Michael Harris

While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Michael Harris.

Carney grasps a key point that Poilievre has missed in the trade war

Carney grasps a key point that Poilievre has missed in the trade war

The dramatic collapse in the once insurmountable lead Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held over the Liberals is the most astonishing reversal of political fortunes I have ever seen. For one thing, it happened in a matter of a few weeks. For the two years before that, the Liberals could barely see Poilievre’s tail lights. He was on cruise control to...

Carney is clearly the most qualified candidate to take on Trump

Carney is clearly the most qualified candidate to take on Trump

Even if Trump is using tariffs to negotiate better deals with trading partners, that process could take up the rest of his presidency. After all, he has levied punitive tariffs against scores of countries. If these countries want to negotiate an exemption or a carveout, they will have to stand in a very long line to get to the president.

On the Trail of Pierre the ‘Ripper’

On the Trail of Pierre the ‘Ripper’

Historian and journalist Mark Bourrie writes, “This book is about how Canada made its own version of Donald Trump, albeit with fewer guns and less rioting, but with lots of trucks and lies.” Around the world extreme right-wing leaders are coming to power, authoritarians who offer “easy and simple answers to complicated questions.” Aggressive people see an opportunity, and COVID...

Carney is asking Canadians to give him a majority to deal with Trump

Carney is asking Canadians to give him a majority to deal with Trump

A few months ago, only people who were smoking the drapes would have thought a Liberal majority possible. Now, who knows? Driving into my hometown, there is a sign at the Four Corners in a farmer’s field. It reads “Mr. Trump. Don’t poke the Goose.” It’s the Canada Goose, of course. The words are directed at U.S. President Donald Trump...

April could be the cruelest month for Poilievre

April could be the cruelest month for Poilievre

Fading Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre should read a little T.S. Eliot. April could indeed be the cruelest month for the man who so badly wants to be prime minister. Canadians will be going to the polls soon. Should newly minted Liberal Leader Mark Carney win that election, as some polls say he could, Poilievre would have presided over the biggest...

For Carney and Poilievre, it’s go time

For Carney and Poilievre, it’s go time

Both leaders of the mainstream parties need to demonstrate their credentials for the top job, and their plan to rebuff Donald Trump. An election is the best way for that to happen. Despite the economic crisis triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, Canada needs to hold a federal election as soon as possible. It may be inconvenient, but...

Trump’s word = the square root of bugger all

Trump’s word = the square root of bugger all

I have just two words for U.S. President Donald Trump: Tariff off. How bad is his crazed trade war? Just a day after imposing illegal and punishing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Captain Chaos has had to revisit the issue. In just one day. That’s because his belligerent and unscrupulous policy aimed at America’s biggest trading partners and most faithful...

Trump sinks to new low with AI-generated Gaza video

Trump sinks to new low with AI-generated Gaza video

King Donald and his band of enabling Banana Republicans have hit a new low. With the ceasefire in Gaza hanging by a thread, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a glitzy video on “Truth” Social complete with a catchy song. The AI-generated video depicted the war-torn region after a makeover—a kind of Las Vegas on the Mediterranean. There was even a...

Carney’s Surge and the Looming Election

Carney’s Surge and the Looming Election

Can anyone stop Mark Carney in his bid to become Liberal leader? Not likely and here’s why.

Trump sides with Putin, a murderous dictator

Trump sides with Putin, a murderous dictator

It is usually the other way around, given that America styles itself as the leader of the Free World. Instead, we have a convicted felon and an accused war criminal joining forces against a democracy.

Does Canada need a ripper, or someone who knows the ropes?

Does Canada need a ripper, or someone who knows the ropes?

Mark Carney has helped two countries navigate through some serious white water. While Pierre Poilievre’s monetary experience is a babble about Bitcoin, Carney has been on the font line of how economies really work in real crises.

We can no longer trust America

We can no longer trust America

Henry Kissinger once reportedly quipped that, “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy; but to be America’s friend is fatal.” South Vietnam was a friend, and now it no longer exists. The previous government of Afghanistan was a friend, but has been replaced by the Taliban. The Shah of Iran was a friend, until he was overthrown in the...

