In my latest Epoch Times column I mocked progressive alarm at Jordan Peterson daring to interview Pierre Poilievre, and at either man daring to exist. But I then expressed my own alarm at the way Poilievre makes plausibly right-wing noises without articulating genuine policy alternatives on major issues.
In my latest Epoch Times column I offer principles not predictions to navigate the stormy waters of 2025.
In my latest Epoch Times column I say the new “ambitious plan” from the Canadian Armed Forces to expand its ranks represents not a step forward but a flight into fantasy, and the extent to which anyone takes it seriously measures how far official Ottawa and the chattering classes have abandoned difficult reality for comforting make-believe en masse.
“But leadership is not just about getting the job done…. How many times have we read about a university athletic program that was excelling in athletics but was caught in a cheating scandal along the way? Or a financial institution that made its stockholders a lot of money but eventually collapsed because they violated the law? If as a leader you fail the institution you are leading, then you have failed – period. Once again, leadership is difficult, but not complicated. To do it right doesn’t require a sophisticated chart, a calculus formula, or a complex algorithm, but it does require some guidance.”
Author’s “Introduction” to William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
In my latest Epoch Times column I say that Members of Parliament need to be focused on the core, and crumbling, functions of government rather than getting distracted by exotica like advanced research criteria. The state can’t and shouldn’t do everything, and at the moment it’s not doing much of anything properly in Canada, so worry about the tax code not the genetic code, defence not dark matter, and deficits not dilithium. (It’s based on testimony I’m giving before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research on December 10.)
In my latest Epoch Times column I ask that Santa Claus bring me a functioning Canadian military up north, and everywhere, because my government certainly doesn’t seem likely to provide one.
“A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
The United States Military Academy Cadet Honor Code, quoted in William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog. McRaven adds that “Below the honor code is the mission of the United States Military Academy. The mission of West Point is not to produce Pattonesque geniuses, four-star generals, or presidents of the United States. The mission is to produce ‘leaders of character’. And the honor code provides the foundation of that character. The code beckons young men and women who aspire ‘to live above the common level of life.’”
“The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honor.”
George Bernard Shaw, as header quotation (not further sourced) to Chapter One of William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog