Category: Uncategorized

This pandemic is not over until I get to shoot craps at a local casino. Our backlog of celebrations of lives lost to us is daunting. And I have no idea how the air-conditioning can handle another day of over 30°C.  Besides, the local liquor stores are out of my favourite wines.

The best suggestion for a commentary was a series of pictures sent by a reader. He visited a park in Lithuania some time ago and he found it was where the Lithuanians parked the statues of defrocked heroes.

The idea seemed to be that history teachers could bring their students to the park to learn about their country’s cast-aside heroes. It struck me as a pleasant outing to visit with Lenin, Stalin and that ilk. Maybe Canadians have some park space for some of our rejected heroes.

I don’t suppose that the Americans will have any statues of Donald Trump any time soon. Imagine finding space beside the other four presidents on Mount Rushmore for him!

It reminds me of the statue of King Edward VII at Queen’s Park in Toronto. The statue was brought to Toronto when rejected by the government of India. Everyone agrees that it is a very fine horse that what’s-his-name is riding. It is like some of the statues of General Robert E. Lee in the American south. They often put him on a well-crafted horse. The South might not rise again but we will always have a liking for fine horses.

The Japanese have a better answer to this problem of fallen heroes. I was once given a tour around the beautiful grounds of the imperial palace in Tokyo. We came across a statue of a very formidable Samurai warrior and I asked the guide what the characters on the plaque under the statue meant. She said she did not have a clue as the characters were in the old Japanese language, before they adopted the Chinese Kanji. It was just another fine piece of the sculptor’s art.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

We do not need to read this crap. The other day the Toronto Star ran an opinion piece headlined: As an Afro-Indigenous woman being Canadian means living in a nation built on my ancestors’ stolen lands by my ancestors’ slave labour. And why are we putting up with this silly bullshit?

Did the early Europeans coming to what is now Canada displace the aboriginal tribes they found here? Nobody needed to steal aboriginal land. There was plenty for all. Besides, most aboriginals in this area were nomadic. Canada is still sparsely settled today. We have lots of land for many more.

Slavery had nothing to do with building Canada. Slavery was abolished throughout the then British Empire in 1834.  There were estimated to be maybe 4000 slaves in what is now Canada at that time. About two-thirds of those slaves were North American aboriginals. The aboriginal slaves were part of the booty collected by warring aboriginal tribes. Never having owned a slave, I do not have to apologize for those in the past who did.

Could you imagine an American continent that never attracted European settlers? My ancestors came here to escape the potato famines of Ireland, the crushing class system of the British Isles and the constant wars of Europe. And I am sure a few horse thieves came with them.

But I am not going to apologize for our ancestors’ mistakes. Some of the stupid things they did were actually well meant. Residential schools for our aboriginal population was a really bad idea promoted by some well-meaning people.

I recognize that some of the treatment of our aboriginal population could have been avaricious, mean and cruel. I still do not refer to them as indigenous (meaning ‘from here’) because their ancestors came here more than 15,000 years ago. My only responsibility is to be sure I deal fairly with others without consideration of skin color, when their ancestors came to this continent or what language they speak. I would also like it if they continue to deal fairly with me.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

That Bruno Mars song about being lazy is silly but seems to fit the ennui I am feeling about writing something today. We are all tired of the pandemic and tired of writing about it. At the same time, I am surprised at our foreign affairs people in Ottawa thinking they were going to win the open security council seat.

My problem is that I ration these commentaries. I only write one a day. A lot of blog writers routinely write four or five blogs in a day. Frankly, I would rather read the North American edition of the Economist. Those people have something to say.

But at the same time, I might write about our Canadian economy. We need to remember that poor Bill Morneau as finance minister in Ottawa needs all the help he can get.

And I am tired of writing about that ass Trump in Washington. I would rather go watch a rerun of that wonderful old movie ‘Mr. Smith goes to Washington.’  I simply cannot believe that Trump will go through with one of his idiot rallies in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend. I would not wish covid-19 on anybody but those Trump supporters do seem eager to drink their Kool-Aid.

There is no question that there are lots of things to write about. I will try to come up with something interesting tomorrow. See you then.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

It is good to be home. After months of quasi isolation, it is still a place of comfort during this pandemic. Being taken by ambulance to the hospital last week was a wake-up call.

No, it was not covid-19. I knew that as soon as the hospital staff stopped wearing all that hazmat gear coming into my room.

But I am home now and ready to continue my string of acerbic commentaries about our political world. There is much left to be said.