Maybe, just maybe, Canadians are getting tired of slogans and trash-talk

Maybe, just maybe, Canadians are getting tired of slogans and trash-talk

It has been 14 years since Justin Trudeau called then-Conservative MP Peter Kent “a piece of shit” in the House of Commons.Since then, politics has steadily become a potty-mouthed street-fight between rival gangs.

Even Jesus must be shaking his head

Even Jesus must be shaking his head

With Donald Trump’s accession to power, a fact-free zone paralyzed by ego and propaganda, the U.S. has entered liar’s heaven and democracy’s hell.

Why the Liberals’ Hopes Aren’t Dead Yet

Why the Liberals’ Hopes Aren’t Dead Yet

Is it possible for the beleaguered Liberal Party of Canada to make a comeback?

Danielle Smith puts oil and gas before country

Danielle Smith puts oil and gas before country

So, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has decided not to play for Team Canada.It doesn’t get tackier than that. U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s 10-thumbed meddling in Canadian affairs has led to exactly what he wants: a house divided. America First meets Alberta First is the perfect Trumpian tango.

Trump overdoses on unlimited power

Trump overdoses on unlimited power

When U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming into the United States from Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it was “like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.”At the time, more than a few commentators thought that Ontario’s premier was over-reacting. It was just Trump being Trump.

Hey Trump, we shouldn’t be your 51st state, you should be our 11th province

Hey Trump, we shouldn’t be your 51st state, you should be our 11th province

So America’s felon-in-chief thinks Canada would be a dandy addition to the United States? Donald Trump even referred to Justin Trudeau as the governor of the great state of Canada. I know. Puerile at one level, disgusting at another, and totally predictable. Veteran Liberal Allan Rock had it right: The guy who may well deconstruct his own country in his...

In the last days of his lame-duck presidency, Joe Biden has become Trumpian

In the last days of his lame-duck presidency, Joe Biden has become Trumpian

Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys in advance of Thanksgiving: good for “Peach” and “Blossom.” The president went from pardoning turkeys to pardoning his son, ahead of his sentencing on gun and tax convictions. This is bad for Hunter Biden, toxic to the rule of law in the United States, and catastrophic for the president in the dying days of his...

Trudeau stands up for the rule of law on Netanyahu

Trudeau stands up for the rule of law on Netanyahu

Justin Trudeau hasn’t been getting much praise lately, but he deserves more than a little for doing something few politicians have the guts to do these days: stand up for the rule of law, no matter who is involved.

Trudeau’s reset options dwindle as government puts itself above Parliament

Trudeau’s reset options dwindle as government puts itself above Parliament

As Canada’s parliamentary system sputters into dysfunction, Justin Trudeau’s ability to hit the reset button for his unpopular government has suffered another major setback. Just when the prime minister would like to focus the public’s attention on the government’s upcoming fall economic statement—which is likely to show that both inflation and the cost of living are coming down—the Liberals lose...

Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue

Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue

And so, two months before the White House officially changes hands, the nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue begins.If anyone thought that Donald Trump’s iconoclastic and outrageous promises on the campaign trail were mere rhetoric to give woodies to his frothing base, his staffing appointments reveal the worst case.

No process replaces due process in the United States

No process replaces due process in the United States

It didn’t take long for the unsettling reality of a second term for Donald Trump to show up. As everyone knows, special counsel Jack Smith has pursued criminal charges against Trump on two fronts: unlawfully taking classified documents when he left the White House, and obstructing justice to keep them; and for triggering a coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021...

U.S. presidential election may reveal if the clock strikes 13

U.S. presidential election may reveal if the clock strikes 13

Tomorrow’s American presidential election may reveal if the clock strikes 13, the way it does in the opening line of George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, 1984. Things have moved well beyond bizarre in the lunatic villa of U.S. politics. Americans may well elect a convicted felon who wants to suspend the Constitution, round up millions of people for deportation, and unleash...

Gang of 24 comes up a dollar short and a day late

Gang of 24 comes up a dollar short and a day late

The cardinal rule of politics and governance is presenting a united front to the public. Rubbing their noses in the party’s dirty laundry is the death march of being out of touch. Bottom line here? From the Liberal Party's point of view, the only thing worse than Trudeau remaining as prime minister is his leaving.

