Inkless in review: the year in big comment-board fights
By Paul Wells - Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - 76 Comments
Six posts on this blog this year drew more than 300 comments.
In March I returned from Michael Ignatieff’s big Montreal thinkers’ conference to point out that he had eliminated the biggest policy differences between his party and the NDP, so now they could merge! Readers weren’t sure they agreed.
In April, when a lot of people still thought the government’s refusal to release documents pertaining to the possible abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan was a big deal (seems so long ago!), I tried to predict Stephen Harper’s reaction to the Speaker’s ruling against his government. I thought Harper would fight. I did not realize he wouldn’t have to because the Liberals didn’t care enough.
In early August when a lot of Americans thought the prospect of a “Ground Zero Mosque” was a present danger to the safety and dignity of the Republic (seems so long ago!), I quoted from Michael Bloomberg’s great speech defending American values.
Nine days later I suggested that Stephen Harper was pressing ahead with the abandonment of the mandatory long-form census because he believed he was doing something important and worth any political cost.
At the end of August I endorsed John Geddes’ superb reporting on the government’s attempts to gin up fake research on the InSite safe-injection site in Vancouver.
In October I picked a fight with Chantal Hébert over our coverage of corruption in Quebec, and readers had a merry time debating whether I’d managed to beat myself up.
I’ll repeat the same exercise soon with my print columns and articles from the magazine.
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Time to do your part
By The Editors - Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 4 Comments
In one poll, only 36 per cent considered themselves ‘very likely’ to get the vaccine
As an exercise in public health preparedness, Canada’s reaction to the H1N1 flu threat has been a remarkable success so far. Whether the public health outcome is as successful depends on what individual Canadians decide in the coming weeks.At a cost of over $400 million, the federal government has acquired 50 million doses of vaccine, sufficient for all Canadians who request it. This week Ottawa also announced a supplementary supply from Australia specifically for pregnant women, due to potential concerns about a pharmacological agent used in the main batch. The massive rollout of the vaccine across the country to date has been, for the most part, competently handled. Continue…
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Maclean's Interview: Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala
By Martin Patriquin - Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 7:30 AM - 12 Comments
French comic Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala on why he called Jews slave traders and why he’s running for the European Parliament
French comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala has entertained and exasperated his native country for nearly 20 years, most recently with his one-man shows that touch on race, religion and domestic violence, among other comedic taboos. In 2006, he fell out of favour with France’s media and political establishment, as well as many of his fans, when he declared his admiration of Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National party, going so far as making Le Pen godfather to his daughter. Along with running in the upcoming European parliamentary elections on an anti-Zionist platform, Dieudonné is performing five Montreal shows in June, where he remains extremely popular despite (or perhaps because of) the controversies surrounding him.Q: You are well known in Quebec but not in English Canada. Please introduce yourself.
A: I’m French with African roots. I’m 43 years old. I have been a comedian and a humorist for the better part of 30 years. I have a particular comedic style that provokes a certain reaction from my contemporaries.
Q: This is the point? To elicit a reaction?
A: Yes, that’s my style. I love playing with geographic, religious and ethnic boundaries. It’s an interesting game for me. Here in Canada, you call it reasonable accommodation. Everything that divides people is interesting to me. I have a lot of fun with that.