Maybe I will have something for you tomorrow.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

We are talking about hockey here. And yes, I confess, I am one of those long-forgotten Toronto Maple Leaf fans. I remember as a youngster I walked by that sainted temple built by Conn Smythe at Carlton and Church on the way to and from school. I remember celebrating with green seats when I first took my young son to a Leaf’s game. Because of the miracle of television, he could quickly tell me how each of my favourite players were doing. He recently turned 50 and he has still never seen the buds win a Stanley!

I admit, I was not overly hopeful for that fresh young team with which the Leafs opened the season last year. They just looked good and the wife and I enjoyed watching the occasional CBC Saturday night game—until the world stopped turning for a pandemic.

You would think we would be dancing around celebrating the announcement of a series of quasi-playoffs over the summer. Well, we aren’t. Frankly, we are stunned by the greed of the owners.

It is easier to understand the greed of premier Jason Kenney in Alberta, who wants his province to be a hub of play for this farce. Kenney has already written to Justin Trudeau asking (or demanding?) that the NHL be declared “essential” so that there would be no delays in bringing players back and forth across the border.

I guess the league will offer some payment to the players for the games but this is all raw greed on the part of the NHL owners. Nobody I know would be eager to run a tag day for those vultures.

This entire scheme is nothing more than a desperate attempt to rescue some of the television revenue that the league has come to enjoy. You can also imagine the sports channel chiefs salivating at the thought of some decent revenue during this pandemic.

I think we can boil this all down to two words we would like to offer to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Get stuffed.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

How do we hate this pandemic? Let us count the ways.

Looking at the pictures of what was going on at Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto last weekend gave you a smile and a frown. It was a young crowd, doing what young people do. It was natural and understandable and counter to all the restrictions of the pandemic.

But I thought the complaints on television by Toronto mayor John Tory were asinine. What properly run city would unlock the public park and keep the washrooms barred?

And Ontario premier Doug Ford looked just as ridiculous complaining about the lack of social distancing. What else was he expecting after two months of lock-down. Say what you like about all those crappy social media programs, they will never replace the pleasure of a warm and interested body next to yours.

Despite the blue-stocking attitude of our politicians and the continuing efforts to repress our society by ignorant clerics, this pandemic is going to explode at some point. Humans have sexual urges for a reason and we need to have outlets.

It was shocking to see recently that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had declared that the pathetic involuntary celibate “incel” movement is a form of ideological terrorism. It makes you wonder just what countries CSIS believes might be targeting us with other forms of mental illness?

When it comes to the war of the sexes, we are our own worst enemy. Maybe after the pandemic is past we can wrest prostitution from the hands of the bikers and drug dealers and properly protect women who want to offer their services to men who might otherwise be without this outlet.

We used to have debutante balls to introduce young people who were arriving at the marriage market age. We also have neighbourhood parties to introduce bored housewives to equally bored husbands. Maybe we need to have parties properly labelled just to introduce people who are interested in some hot sweaty sex.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

Friday evening dinner in my household as a child was often fish and chips, wrapped in pages of newsprint torn from the Toronto Star, to keep your dinner warm. In that sense, I grew up with the Toronto Star. I was probably still too young when conservative premier Leslie Frost blocked the terms of the will of publisher Joseph Atkinson that tried to turn the newspaper over to his charitable foundation. It ended up costing the five families involved $25.5 million to buy their own newspaper. It was the highest price ever paid at the time for a broadsheet newspaper.

I liked the new boss at the Star, Beland Honderich. He was not only a smart newspaper man but he was an astute businessman. He was very much a liberal but he was smart enough to create his own version of a Chinese wall in what he wanted for the party and what he wanted for his readers. He brought in a new era of expansion and growth in the venerable paper. It is my impression that his son John, who inherited the position in 1994, really did not understand where his father might have been heading.

While constantly buying out competition from around the province and as well as other publishing properties, there was a push into digital properties to gain more knowledge into developing better news websites. And this seems to be where the Star is still stuck today.

I have tested different ways of reading the news over breakfast and I must admit that I still prefer the foldable broadsheet. It is not that I am some sort of dinosaur that cannot make the change. I just get tired of wiping marmalade off my computer tablet.

It was also an awkward situation when I launched a lawsuit against one of the Star’s digital acquisitions to attempt to protect my right to a share of that acquisition. I thought it was rather dismissive of the Star to bankrupt their own acquisition rather than negotiate a settlement. They also lost out when lower level editors were enthusiastic about articles I offered the paper—then, there was nothing. Holding grudges is bad for business.

