December 2015 – Page 2 – Ted Campbell's Point of View … an old soldier's thoughts on shoes and ships and sealing wax and many other things. I self describe as a classical liberal ~ which means, in 21st century Canada, that I’m a Conservative. I believe in four fundamental rights for each and every individual: Life, Liberty and Property, as described by John Locke in 17th century England, and Privacy, as defined by Brandeis and Warren in 19th century America. Your comments are welcome, but my views (and obvious biases) are pretty well established after 75+ years.

Looking back …

This, from Brian Gable in the Globe and Mail, is, I fear, going to be the Conservative Party of Canada’s reaction to 2015 … … but that will be exactly the wrong reaction. In the Army we were always taught to study and analyze defeats with more attention than we paid to victories because theContinue reading “Looking back …”

Memorials … or not

The Ottawa Citizen reports, again, on the ill conceived (and ugly ~ in my opinion) “victims of communism” monument; this time it’s about the fundraising, more recently it was about the welcome decision, by the new Liberal regime, to not place it on the front lawn of the Supreme Court of Canada building. But myContinue reading “Memorials … or not”

National Defence: Some Basics/History

Sadly, for the past few years, what has passed for defence policy in this country has been far, far more concerned with trivia, buttons and bows issues, than with substance. Shame on us, Conservatives, and the governments we elected. But defence is difficult … mainly because it’s expensive. Before we can discuss defence in theContinue reading “National Defence: Some Basics/History”

Further to my thoughts on Conservative leadership

Gary Mason, writing in the Globe and Mail, with an input from John Ibbitson, recounts the views of several prominent Conservatives and provides a list ~ the the list ~ of likely/possible CPC leadership candidates: “These seven candidates are considered most likely to make a credible bid for the Conservative leadership. Tony Clement Who isContinue reading “Further to my thoughts on Conservative leadership”

How We (Conservatives) Can Win The Next Election

There are two kinds of political parties in Canada: Ideological ones, which, broadly and generally, fail; and Big tent parties which, equally broadly and generally, succeed. For years generations the federal Liberals and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives were the absolute masters of “big tent” politics in their respective spheres and they were, essentially, the “natural governing parties” in thoseContinue reading “How We (Conservatives) Can Win The Next Election”

The BIG Menace

Three articles in the weekend papers caught my eye: First: Jeffrey Simpson, in the Globe and Mail, explained how the Ontario Liberals have grossly, almost criminally, mismanaged projects for years; Second: Scott Gilmore, in the Ottawa Citizen, lamented the sad state of the state monopoly on alcohol and concluded that we get the governments we,Continue reading “The BIG Menace”

The Librano$ Are Back

MacLean’s Magazine reports that: “The federal Liberal government showed more solidarity with Canada’s First Nations on Friday as it lifted sanctions against indigenous communities that have not complied with a Conservative spending transparency law.” Predictably, Minister Carolyn Bennet said that “transparency and accountability are paramount to any government, whether it is municipal, provincial, federal orContinue reading “The Librano$ Are Back”

The New Great Migration

A few weeks ago I suggested, in a post on Army.ca, that another Great Migration in which millions, even tens of millions of people ‘decide,’ if that’s the right word, to relocate for a whole host of good (to them) reasons, is underway. I also posted a sample of a few earlier great migrations, fromContinue reading “The New Great Migration”

It’s time to reopen our Constitution

The Mike Duffy trial is, mercifully, for all of us, winding down. He has made his final grasping attempts at redemption and, next year the long suffering judge will receive closing arguments. Mr Duffy is proof of one thing: politicians picking legislators for partisan reasons doesn’t work all that well. The Senate of Canada isContinue reading “It’s time to reopen our Constitution”

Kids in a candy store ~ Canadian generals and generalship

Mark Collins ask a provocative question in his blog, The 3Ds Blog: What’s Wrong With The US Army’s Generals? Mark’s post is, really, a review of an article by US Army Major Jason Warren in Parameters, the US Army War College Quarterly, called The Centurion Mindset and the Army’s Strategic Leader Paradigm. Mark asks a goodContinue reading “Kids in a candy store ~ Canadian generals and generalship”