Trump is off his rocker, and GOP politics is off the rails

Trump is off his rocker, and GOP politics is off the rails

No sense mincing words. For the last year, and with each passing day, it is getting clearer that Donald Trump is off his rocker, and GOP politics is off the rails. You can’t make up the stuff that is coming out of Trump’s mouth with zero pushback from the gaggle of sycophants trying to ride his crazy coattails to power...

All signs point to a stampede towards Pierre Poilievre

All signs point to a stampede towards Pierre Poilievre

Justin Trudeau is a coach in danger of losing control of the locker room. After losing one Liberal stronghold in Toronto in June, the party has just lost another on the island of Montreal. Toronto St. Paul’s, Ont., and LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Que., are bookends of a brutal battering. The Grits once seemed to hold the deeds to these political properties. So...

Trudeau’s motto seems to be ‘more of the same’ after retreat

Trudeau’s motto seems to be ‘more of the same’ after retreat

For a party trailing by a country kilometre in the polls for over a year, the recent Liberal cabinet retreat was a pretty self-satisfied affair.True, there was a laundry list of announcements: tariffs on EVs from China, a tweak of the temporary foreign workers program, a task force here, and more studies there. Not unimportant, to be sure.

Optimism and honesty are back on the menu

Optimism and honesty are back on the menu

Watching the Democratic convention in Chicago, some numbers came to mind that are telling. The United States has been a Republic for 248 years. During that time, 45 people have been president—all male. Of those, 44 were white, and one Black. What is strange about that is that there are roughly 170 million women in the U.S. That represents approximately...

New phase of Russia-Ukraine war amounts to a big gamble

New phase of Russia-Ukraine war amounts to a big gamble

It is easy to see why Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become an international political superstar.When Russia invaded his country, observers in the West gave the embattled president of Ukraine virtually no chance of stopping the aggressors. The conventional wisdom at the time was that Russia would overrun the country in a matter of weeks.

Either way, Americans will make electoral history

Either way, Americans will make electoral history

No matter what happens three months from now, Americans will make electoral history.Either the country will elect a Black, female president, which would be a first, or it will choose a convicted felon, which would also be unprecedented.

World is holding its breath over events unfolding in the Middle East

World is holding its breath over events unfolding in the Middle East

Once again, the world is holding its breath over events unfolding in the Middle East. With the assassination of the political leader of Hamas in Tehran, Iran is vowing revenge against Israel. No one knows what that will look like. Another missile and drone attack on Israel itself like the one last April, an assault on Israeli shipping, or an...

Buckle up, U.S. politics is on one wild ride before Americans choose their next president

Buckle up, U.S. politics is on one wild ride before Americans choose their next president

There was a ride at the Canadian National Exhibition that made the roller coaster feel like an outing in a stroller: the Wild Mouse. It featured small seats, breakneck speed, hairpin turns, zippy ups and downs that played hell on the stomach, and of course, screaming patrons holding on for dear life. U.S. politics has boarded the Wild Mouse for...

Fear ringed by anger defines the new GOP

Fear ringed by anger defines the new GOP

Politics has always had its share of self-interested fakers masquerading as public servants. But never before has a band of criminals, miscreants, and industrial-strength hypocrites captured a mainstream party, let alone one in the self-styled greatest democracy on earth. This is how the Republican Party—the so-called party of law-and-order—now looks. For starters, it has selected a convicted felon awaiting sentencing...

The Liberals should resolve their leadership issues now, before it’s too late

The Liberals should resolve their leadership issues now, before it’s too late

If the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister’s Office aren’t watching the political train-wreck playing out south of the border, they should be. In both countries, the progressive parties are in a crisis of leadership. For very different reasons, the parties themselves are deeply conflicted about their incumbents: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau here, and President Joe Biden in the United...

Call it the revenge of Tricky Dick

Call it the revenge of Tricky Dick

Former U.S. president Richard Nixon once said, 'Well, if the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.' Two weeks ago, in a decision split along ideological lines, six of the nine U.S. justices ruled that a president does have immunity when he is acting in his official capacity. In other words, he is indeed above the law...

Federal politics has entered a ‘none-of-the-above’ phase

Federal politics has entered a ‘none-of-the-above’ phase

Federal politics has entered a “none-of-the-above” phase. And that means that predicting how people will vote a year from now is not as simple as voting intention polls suggest. The same polls that show Justin Trudeau taking his party over the electoral cliff if he remains leader also show something else of importance. Canadians are deeply unimpressed with the current...

