Canada
No, America couldn’t have been Canada
What if William Howe, the dithering British commander, hadn’t let the American army escape in the Battle of Long Island…
Another stupid, redundant, dismal Canadian election
Canada has just surpassed even its own previous records for absurd and boring elections yielding predictable and dreary results. Almost…
Justin Trudeau’s election gamble is backfiring
In 1966, a year before Pierre Elliott Trudeau first blazed to power, the bard-poet Leonard Cohen published his second and final…
Justin Trudeau isn't the progressive leader he thinks he is
It came as no surprise to me to see activists ‘celebrating’ Canada Day by setting fire to churches and toppling…
The COVID response shows the left is losing its way
Last month, British Columbia announced that those who don’t wear masks indoors can now be fined $230. ‘To me, it’s…
The unbearable niceness of Canadians is driving us to destruction
While Americans spent last week panicking about the state of their democracy, north of the border we were having a…
America’s allies don’t like Trump. So what?
So, the Pew Research Center polled more than a dozen allies and, guess what, the allies — from the UK…
Justin Trudeau’s prorogation memory loss
A prime minister better known for his charisma than his policy achievements proroguing parliament to ride out a political storm.…
The Canadian election is turning into a comedy of cringe
Next week my compatriots will cast their votes in what has arguably been the worst Canadian election ever. By ‘worst’…
Justin Trudeau is not a racist – but he is a fool
The election campaign was off to an unexciting start even by Canada’s standards. A well-known but fluffy incumbent, Liberal Justin…
How Canada failed to smash the cannabis black market
I had forgotten how much I disliked cannabis until I found myself under its influence, in the rain, trying and…
Donald Trump’s one-front trade war
At 12:01 a.m. on Monday, President Donald Trump went a long way toward defusing a potential war – not with…
Michael Palin follows the Erebus – an historic ‘adventure’ with a tragic outcome
In May 1845, HMS Erebus and her sister ship HMS Terror set sail for the Arctic, never to be seen…
I hate fishing — but was hooked by the story of the Yukon’s salmon
‘Help!’ I thought, when I read the Author’s Note. ‘It’s about salmon, and I hate fishing.’ But by the first…
Rockies horror show
Tin Star, the latest Sky Atlantic drama, has a comfortingly familiar premise: Jim Worth (Tim Roth), an ex-detective from London…
In praise of Netflix
All this week I have been trying, with considerable success, to avoid being bludgeoned by TV programmes telling me in…
Annie Proulx is lost in the woods
You can’t see the wood for the trees in Annie Proulx’s epic novel of logging and deforestation in North America, says Philip Hensher
Justin Trudeau has his mother’s looks – and his father’s dodgy economics
Justin Trudeau has his mother’s good looks – and his father’s dodgy economics
Boris and Dave’s schoolboy rivalry is journalistic wishful thinking
The Prime Minister is pretty angry with Boris. But the idea that they’ve competed with each other since school is…
Any deal with the junior doctors should cut both ways
A few months ago, paramedics were on the brink of industrial action. They had legitimate grievances. Ambulance services were being…
Glenda Jackson is brilliant in Radio 4’s Zola adaptation - and terrifying
It was a stroke of genius to invite Glenda Jackson to make her return to acting as the star of…
Justin Trudeau and four more hereditary prime ministers
Family business Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau, was elected to his father’s old job as Prime Minister of Canada.…
Capitalism’s most dangerous enemies are on the right
The far left can’t win – unless it has the aid of a callous and complacent right
The other terrorists we have trouble naming
Naming terror David Cameron and the BBC argued over what to call the terror group most papers refer to as…
Life after Vera: Patrick Gale’s hero finds happiness towards the end of the Saskatchewan line
Patrick Gale’s first historical novel is inspired by a non-story, a gap in his own family record. His great-grandfather Harry…
