Canada
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…
Mark Steyn: a hairy, successful version of myself, says Julie Burchill
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, Mark Steyn is sort of a hairy, successful version of me—…
Portrait of the week
Home The last British combat troops turned over Camp Bastion in Helmand to Afghan forces and withdrew from Afghanistan after…
David Frum’s diary: When Hamas shoots at Israel, they’re shooting at my kid
Wellington, Ontario A British visitor to this village might be disoriented by the flags. They look almost exactly like the…
Alice Munro won't let her Nobel go to her head — that's why she's a true Canadian writer
Alice Munro may be the most Canadian writer in the world. That’s why Canadians can’t quite believe her achievement
419 by Will Ferguson - review
The term ‘419’ is drawn from the article in the Nigerian penal code that addresses fraud. However, it has transcended…
