Pursuing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Take a moment to let this sink in.. and here’s a thought to remember as you read this: Marx said, “Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom and no one would have noticed.” There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class….
Right click on the memes and reshare – please. (Common sense must prevail.) Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com
“[Canadians] … we are content to elect a prime minister with the appointment powers of an autocrat for the duration of his term. It is a curious anomaly of an otherwise sensible people in accepting such an archaic governance system. Louis himself couldn’t have asked for anything more.” – Richard Finlay “Political parties in Canada…
“Here’s a little tip for politicians everywhere: If you find yourselves with more time than issues on your hands, go home.” – Lorne Gunter “Power is a drug on which the politicians are hooked. They buy it from the voters, using the voters’ own money.” – Richard Needham “Canada is divided by great mountains, great…
“You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.” – Thomas Sowell “Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.” – Honore de Balzac “The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.” – Eugene J. McCarthy “Bureaucracy is the death of all…
Politics offers yesterday’s answers to today’s problems. – Marshall McLuhan Canada is like an old cow. The West feeds it. Ontario and Quebec milk it. And you can well imagine what it’s doing in the Maritimes. – Tommy Douglas The disconnect between Canadians and those who govern on their behalf is deep, wide, and growing….
On this, MPs’ first day back in Ottawa, By George offers some classic observations on government from notable Canadians through the ages. “Canada: a land endowed by heaven with incalculable wealth… a people free and brave and strong with the strength that comes from the mountains and the prairies, the rivers and the sea.”…
Law is a necessary evil. Pass as few laws as possible, consistent with the demands of justice and the maintenance of order. Where custom is sufficient, there is no need for law. Do not pass laws that cannot, or will not, be enforced, for such breed contempt for both the law and the State. Penalties…
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. – Winston Churchill Giving money…
Liberty don’t work near as good in practice as it does in speeches. Nobody wants his cause near as bad as he wants to talk about his cause. Common sense is not an issue in politics; it’s an affliction. If you’re riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then…
In 1979 when the Joe Clark government fell on a non-confidence vote on respecting the budget, less than nine months in office: “Long enough to conceive, just not long enough to deliver.” On Question Period: “The usual lot of noise not signifying very much.” “Mr. Speaker, I am glad the honourable gentleman finally got around…
The Niagara Independent, November 29, 2019 — As mentioned in last week’s column, National Post columnist John Ivison punted aside the list of newly appointed cabinet ministers with his insightful commentary “Who’s in Trudeau’s cabinet? It doesn’t matter, political power lies elsewhere.” Ivison observed that nothing really has changed as a result of the election because Prime Minister…
The Niagara Independent, November 22, 2019 — With all the traditional pomp and ceremony, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week announced his Cabinet to guide the minority government in the 43rd Parliament. The PM has increased the number of ministers on his front bench to three dozen. A great many of these ministers were members in…
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealth out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. When half of…
It’s been said that “The election is not very far off when a candidate can recognize you across the street.” So, with the Canadian federal election about to be called in the coming days, we bring you 20 political quotes on elections. A politician thinks of the next election – a statesman,…
The Niagara Independent, August 16, 2019 — It was an explosive spectacle this week when Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion made public his findings on the conduct of the Prime Minister and his Office respecting their obstruction of justice in the SNC Lavalin scandal. It was as if all of Ottawa was caught up in some…
The Niagara Independent, August 2, 2019 — As surmised in the February 22, 2019 Niagara Independent column, “There’s much more to this Gerald Butts story.” And it now appears, perhaps, the puppet master never truly left the Liberal Party’s backrooms. Liberal Party “insiders” recently leaked that the former PMO Principal Secretary and Justin Trudeau’s best…
The Niagara Independent, April 5, 2019 — She was argumentatively the most able of all Trudeau cabinet ministers. Yet the remarkable drama that unfolded between the Prime Minister and his former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould has overshadowed the devastating loss that has occurred to the Government (and now the Liberal Caucus) as a result of…
The Niagara Independent, March 29, 2019 — Last week, the Government of Quebec heralded a budget with a $2.5 billion surplus and featuring increased spending in health care and education. On the other end of our country, Albertans entered into an election campaign feeling agitated about the treatment they are experiencing from the federal government…
The Niagara Independent, February 22, 2019 — The resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Principal Secretary Gerald Butts has sent shockwaves through the corridors of power in Ottawa. Tendered in the quiet of a long weekend, Butt’s departure from the PMO is recognized as the signal most remarkable event since the 2015 election itself. His…