What is the right jet for Canada? – UPDATED

My earliest memory of the murky world of military procurement was back around 1991 when PM Brian Mulroney announced the purchase of 50 new EH101 helicopters to replace our ancient fleet of Sea Kings, knowing he would likely not be around to see the sale through. As expected, new PM Jean Chrétien cancelled the order…

Billions of dollars going out to sea

The government of Canada is potentially wasting tens of billions of dollars and nobody is talking about it. Reports have been written about it, but politicians of all stripes ignore it, and it fails to capture any attention. “It” is the purchase of 15 new frigates for the Canadian navy, to replace our aging and…

Building Under A Flight Path

Winnipeg City Council might be on the verge of condemning a vast area of central Winnipeg to being a concrete wasteland for decades to come. The area in question is the former site of the Winnipeg Stadium adjacent to the Polo Park mall. Two development companies have proposed an elaborate project, integrated with the Polo…

The Topsy-Turvy World of Bill Morneau

There was good news in last week’s Federal budget. The economy grew again and the government pulled in a projected $9 billion more than they expected, and a cool $21 billion more than the year before. The bean counters are expecting an additional $6.6 billion on top of that unexpected windfall next year. Not too…

Jody Wilson-Raybould and the Beast

I have never really understood why people align themselves with a political party unless they are in politics. When Citizen Joe defines himself as a Liberal/Conservative/Democrat/Republican, it seems to me that they are limiting themselves — closing their minds to the possibility that another party might be better prepared to lead, and blinding themselves to…

The Misplaced Priorities of Mayor Bowman

The referendum on opening Portage and Main to pedestrians seemed to dominate the conversation leading up to the 2018 Winnipeg Civic election. Many people, with good reason, argued that the focus ought to be on far more pressing problems like the growing meth crisis, crime, and our struggling transit service to name a few. Any…

The Portage and Main Debate

Families are being torn apart, coworker is pitted against coworker, and my Twitter feed has turned into a war zone. It’s no surprise, really. If my 10 years of blogging and 5 years on Twitter have taught me anything, it’s that nothing riles up Winnipeggers like transportation issues, and opening up Portage and Main is…