NSICOP report more than a Pandora’s box of bad news for Canadian democracy

NSICOP report more than a Pandora’s box of bad news for Canadian democracy

The more secretive a society gets, the less democratic it becomes.As The Washington Post’s motto puts it, “Democracy dies in darkness.” Canadian democracy has been weakened this past week by a signal failure of transparency, a dire error of priorities. On an issue of monumental importance, the public was informationally dealt out.

Trump’s vulgarity fast becoming signature across so much of our politics

Trump’s vulgarity fast becoming signature across so much of our politics

How did gross incivility take over so much of the public square in both Canada and the United States? There is probably a good PhD thesis in the answer to that question. But the disintegration of the political middle begins and perhaps ends with something we all share: the language. Language is the basis of how societies mediate differences of...

Stormy Daniels could be American democracy’s only hope

Stormy Daniels could be American democracy’s only hope

Can an adult-film actress save the republic from King Donald? Given what is happening in the U.S. justice system these days, Stormy Daniels and her hush-money case may be the country’s best chance to deal out a dictator. When former U.S. president Donald Trump was slapped with multiple indictments and scores of felony charges, a lot of commentators crowed. They...

Pam Damoff’s departure a canary in the coal mine on polarization

Pam Damoff’s departure a canary in the coal mine on polarization

It wasn’t the biggest story coming out of Ottawa last week, but make no mistake about it, Pam Damoff’s decision to leave politics is a canary in the mine. The call to public service is losing its lustre.

Beware of the ‘everything-is-broken’ crowd

Beware of the ‘everything-is-broken’ crowd

There is a limit to how far Conservative politicians can carry the demonization of Justin Trudeau. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has reached it.Moe’s stand on the “carbon tax,” a fawning imitation of his party’s national leader, is indefensible. He says not collecting or remitting federal carbon pricing for natural gas and electricity is about “fairness.”

Who can stop Benjamin Netanyahu?

Who can stop Benjamin Netanyahu?

The staggering death toll of Israel’s war of rage and vengeance demands an answer before the region is knee-deep in innocent blood.Netanyahu’s six months of slaughter in Gaza has been his response to the atrocity of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas butchered 1,200 innocent Israelis.

God save us all: Trump’s selling Bibles now

God save us all: Trump’s selling Bibles now

Even the most pumped-for-Trump MAGA-fool must have had a queasy moment when they saw the king of grifters on TV hawking his latest product.It wasn’t cologne.It wasn’t those $399 Never Surrender gold high-top running shoes.It wasn’t a T-shirt featuring Teflon Don’s mugshot.

Being real is still most powerful attribute for politicians, especially today

Being real is still most powerful attribute for politicians, especially today

On the face of it, altering a photograph—even if you are a princess—is small potatoes. With two major wars raging, Donald Trump offering Americans a fascist buffet in the U.S. presidential election, and the planet running a deadly fever while world leaders dither on climate change; manipulating a family photograph does not seem to be the stuff of a viral...

Tackling humanitarian disaster takes guts, not words

Tackling humanitarian disaster takes guts, not words

Political leaders who can no longer hear the people are usually on their way to defeat.That is one of the takeaways from the recently cancelled event featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Toronto.

One Man’s March to Beat Poilievre in His Own Riding

One Man’s March to Beat Poilievre in His Own Riding

If anyone in Canada needs to fasten ice cleats to his boots, it’s Bruce Fanjoy. No matter how cold the winter weather, Fanjoy spends every afternoon knocking on doors in pursuit of the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Carleton. So far, he has shown up at 5,000 homes to meet voters face to face. ANNOUNCEMENTS, EVENTS & MORE...

There’s no guarantee that what happens in America, stays in America

There’s no guarantee that what happens in America, stays in America

Living next to Russia requires watching very closely what happens in that country.As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has found out, it can be a life-and-death proposition to misread Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions.It is no accident that both Sweden and Finland have joined NATO in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Changing leaders will not save the Liberals

Changing leaders will not save the Liberals

Ask not for whom the polls toll, they toll for thee.That is the message Canadians are giving these days whenever they are surveyed about their views of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

Obvious loser in ArriveCan scandal is Trudeau government

Obvious loser in ArriveCan scandal is Trudeau government

Apart from the Canadian public, the obvious loser in the ArriveCan scandal is the Trudeau government. After all, it takes a special kind of incompetence to turn an $80,000 project into a $60-million boondoggle of epic proportions. Thanking the Auditor General for writing what could be your political epitaph isn’t fooling anyone. Neither is the promise to accept her recommendations...

