Other Politics

The House of Commons returns to work today after its refreshing, one trusts, 46-day Christmas recess.

MPs will be anxious to tear into the great issues of the day in the Ottawa bubble, starting with the Prime Minister’s vacation in the Bahamas and continuing, no doubt, to the irksome question of how much, or little, the government is actually prepared to do about cash-for-access political fundraising.

But these matters, which loomed so large a couple of weeks ago, now seem trivial. The big stuff, the serious stuff, is happening south of the border, in Washington.

Arlene Dickinson, star of CBC’s Dragons’ Den, wasted little time putting her former co-star in his place when she was asked what she thought of Kevin O’Leary’s entry into the Conservative leadership race last week.

“For seven years, I sat shoulder to shoulder with Kevin,” she said. “We'd spend long hours together, listening to hardworking Canadian entrepreneurs pitch their businesses, which, all too often, led to real-life stories of enormous struggle.

For all the wailing, gnashing of teeth, and hand-wringing displayed by Democrats since the upheaval of Nov. 8, and the surprising election of Donald Trump, one should note that their political situation isn't quite as disastrous as first reported.

It is certainly true that Republicans now organize the White House and both branches of Congress, and will be able to repeal Barack Obama's "executive orders," but Democrats have sufficient strength in the Senate to use the filibuster just as promiscuously as did the Republicans in blocking Obama's agenda over the past six years.

In addressing the recent Netanyahu-Kerry spat over Israeli settlement policy, let me clarify that I oppose settlements in the West Bank, support a two-state solution, and have little sympathy for Benjamin Netanyahu within the context of Israeli politics.

The last thing Justin Trudeau needs is to spend a king’s ransom on the renovation and rehabilitation of 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence where he lived as a child and where he would like very much to live again as prime minister.