The voters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) have just delivered Canada’s incoming Harper government its first test.
The Conservative position on Palestinian terrorism is clear: They condemn it–and they certainly oppose the Canadian taxpayer being asked to subsidize it.
But the career civil servants in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have their   more

ItÕs time to put in a good word for French president Jacques Chirac.
Last week, Chirac delivered a speech at a French submarine base warning terrorist states of a “firm and fitting response” should they attack France. The response, he said, might use conventional arms. Or it “could also be of another kind”: nuclear.
Chirac,   more

Washington D.C. will be very, very glad to see the back of Paul Martin, and for much the same reason that Canadians voted against him. After years of investing him with all their brightest hopes for change, they came to see him as a weak, vacillating leader whose word could not be trusted.
Out of   more

Through the 1990s, President Clinton had two powerful senior
advisers: his wife, Hillary Clinton, spoke for the left of the Democratic party; his vice president, Al Gore, spoke for the right.
It was Gore for example who pressed President Clinton to emphasize budget-balancing over public spending. It was Gore too who advocated US intervention in Bosnia   more

How much power do you want the NDP to have? How much do you trust the Bloc Quebecois?
Those are the urgent questions facing Canadian voters in this final week of the federal election campaign.
The polls are telling us that Canadians will almost certainly elect a Stephen Harper government on Jan. 23. Those same   more

Sometimes Democratic politicians must just hate their party.
Look at the hearings on US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. All but the most liberal Democratic senators understand that the smart thing to do is to confirm him as quickly as possible.
Every day spent debating the Alito nomination is a day spent debating abortion, same-sex   more

According to last week’s Liberal campaign ads, Stephen Harper wants to raise taxes to send your kids to Iraq. Either that, or else shoot them with handguns so he won’t have to pay for their daycare.
Alas for Liberal hopes, this line of attack does not seem to be working — not if the opinion   more

After a spasm of heart-rending, frightening violence, Toronto’s Mayor, David Miller, and its news media want Torontonians to remember one thing: The city is very, very safe. Really.
“Chicago: 445 homicides. Washington D.C.: 195 homicides. Baltimore: 268 homicides. Toronto: 78 homicides.” So opened a story in Sunday’s Toronto Star.
If there is any problem in   more