Go Habs!

Sage national security, defence and foreign affairs experts Jody Thomas and Peter Harder discuss the Strait of Hormuz and NATO's ever more precarious position with Allan Gregg and me. Everyone's a loser, except Putin. NATO feeling the pain at 77 open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

On the eve of CUSMA negotiations, journalist and historian Mary Janigan reminds Sage readers that deal-making with the U.S. rarely unfolds according to expectation, can turn divisive and irrational, and often bites the hand that's fed it. Remember Laurier and 1911! open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

The Sage Podcast is out: Canada Finally Hits 2%, Now Things Get Hard Is defending the Arctic w/o the US realistic? Is NATO salvageable? Will politics deny our pilots the best plane? Will Canadians support defence spending increases all the way to 5%? open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

The Sage Podcast -- Apparently we're not richer than we think and what PM Carney should do about it. Going for Bronze: Canada Has Settled for Third on the Global Economic Podium open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Worth a listen to the Sage podcast on Carney first anniversary as PM. Allan Gregg and I speak with three Sage contributors open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Welcome to the first Sage podcast, co-hosted by Allan Gregg and me. It's Mark Carney's 1st anniversary as PM. Has he met the moment? What does he need to get done in Year 2? Does an early election make sense? Listen! Subscribe! Repeat! open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

If you haven't looked at Sage yet - the new Substack written by policy veterans - this week looks at the Last Resort test in war; the inflation-cost of living mismatch; rural-urban solitudes; and Canada's incipient fiscal problem. Or not. Please spread the word! open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Stéphane Dion on Sage on how the two great polarizations of modern Western societies are driving separatist sentiments in Alberta and Quebec. Please subscribe to this new Substack. open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Jesse Jackson’s passing reminds me if reading Gail Sheehy’s breathtaking psychobiographical profile in the Jan. 1988 issue of Vanity Fair. I had always been interested in ‘What Made So-and-So Run’ stories. This one is masterclass journalism archive.vanityfair.com/article/1988...

The Sage blog: From Munich to Munich: German Chancellor Merz extends the Carney Doctrine open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Peter Nicholson’s excellent essay on solar has been getting a lot of attention this weekend. Pleas visit Sage and look for fresh material on the site tomorrow about German Chancellor Merz’s Friday speech at the Munich Security Conference. open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Guess what? A Greenlander is better off with Denmark in terms or social supports, income, and democratic representation than the residents of the five U.S. overseas territories. Sign up for Sage! open.substack.com/pub/sagecana...

Let's stand up for the thousands of Ukrainian children abducted from their homes and forced to become Russian. In the background, a photo of my grandmother and aunts and uncles who came to Canada from Ukraine in search of freedom from the Soviet state. Family is sacrosanct, Mr. Putin. #BringKidsBack

It's hard to imagine with the US crisis that any government is going to double the Parliamentary appropriation for CBC. CBC is critical to the news ecosystem but the route to political inoculation is reform not more funding. Let's have a real debate. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Amazing how little public debate about the future of the CBC considers genuine reform of the institution. Thanks to @torontostarunit.bsky.social for space to describe a radical decentralization strategy in response to the defunding threat. Makes for a better CBC. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

This is six weeks old and even more on the mark today! How Canada Should Respond to Trump open.substack.com/pub/dgardner...

Party leadership comes and goes. WONK-iness holds steady through the ups and downs.

@cdnpoli.bsky.social I first met Chrystia Freeland in Ukraine in August 1989. She was hanging out with dissidents and defying Soviet authorities. Showing up for caucus is not something I imagine she wrestled with #cdnpoli

I made the mistake of assuming it would be easier getting up and down Yonge Street today on subway than car. But that wasn't to reckon with the competency race to the bottom between the TTC and the city roads department.

@KellyleeEvans killing it (as always) at a Christmas concert at Hugh's Room

Especially now that I'm finally on the ground after flying from Toronto to Dulles, not being able to land because of wind, running low on fuel and having Pearson(!) as our alternate airport, returning home and starting over!

At a time when we need a proactive Canada-US strategy, I am looking forward to bringing @ppforumca.bsky.social's #MatterMore to @wilsoncenter.org in Washington Thursday with the Munk School's @Janice Stein. Thanks to Chris Sands

This week on WONK, an all-star panel — Janice Stein of @uoft.bsky.social's Munk School, Canada’s former chief trade negotiator Steve Verheul and @thestar.com columnist Andrew Phillips — discusses Trump’s tariff threat and what’s next for Canada with host @egreenspon.bsky.social:

I learn so much from this crew of Friends of PPF. As Politico said this morning: The topic of discussion: DONALD TRUMP‘s tariff threat — and how Canada should deal with it. Our ears perked up throughout.....

Been watching The Fifth Estate 50th anniversary documentary. Both a great reminder of what great journalism looks like and what it takes (smarts, determination, guts) to do it.

I had the pleasure of covering the making of the child benefit in the late 90s. Ken and Sherri Torjman designed Canada's biggest social policy innovation in a generation. It took kids off welfare and had and has universal buy-in. I recall Ken telling me his biggest critics were his pals on the left

As per @ppforumca and @munkschool's Matter More paper, it is imperative for Canada to initiate a substantive strategy for doing things together for mutual benefit and the good of other friends - Auto Pact 2.0s. Dithering puts us behind the 8-ball ppforum.ca/publications...

Chuffed @ppforumca podcast WONK has been nominated by the Canadian Podcast Awards in the Outstanding News & Current Affairs category along with PressProgress Sources, Speaking Municipally, Speaking of Business with Goldy Hyder and The FEED. I think you all get to vote for the People's Choice, ahem!

Played P-Ball for the first time today at a facility called The Jar, as in Pickle Jar

The outbreak of violence in Montreal isn't an aberration. It is the product of a new permisiveness toward disorder. If violence and intimidation are unacceptable, as we often hear, what is Cdn society doing about it? #justwatchme montrealgazette.com/news/local-n...