NB this interview was done before the government said it would pay Admiral Norman’s legal bills. But I stand by my claim that the ordeal he went through, including having to fund the case himself while it was in progress and with no reasonable expectation that his bills would be covered, constitutes a powerful deterrent to anyone rocking the boat or, in this case, the supply ship..

In my latest National Post column I say the real crisis in Canadian public health care is that we aren’t willing to consider that it’s working badly because we’re doing it wrong.

In my latest National Post column I deplore the growing tendency to classify climate denial as a psychological disorder and offer the Climate Discussion Nexus as a civil alternative to misinformation and insults.

“One general description of madness, it seems to us, might be found in the statement that madness is a preference for the symbol over that which it represents.”

G.K. Chesterton, “Lunacy and Letters,” in Alberto Manguel, ed., On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by G.K. Chesterton

In my latest National Post column I say it’s absurd and ghastly for the major parties each to rail at the other for wanting to tax without spending, as if there were no connection between high program spending and high taxes.

No, really. Governments across Canada face appalling challenges including the growing threat of Western alienation. But most politicians are far too cautious, focus-grouped and partisan to put forward bold new ideas. If we want frank talk and big ideas that challenge the status quo and open the way for reforms that work, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.

So we’re holding the 6th annual Freedom School conference in Calgary on Feb. 8 and 9 to discuss “Things that Matter: An Agenda for Alberta”. We’ve got a terrific lineup of speakers to talk taxes and pipelines, pensions and schools, equalization and efficiency, and open the way for politicians to escape the rut of stale rhetoric, complacent overspending, bad public services and a weak economy.

Remember Ralph Klein’s supposed wisdom about finding a big parade and getting in front of it. Well, join us in Calgary and let’s get the parade going.