I am glad to see that there will be new owners. These are times for making changes.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

It is a different world for poor Harry Windsor. He cut himself off from the trappings of royalty with surgical precision. Now he is staring up from a prone position in the self-centred world of Hollywood. No honours, no special branch protection and no money. In California, there is a name for men who live off their wife or an allowance from their granny or their late mother’s estate.

Maybe Harry should not have left Vancouver Island so precipitously. Come to think of it, he could have timed it better when ditching the titles and allowances, over in ol’ blighty. I expect that Canadians might have found something for him eventually. Hollywood is only an answer for his wife. In tinsel town every third person on the street will gladly respond to being called ‘your highness.’

It seems an appropriate topic today, as we celebrate the birthday of Harry’s Great, Great, Great, Great Grandmother Victoria. That woman who suppressed the Brits for so many years is blamed for many failings today. I am sure we can now include Brexit. She did few favours for Canada—having been the one to choose Ottawa for the nation’s capital. And the city has changed very little over the ensuing 150 years.

If Harry had been in Canada today, he would probably have been surprised that it is one of those bank holidays—a Brit tradition. Though with the pandemic, there are no Victoria Day fireworks. Such festivities might have attracted crowds.

Harry, himself, probably attracts crowds of his own. It reminds me of women in Ottawa who are quite open in their quest to add another cabinet minister to the collection of notches on their bedpost. While maybe a little too deep into the fortified wines in a Vienna heuriger (wine bar) one time with an old friend who was a titled Brit and he explained it to me. “My dear chap,” he said to me, as he waved to the various ladies there, “They all want to fuck a British Lord.” I guess the competition would be much stiffer for a prince—defrocked, or not.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

When the wife was having a Zoom meeting the other day with her book club, she used my computer. For some reason, I could not load Zoom on her laptop. The connection was messy, she was late and my way of getting her there caused a funny echo for the others that I had to fix.

I mention this because I ended up listening to most of their discussion. They were discussing a book by a British author (Caroline Criado Perez from Oxford and the London School of Economics). It was on the data bias in a world (supposedly) designed for men. The book drove a clear wedge between the men and women in the club. The men seeing progress and the women not seeing enough.

While it is always easier to find gender imbalance in the United Kingdom, I was intrigued when they got to the gender imbalance in politics. Among an obviously well-educated audience of Canadians there seemed little awareness of some of the differences in North American politics. Canada’s parliament has come a long way from when Ellen Fairclough was the first woman in the federal cabinet. Yes, it is difficult for women in politics and there should be more of them.

I have worked with some wonderful women in politics over the years. I find they have different instincts, pressures, objectives and approaches than men. They tend to be more family oriented and nesters.

And they can be tough. One of my first mentors in politics was Jean Gertrude ‘True’ Davidson of East York (now part of Toronto). True was of the old breed of politicians and she never lost in all her municipal trials. She was probably why I enjoyed a friendship with Hazel McCallion in Mississauga. Hazel was mayor of Streetsville when we first met and soon mayor of the City of Mississauga. Her 36 years with that city is a remarkable legacy.

In more than 60 years in politics, I have always encouraged women to participate. They have much to offer.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]

Just memories for Mothers’ Day. Mother used to tell us six children that when her time came, she would expect us to send her off on her own ice flow. She had read somewhere that Canada’s northern aboriginals, the Inuit, did that with aged members who were no longer useful to the tribe. Luckily for her, she made it to her 97^th year and passed peacefully in a pleasant, well run long-term care facility.

That was more than 20 years ago. She had lived through the Spanish Flu as a teenager and young adult in Chicago. What she would have made of covid-19, we can only guess. It probably would not have appealed to her as a way to cull the herd.

And that is the way this pandemic presents. Reading the world-wide reports on covid-19, a common thread is that long-term care facilities in many countries are the killing ground. It is costing us far too many of the old and infirm in our societies.

Covid-19 is not only a nasty way to die but it is also a lonely death. People in personal protective equipment bustling around trying to do what they can, just do not cut it. Despite their valiant efforts, there are no warm and fuzzy feelings in that scene.

The wife and I are both in the cross-hairs for this pandemic. Age and health conditions are on the wrong side of the ledger. Luckily, we are quite comfortable where we are self-isolated and with each others’ company. We are catching up on our reading and very bad television.

-30-

Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to  [email protected]