U.S. Republicans, Canadian federal Conservatives give Zelenskyy the shaft, and that’s a crying shame

U.S. Republicans, Canadian federal Conservatives give Zelenskyy the shaft, and that’s a crying shame

To the utter disgrace of what is left of the United States’ international reputation, another “ally” is getting the shaft. This time it’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.The politicians whom the Ukrainian president trusted to have his back in his country’s existential struggle against Russian invaders have betrayed him.

‘Authenticity’ must be Trudeau’s word of the year

‘Authenticity’ must be Trudeau’s word of the year

Could a good dictionary help Justin Trudeau refurbish his tarnished image? I think it could. Allow me to explain. Since 2003, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has been putting out a list of words that were of particular interest to people in that year. It then chooses the “Word of the Year” based on the public’s searches of its various websites. The...

Who would be the best Canadian leader to ‘manage’ a Trump presidency?

Who would be the best Canadian leader to ‘manage’ a Trump presidency?

I am the first to admit that the transformation of American politics into a lost episode of The Three Stooges can at times be screamingly funny. Where else can you see a man running for the most powerful office in the world warning voters that his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, might lead the country into World War Three? Where else...

Trudeau should proactively release all details he submitted to ethics commissioner prior to Jamaica trip’s approval

Trudeau should proactively release all details he submitted to ethics commissioner prior to Jamaica trip’s approval

Politics used to be a contest of ideas between parties with different visions of the country. At election time, that produced a winner and a good loser. Now it is a Texas death-match of ideologies. The other side is no longer just an opponent, but an enemy, a traitor, or worse. No victor is legitimate, and there are no good...

Why Poilievre doesn’t deserve the 17 per cent lead in the polls

Why Poilievre doesn’t deserve the 17 per cent lead in the polls

“All things are subject to decay and when fate summons, monarchs must obey.”—John Dryden, 17th century Augustan poet. Is it time for Justin Trudeau to start reading John Dryden? With the PM’s popularity fading like a flower left unwatered on a post-holiday table, has the moment arrived for him to accept his fate? Is it true that he is no...

Biden should stop financing an unconscionable war

Biden should stop financing an unconscionable war

Events unfolding in the Middle East are showing just how right Canada was to call for a ceasefire in the atrocious Gaza War.The nightmare scenario—an all-out regional conflict involving Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and potentially Iran on one side, with Israel and the United States on the other—is no longer a long shot.

Canadians on cusp of most consequential election in our history

Canadians on cusp of most consequential election in our history

Canadians are on the cusp of the most consequential election in our history. The heart and soul of the country are on the line. Depending on who wins, we could wake up to a different country after the votes are counted, exactly as the United States will should Donald Trump become president next November. In that country, a man who...

Anger, apathy, and despair drive democracy to the brink

Anger, apathy, and despair drive democracy to the brink

Is democracy becoming a form of hope in which people no longer believe?A hint of that has surfaced in a number of ways that could be described as declining citizen interest: apathy toward elections, political events, public meetings, and voting itself. Ontario offers a disquieting insight into the depth of that apathy.

Poilievre continues to place Trudeau on Canada’s ‘most unwanted’ list and his strategy appears to be working

Poilievre continues to place Trudeau on Canada’s ‘most unwanted’ list and his strategy appears to be working

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre continues to place Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Canada’s “most unwanted” list. Poilievre’s usual modus operandi is to take a page from Donald Trump 1.0: the country is going to hell in a handbasket, and it’s all the fault of one man. Substitute the name “Justin Trudeau” for “Joe Biden,” and it’s the same argument as...

Poilievre’s cheap shot at CP journalist has not gone unnoticed

Poilievre’s cheap shot at CP journalist has not gone unnoticed

So the man who wants to be prime minister had his Pinocchio moment in front of the cameras last week. After jumping to the conclusion that the tragic accident at the Rainbow Bridge on Nov. 22 was a terrorist attack—a thesis which quickly proved to be patently false—Pierre Poilievre was asked by a CP reporter if it was responsible of...