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Mark and Doug’s Lousy Deal
After their overwhelming public rejection, the proponents of expanding Billy Bishop Airport (BBA) are still in a state of denial. Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria blames the result of the consultation on “small fringe groups.” Doug Ford shared his disappointment about the outcome with Prime Minister Carney and later with the media. Ford thought he…
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An Intellectual Road Not Taken
With the publication of Public Representations, I’ve finally realized that I am no longer an active researcher. I’ve begun looking back over my work and evaluating it. There are numerous perspectives from which to evaluate your research. Was it imaginative conceptually? Was it well-executed methodologically? Was it impactful in academe or in the wider world?…
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Should we Have Accepted the Bridge Shakedown?
I have been following the conflict between Canada and the US about the Gordie Howe Bridge for several weeks. It may seem like yesterday’s news, given the Trump Administration’s most recent threats of retaliatory tariffs to take effect on August 19 and possible wildfire-based tariffs or sanctions. But the bridge is important, both for the…
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Jim Coutts and Canada’s Eccentocracy
The recently published diaries of Jim Coutts, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1973 to 1981, offer a candid and uninhibited look at the personalities and policies of the Trudeau Government and cabinet government in general. I’ve just invented the word “eccentocracy,” which means rule by eccentric people. The three key players in…
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The Theater of Roxham Road
In her recent book Crossing: From US to Canada, Walking Roxham Road, the distinguished Canadian documentary photographer Ruth Kaplan refers to the scene at that irregular border crossing as theater. The space around the border is a kind of stage where asylum-seekers coming to Canada, the taxi drivers bringing them, the volunteers supporting them, the…
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Completing Cardio Rehab
This is a sequel to my post last October about having mitral valve surgery. As part of my recuperation, I applied to participate in a cardio rehab program run by Toronto’s University Health Network at its facility near Sunnybrook Hospital (where I had the surgery). The program is oversubscribed – I’ll explain why – and…
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We Were Much Smarter 50 Years Ago
This is my draft submission to the public consultation on the future of Billy Bishop Airport. I am posting it to elicit reaction from readers before I submit it for the deadline of July 24. As you’ll see, it is based on my unique knowledge of the situation. If you are considering making a submission,…
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Joyously Back to the Classroom
A few months ago, I was asked to teach my Management and Narrative course to first year undergrads in Victoria College’s elite Vic One program this fall. After a bit of thought I accepted. It was always my favourite course and was well received by students. Teaching it again would be a chance to test…
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Lloyd Blankfein: Changing the Narrative?
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis of 2008, was one of the corporate leaders Senator Carl Levin mercilessly interrogated at Senate committee hearings. My 2019 book Negotiating Business Narratives, coauthored with my estimable spouse Beth Herst, has a chapter on financial sector narratives titled “A Good Dose of Outrage” that pays…
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Present at the Destruction of USAID
While the Trump Administration was destroying the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in February 2025, there was an outbreak of Ebola in Uganda. One consequence was that USAID’s supply of 27000 sets of personal protective equipment languished in a warehouse in Kenya and was never shipped to Uganda. We are now facing a much…
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With Pearson’s LIFT, Why Expand Billy Bishop?
The Ford Government justified its legislation to expand Billy Bishop Airport (Bill 110) as “reducing pressure at Toronto Pearson International Airport.” I wonder if any of Ford’s minions were at the Empire Club earlier this week when Pearson CEO Deborah Flint gave a presentation entitled “Positioned to Grow — Toronto Pearson Enters a New Era.”…
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What Nieuport Won’t Say and Ford Won’t Do
Since the Ford Government’s tabling of Bill 110, the Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, its opponents have focused on the issues of air and noise pollution that would be caused by expanding the airport, the incompatibility of an expanded airport with residential and recreational uses of the waterfront, and the attack on local democracy from…
- I am Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Toronto, having retired in July 2020 after a 45-year academic career.
- My latest book, Public Representations: Screen Stories, Narrative, and the Public Sphere, co-authored with Beth Herst, was published in April 2026 by University of Toronto Press (open access).
- On this website I post blogs about politics, narrative, and my life experiences.
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