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 Peter Donolo.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has gotten a lot of mileage out of his boast of not being “a career politician.” But one of the downsides of that lack of political experience is that you occasionally have to learn even the most basic lessons the hard way. That’s exactly what happened with the four-month saga over the proposed expansion of the...
They are the behemoths that dot the European landscape. Giant fortresses that have stood for centuries. They were built as defensive bastions to withstand invasions and sieges. Over time, the very isolation, impregnability and fearsome scale of these fortresses suggested an obvious – if less noble – secondary use. And names like Peniche Fortress, north of Lisbon, Marseille’s Château d’If...
Sixty-five years ago, on a state visit to Ottawa, President John F Kennedy planted a tree on the grounds of Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence. What should have been an anodyne ritual turned into a nightmare for him. The President injured his back so severely that it made the front page of the New York Times, affected his performance...
The night before the 1968 federal election, prime minister Pierre Trudeau attended the annual St. Jean Baptiste Parade in Montreal. A mob of enraged Quebec separatists began hurling bottles and rocks at him. As most of the other dignitaries scurried for cover, security tried to hustle the PM off to safety. Mr. Trudeau brushed them off, shot the rioters a...
As Mark Carney often reminds us, he is not, as he puts it, “a career politician.” In many ways, that is a good thing. After two decades of rancorous, often toxic uber-partisanship, Carney’s no-nonsense, low-key approach is a welcome relief and reassuring to Canadians who have been deeply unnerved by Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on our country.
The official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Canada is truly magnificent. Ringed by 10 acres of private, park-like grounds, the rambling mansion sits in splendid isolation from the surrounding Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood in Ottawa. This winter, Canadians should give its current inhabitant, Pete Hoekstra, more time to discover its many charms. Much, much more time. Since arriving in Canada...
From “Dr. New Deal” to “Dr. Win-the-War.” That’s how American President Franklin Roosevelt described his transformation in the days and months following the attack on Pearl Harbor and his country’s entry into the Second World War.
“There go the people,” the 19th-century French radical Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin is reputed to have said. “I must follow them, for I am their leader.” History is made in the complex interplay between public opinion and bold leadership. Get too far ahead of the public, and it won’t follow you. Lag too far behind, and you’ll miss an opportunity. Political...
One of the unexpected consequences of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory is how it has exposed a deep vein of timidity in Canada’s political leaders — across party lines. The tone was set quickly after Trump’s 25 per cent tariff threat. Our government’s first instinct was to throw Mexico — the third partner in the USMCA — under the bus...
Last week, I phoned my old boss to wish him a “Happy New Year.” “Peter, I will call you back,” came the raspy voice so familiar to millions of Canadians. “I’m with my trainer.” Nothing remarkable about that comment – if it hadn’t been coming from someone who turned 90 on Jan. 11. But then, Jean Chrétien is loping into...