here? My latest substack. We need more Canadian news open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

We need more Canadian news coverage of this election, not just polls and opinion pieces. But there's a problem - I explain it in this substack. It's free! You don't need to subscribe. But it would be welcome if you did. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Lest we forget.

At Poilievre’s largest rally yet, his greatest strength reveals his greatest weakness, writes Arno Kopecky www.nationalobserver.com/2025/04/08/a...

Poilievre and Trump have so much in common -- including their plans to whitewash history. Read all about it in my latest substack. It's free! And so is subscribing. History, get me rewrite! open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Eye-opening piece by @caroloff.bsky.social on Polievre's pledge to "stop the war on our history." I had not realized the extent of similarities with what Trump is doing. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Will the US attempt to annex Canada? Timothy Snyder says: "They will take it if you let them take it. But if you don't let them take it, if it's apparent that there will be a cost, it will be a very different question for them." In short: Elbows up, Canada.

Premier Kinew sings for Ashlee. I am not crying, you’re crying. 😢

And just like that… Trumpspeak goes from *Governor* Trudeau to *Prime Minister* Carney. Did the joke just get stale or is this really a new show?

From hockey arenas to concert halls, Canadians are rediscovering an old tune with new meaning. O Canada. 2025 is the year Canada came "home." And found the meaning of "true patriot love." My latest substack. I Give You My Word open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

I Give You My Word - my latest substack post --explores how so many of us are rediscovering this country. And preparing a fierce resistance to Trump's threats. 2025 -- The Year Canada came "home". open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

As we watch Trump's attack on universities, remember that Poilievre promises to appoint a "Free Speech Guardian" for universities. A university could lose its federal funding if this politically appointed "guardian" recommends it.

On March 20, top Canadian journalists take the stage at Hot Docs Cinema to discuss disinformation, polarization, and what’s at stake in the 2025 election. 🎟️ $10 (free for students). Presented by CJFE & FIMS. hotdocs.ca/whats-on/fil...

If you're in Toronto on Thursday, March 20th, please join us at the Hot Docs Cinema on Bloor Street for what promises to be a lively and informed discussion about the coming federal election. We have a stellar panel of journalists to make sense of it all.

The word "woke" has had many definitions but in MAGA speak it's come to means caring for others in a civil society. For Trump, a just society is a weak society, one that is asking to be conquered. That's how he sees Canada. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

The latest posting on my substack -- I Give You My Word. Trump wants to bring Canada to its knees because he loathes civil society, which he sees as woke. And Canada is woke. open.substack.com/pub/caroloff...

Yes, David Suzuki @davidsuzukifdn.bsky.social we should have seen it coming. Good read here, including important quotes from @caroloff.bsky.social 's book "At A Loss for Words". Could this post be more Canadian? #NotUs #ElbowsUp rabble.ca/environment/...

As the Trump administration introduces Newspeak, I have launched a substack to document the Orwellian world we are now in. I Give You My Word. caroloff524989.substack.com/p/i-give-you... These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Following the bizarre Trudeau/Trump phone call, a scrum: Reporter: "You're foreign affairs minister called this a psycho-drama. What do you call it?" Trudeau: "Thursday." You gotta love the guy, (Trudeau) even if you hated him before. He's holding things together with string.

A good article by Applebaum -- how Europeans now see Americans as brutal. But for much of the world, the brutal American is not new but seared into their collective memory. A short list of examples: Abu Grhaib Baghdad Guantanamo Haditha My Lai The Brutal American open.substack.com/pub/anneappl...