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The New American Imperialism
I’ve been thinking about this post for quite a while, but have been focused on the Ontario election for the last few weeks. It’s definitely top of mind now. The idea of American imperialism is essential to explaining the Trump Administration’s seemingly bizarre parting shot at the G7 summit. Wikipedia defines American imperialism as “a…
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Ford: Open Deco’s Books Now!
In my post of April 8 (“Questioning Doug Ford’s Resume), I wrote that if Doug Ford wanted to prove his business acumen, he would release audited financial results for the family business (Deco Labels and Tags). Of course he hasn’t, but Renata Ford’s bombshell lawsuit has provided what she claims is evidence of his mismanagement.…
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Ontario Liberals: A Party Worth Saving
Duverger’s Law is one of those empirical generalizations in social science that doesn’t have the force of laws of physics. It states that plurality-rule elections (such as first past the post) structured within single-member districts tend to favor a two-party system. The US conforms to this law while Canada is an exception. Right now, Duverger’s…
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Proffy, Chippy, Bullshitty
Though party leaders’ debates are intended to inform voters about the party’s policy positions, what voters often take away is an overall impression of the candidates. In my view, Kathleen Wynne came across as “proffy,” Andrea Horwath as “chippy,” and Doug Ford as “bullshitty.” By “proffy,” I mean that Kathleen Wynne was knowledgeable, measured, thoughtful,…
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Ford: Attack and Defund Universities
Doug Ford hasn’t said a lot about universities, but what he has said should set off alarms. What he did say (reported on May 8 in The Globe and Mail) is that his government would police free speech on Ontario campuses. Ford’s dog whistle here is to his base, who apparently believe that universities are…
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Doug Ford’s Sexism
In the first party leaders’ debate Doug Ford said to Kathleen Wynne, “You’ve got a nice smile on your face.” In the second, he repeated the “compliment,” saying “I still like that smile.” In the first debate, Wynne replied, “So do you.” In the second, she turned away and after the debate said “I’m not…
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Doug Ford Will Devastate Ontario Universities
What will be the fate of Ontario universities under a Ford Government? Here is my best guess. The Conservatives have not yet produced a detailed platform. We know that they want to balance the budget and do it by cutting spending. Ford talks about “finding efficiencies.” This based on the dubious assumption that there is…
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Thank You RightTime
I have a wonderful 50 year old Omega Seamaster watch my father left to me that I posted about last July. As everything becomes digital, finding skillful service for vintage watches is becoming more difficult. Two years ago I had it serviced by RightTime, a watch shop in the Atrium on Bay in downtown Toronto.…
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The Ontario Election Campaign on Social Media
With the official start of the Ontario election campaign two weeks away, I’ve been looking at what each of the three major parties are doing on social media. Underlying my casual empiricism is the hypothesis, supported by a growing body of evidence, that a party’s online popularity measured by indicators such as viewcounts and page…
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New Book on Business Narratives
I’m pleased to announce the publication of my new book on business narratives Negotiating Business Narratives: Fables of the Information Technology, Automobile Manufacturing, and Financial Trading Industries, co-authored with Beth Herst, published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book develops an analytical model of business narrative and applies it to 63 recent narrative texts (movies, histories, biographies)…
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Questioning Doug Ford’s Resume
After looking at Doug Ford’s Wikipedia page and reading his 2016 book Ford Nation, I have questions about three areas of his resume: his role in the family business, his lack of post-secondary education, and his approach to politics. Doug Ford describes himself in the book as an “independent Canadian business leader,” and has claimed…
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Storynomics, the Book: Truth in Marketing?
After several years of teaching a one-day seminar on “story-driven marketing,” screenplay writing coach Robert McKee (together with digital marketer Thomas Gerace) has just published a book: Storynomics: Story-Driven Marketing in the Post Advertising World (Hachette Book Group, $19.49 on Amazon.com). The essence of the book is the application of McKee’s model of Hollywood film…
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Plagues of the New American Pharaoh
Our family uses the Reform Jewish Haggadah, written by a committee of Reform rabbis in the mid-Seventies. Before the recounting of the ten plagues on Egypt, the haggadah has a passage that discusses the plagues that “threaten everyone everywhere.” I’ll quote it in full: The making of war, The teaching of hate and violence, Despoliation…
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Should an Alleged Drug Dealer Serve Time – As Premier?
More than a few people have observed the irony of Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) Party leader Doug Ford urging Premier Wynne to leave the distribution of cannabis, when it is legalized, to the private sector. This, allegedly, is his area of expertise. Let’s look at the history of these allegations. In an investigative article, published…
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Hillary Clinton’s Prophetic Final Ad
While working on my chapter about election advertising narratives in the 2016 presidential campaign, I happened to play an ad the Clinton campaign posted on November 4. It is titled Rewind and still available on YouTube. Using the image of screen static when a video tape rewinds, we see a series of CNN headlines…
- 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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