A sesquicentennial question: How did we progress from the Tory Family Compact to the Liberal Laurentian elite in 150 years, if that’s progress?

What makes a building beautiful? Is it the "golden ratio" in its proportions, its ornamentation, something else or a combination of these and other factors?

Liberals have been appointing more women than men to federal judge positions, despite women being a minority of available candidates. The government’s defenders say if every appointee is qualified, a pass-fail criterion, the Employment Equity Act’s requirements are met. But isn't this discriminatory? If so, how can the government legally sustain anti-discrimination policies?

Do you agree with Lawrence Solomon in the National Post that most politicians called “far right” in the media, like Marine Le Pen in France, are actually a new kind of nationalist with views scattered unpredictably all over the traditional left-right spectrum?

What do you think of the concept of “White Privilege” and the associated notion that white people should feel shame and guilt over their race and maybe make reparations for past injustices against non-whites?

What are the similarities and differences between classical liberals, libertarians and conservatives? What would they agree about over dinner and what would they fight about?

Would you say leaking former (briefly) Donald Trump National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn's conversation with the Russian ambassador was justifiable?  Do you think Gen Flynn did anything illegal?  I ask because Charles Krauthammer has argued that this was a cover-up in search of a crime.

I often see the term “social construct” in the news, usually with reference to gender or race. Is it something real or just a wacky term for a wacky idea?

We recently discovered that Canada’s foreign minister had a grandfather who collaborated with the Nazis in occupied Ukraine. Does it matter that she said he “worked hard to return freedom and democracy to Ukraine” without mentioning that he edited a pro-Nazi newspaper during the war?

Can you please explain why the government is in charge of generating and distributing electric power? If it’s the usual argument that essential services should not be in private hands, shouldn’t we nationalize grocery stores, and why in Ontario do the Liberals want to privatize power generation while the Conservatives want to keep it in state hands?

Andrew Roberts’ 2009 The Storm of War argues that it was only Stalin’s ruthless totalitarian regime that could squeeze the heroic efforts and sacrifices necessary from the Russian people to defeat Nazi Germany. He doesn’t minimizing Western aid, or Stalin’s blunders from the Red Army purge of the late 1930s to ignoring warnings, or the natural advantages of Russia’s terrain and population. But do you agree that the sacrifices demanded by Stalin would not have been accepted in a democracy?

Since you frequently cite John Locke on what makes government legitimate, what books would you recommend on good government? Feel free to stop at 100.