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A Superb Film About a Quisling
When I was young, I learned that the word quisling meant traitor. Interested in its origins because the suffix “ling” is a diminutive (duckling, earthling), I looked it up. I then learned the word eponymous. I haven’t encountered the word quisling in recent years, so I searched it on Google N-grams to discover that its…
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Reagan Biopic: Heroic or Hagiographic?
When I watch a political biopic, I start with my fourfold classification of political fables: heroic, sacrificial, ironic, and tragic. It was clear in ten minutes that Reagan exemplified the heroic, in which the protagonist overcomes challenges, rises to prominence, and enhances the wellbeing of the people he serves. The movie begins with the attempted…
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How Allan Blakeney Helps Me Understand Doug Ford
Three decades ago, I co-authored a book with Allan Blakeney, the Premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982. I continue to refer to my collaboration with Blakeney in thinking about political decision making, especially by first ministers. In this post I will apply Blakeney’s ideas about selecting ministers and timing elections to some recent decisions…
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My Message to the Toronto Police about Protests
Faced with the challenge of keeping the peace during the numerous protests, demonstrations, and rallies that have taken place since last October 7, the Toronto Police have made the wise decision to consult the public about policies to guide their actions in this context. The consultation is being led by the Toronto Police Services Board,…
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Andre Rieu and the Power of Music
I didn’t expect to write this post. I was preparing posts about politics in Ontario and about the Toronto Police Service’s consultation about protests and demonstrations. But my posts about these topics will wait for a few days. I realize that most of my posts in the last year have been about fraught topics, in…
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Decant or Destroy the Ontario Science Centre?
Since the Ford Government announced the sudden closure of the Ontario Science Centre last June 21, it has taken the rhetorical line that it wanted to keep the beloved, iconic Moriyama building in operation until the new Science Centre at Ontario Place opens, but the recent discovery of decay in the roof forced it to…
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Strategic Voting in Ontario?
I recently saw the case made for strategic voting in Ontario in a column by TV Ontario’s Steve Paikin and in a media release by the citizen’s group Cooperate for Canada. Both are anticipating that Doug Ford will call an early election and suggest that the three progressive parties (Liberals, NDP, Greens) should agree among…
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The Only Answer is An Election
What is the question? The question is how can the Ford Government be persuaded to reverse course on closing the Ontario Science Centre and developing Ontario Place with the Therme Spa and a new, smaller, science centre. Even though Ford has often changed course over his six years as premier, this does not appear to…
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Retirement Four Years On
I’ve now been retired for four years, equal to the length of a political mandate in many countries. My inclination to stocktaking was reinforced by a recent article in the New York Times by Ron Lieber, who writes about personal finance. Lieber, still in his early fifties, develops his own mission statement for retirement, which…
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Abandoning Heritage Architecture
A redeveloped Ontario Place, housing the Therme Spa and the Ontario Science Centre, has become Doug Ford’s legacy project for his hometown. Those who were wondering if he would reconsider abandoning the Moriyama building in the face of loud protests from the architectural and technology communities received their answer this week. That answer consisted of…
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Better a Prime Minister than a President
President Biden’s disastrous debate performance has sparked agonized discussions among Democratic Party insiders and the American public at large about whether he should contest the election. Beyond that, it should raise questions about the institutional design of the presidency. How is it that a president whose mental acuity is failing can stay in office and…
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Should we Trust the Trustees?
In the week after the Ford Government’s surprise announcement of the closing of the Ontario Science Centre building, there has been an even more surprising amount of blowback. In addition to members of the local community and policy wonks like me, the architectural and IT communities and Toronto City Council have voiced strident opposition. I…
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Gov Nixes NYC Road Tolls: Why it Matters
(This blog was posted earlier this month but somehow disappeared from my website, so I am reposting it.) New York City was to start collecting tolls on June 30 for a road pricing system that would charge cars $15 (and trucks more) to enter downtown Manhattan. It was intended to reduce congestion and collect $…
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Without the Science Centre, What About the Building?
The eternal triangle of architecture – program, budget, and aesthetics – is an essential guide for thinking about the fate of Raymond Moriyama’s iconic building now that the Ford Government has decided to vacate it. The brutalist aesthetic of the structure remains, but it no longer has a program, and it will be expensive, though…
- 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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