Month: April 2023

Much like a joyrider paying a speeding ticket, Fox has been forced to cough up — but won’t for one second consider slowing down.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on April 23, 2023.

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What begins as a whisper will rise to a shout. What starts as a tepid suggestion will graduate into an alluring exhortation.

Wait for it, because here it comes: Democrats across the United States will call for comedian and TV personality Jon Stewart to run for their party’s nomination in 2024.

Don’t believe me? It’s started already.

Last month, a tweet about his prospective candidacy amassed a million views in only one day. Even well-known disc jockey Howard Stern is joining the chorus. A couple of weeks ago, he used his platform to urge Stewart to run, claiming that he “owes it to his country.”

Appeals for the former “Daily Show” host to run for office are nothing new. They’ve arisen before. Each time, he has summarily shut them down.

So a reality check. I take Stewart at his word.

That said, I am sure calls for him to run will grow far stronger as the campaign draws closer. Crucially, these calls represent a clear, urgent message: Democratic voters want, no make that need, a fighter in 2024.

Why a fighter? Two reasons.

First, in politics, when you are most discontent, you turn to your best fighter, your rhetorical gunslinger. And conservative courts have given American progressives plenty of reason to be raging mad.

Earlier this month, a Texas judge ruled in favour of a Christian advocacy group that asked the court to reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a pill (taken in concert with other medications) that induces abortions. At the time of writing, it’s a move that sets the stage for the pill to be banned nationwide.

Moreover, last week Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that would ban most abortions after six weeks in Florida. This is not Margaret Atwood’s imagined Gilead, but a real one. Justifiably, alarm bells are ringing. The outrage is rising.

These are but two examples. There are plenty of others. But the larger point is one that the Trump phenomenon illustrated all too well in 2016: When voters are angry, they go with the candidate who channels that anger best.

For American moderates and progressives, that individual, bar none, is Jon Stewart. With an impressive legacy spanning over two decades, Stewart has relentlessly laid waste to media figures and politicians on the American right, skilfully calling out their hypocrisies with passion and humour.

Secondly, Democrats will have to confront the reality that their presidential candidate, whoever it is, will likely need to face off against, believe it, Donald Trump on the debate stage.

It won’t be ideal if that candidate needs the assistance of an oxygen mask to reach the podium. It might be even more disastrous if, in response to Trump’s jabs, all he can manage is “C’mon man!”

While Trump can nickname him Sleazeball Stew, the fact remains that Stewart possesses tenacity that Trump has never before faced on the debate stage, enabling Democrats to — at last — fight fire with fire. He is for moderates, what Tucker Carlson is to MAGA supporters, if Carlson was a scrappy New Yorker ready to rage against the machine with a razor-sharp intellect and rapier-like wit.

So while it remains highly doubtful that Stewart will run in 2024, here’s the wider, more significant, picture. By packing courts across the land with right-wing lunatics, the Republican Party may well have dug its own grave heading into 2024.

That’s why many think Joe Biden has it in the bag. I see things slightly differently. While I agree Democrats are in the pole position, the painful truth, but one that nonetheless must be heard, is that a geriatric candidate could seriously jeopardize that advantage.

What Biden ought to do is the responsible thing: pass the torch to the next generation.

The answer might not be Jon Stewart. But if the calls for him to run grow any louder, it could prove to be the wise choice.

It’s a startling thought that it’s been over half a century since Neil Armstrong and his fellow explorers bridged the lunar frontier in an event that captivated the world.

This week, as NASA prepares for its Artemis II mission — the first to carry humans around the moon since 1972 — it was announced that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will play a significant role, with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen selected as one of its four crew members.

For members of my generation, the moon landing was a seminal moment. One that truly ushered in a new era. But the half-century since has seen few comparable, equally cinematic, or paradigm-shifting endeavours in outer space.

So, Artemis II, which promises to finally revisit this frontier, will be keenly anticipated. What’s more, Canadians will and should be proud that one of our own has been selected for such an important mission. As the prime minister noted, Hansen will be the first non-American to observe the full sphere of the Earth.

Canada has a proud history of space exploration, exemplified by none better than Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, long-time MP and former cabinet minister, who announced his retirement from Parliament earlier this year.

But our parliamentarians must realize another important lesson from this Canadian success story: Canada can, and should, punch above its weight. And when we do, it is good news because exploration and technology development have positive implications for two areas where Canada is badly lagging our peers: innovation and defence.

In both domains, we are only offering limp-wristed flails.

First, on innovation. The CSA has limited resources compared to other agencies, yet it holds a commanding presence on the International Space Station (ISS) and in the astronautical community. Incomprehensibly intricate robotic arms, developed by the CSA, are deployed on the ISS to conduct repairs and other automated tasks, and several Canadian aerospace companies are on the rise building rovers and other equipment to be used in future missions.

These examples can help signal to the world that Canada has what it takes to be an innovation economy. While the recent federal budget contained lots of talk about innovation, its disparate tax incentives are unlikely to make a meaningful difference in any specific industry or help grow and protect Canadian intellectual property. Further, we lack a national strategy to bolster private sector research and development spending.

Our success in space shows that R&D is essential to innovation, yet we continue to rank among the lowest of G7 and OECD peers in this regard.

Our defence capabilities are, frankly, even more embarrassing. This week, as Finland’s flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Belgium, we gained yet another multilateral ally who is willing to proportionately outspend us in shared defence commitments and do more to protect global rules-based interests.

Despite pressure after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine to step up to the plate, our defence spending remains well below the two per cent of GDP required by our commitment to NATO and is forecasted to only be 1.43 per cent by 2025. This is an indictment on our multilateral credentials and gives others good reason to consider us a pipsqueak.

Space is an important ingredient in improving our defence credentials. The war in Ukraine has highlighted, among other things, the growing consequence of satellites in warfare. It’s no secret that Russia and China have territorial ambitions in the Arctic and respectively have begun integrating satellite systems to increase their surveillance and navigation capabilities in the region. Unless we sharpen up and leverage our partnership with the Americans in aerospace to include greater defensive capabilities, we will be at severe risk.

Ultimately, this Canadian victory needs to propel ambition in other areas, namely innovation and defence. Canada’s presence on this historic mission shows the power of daring to dream. I hope it can motivate our politicians to unleash our capabilities for other critical policy imperatives.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on April 9, 2023.

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