‘The problem with Canada isn’t that we’re a country of Don Cherrys.’ Top 10 most commented Globe stories of 2019, from Don Cherry’s firing to Justin Trudeau’s blackface and Andrew Scheer’s U.S. citizenship

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10. A note to Western Canada: The rest of the country understands tough economic times

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2019

Number of comments (as of publication): 913

This article simply proves how the rest of Canada doesn’t get it. Cod, manufacturing and forestry were hit by macroeconomic forces and governments at the time were not actively trying to kill those industries. What we have now is a federal government trying to stifle investment in the oil industry despite the global demand for oil continuously increasing year by year. –MarkPRM

The Prime Minister is an easy target. The courts blocked the pipeline based on a constitutional challenge. The government is not solely to blame for the declining value of Alberta oil. For example, fracking increased North America’s supply of oil. –Sickofpartisanship

In other words, people living in Alberta and Saskatchewan should adapt to changing circumstances, just like the rest of the country has had to do. Indeed, just like the rest of the world has had to do, for time immemorial.

Sounds about right. It’s called life. –Tommy GoFigure

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9. Scheer won’t say if Conservatives hired Kinsella firm to ‘seek and destroy’ Bernier’s People’s Party

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 19, 2019

Number of comments: 918

I might be a bit cynical, but I wouldn’t have had a problem if Andrew Scheer had responded: “Of course we did, what would you expect we would do?”

The combination of hard-nosed (or dirty) politics with weak and transparent evasiveness is the worst of both worlds. –Mark Shore

All these games by Andrew Scheer and he hasn’t been elected. Imagine if he is elected Prime Minister. It would be the same kind of politics we see south of the border. You would think he’s American … lol. –Bullet

Scheer won’t say if Conservatives hired Kinsella firm to ‘seek and destroy’ Bernier’s People’s Party. So we’ll take that as a yes. –Just call me Nemo

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8. ‘Albertans feel betrayed’: Jason Kenney, Scott Moe warn Trudeau of growing Western alienation

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 22, 2019

Number of comments: 926

Albertans have been betrayed, betrayed by Klein, Harper and Kenney.

The rejection of the values of Lougheed. The desecration of the Heritage Trust Fund. The failure to pay it forward in a boom and bust economy. The failure to make any progress on pipelines while Harper and Kenney were running the country for a decade.

Jason Kenney had no answers while in Ottawa for all those years, and he has none now. –EdmontonToronto

Excuse me, but we had a prime minister of Canada for almost a decade by the name of Stephen Harper who was beholden to the oil industry. Now, less than five years later, does Alberta seriously think they can blame the current prime minister for all their issues? They need to get serious and look in the mirror. –The Internet

I am heartened by comments from fellow Canadians who live in Alberta and reject this divisive discourse. We are all Canadians. –SM.

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7. Andrew Scheer urges Justin Trudeau to follow through on libel threat over SNC-Lavalin comments

PUBLISHED APRIL 7, 2019

Number of comments: 931

Setting aside partisan politics, setting aside if you are left wing or right wing, from a tactical standpoint, can anyone explain how Justin Trudeau’s threat of a libel lawsuit was a wise move to make? It seems to me Mr. Trudeau would have done better to shrug off Andrew Scheer’s comments and ignore them as best possible, opting instead to launch into an attack of some feature of Mr. Scheer’s views and Mr. Scheer’s record. Most of the public, left and right, have made up their minds (in different ways) about where the fault and guilt sits, and with which person(s), regarding SNC-Lavalin. I just do not see how a libel lawsuit plays out to help Mr. Trudeau, regardless of courtroom outcome. I do not see it. Can anyone help explain the plus side to Mr. Trudeau’s lawsuit threat? Again, I do not see it. –Doctor Demento

I agree completely. IMO it’s a tactical blunder plain and simple, regardless of politics or truth. The only possible advantage I can see is that Andrew Scheer might self-censor while the lawsuit is pending. –Drew BC

Andrew Scheer is accusing Justin Trudeau of obstruction of justice, which is grounds for a libel suit. –Ambrose99

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6. Canada’s new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture

PUBLISHED APRIL 27, 2019

Number of comments: 973

The most concerning part of this article was reading how these types of people are infiltrating key institutions like the Armed Forces and our education systems. People need to see beyond partisan lines and work together to counter these hate groups before they go on a shooting rampage and do more damage in numbers. Side note: it’s appalling to note all the “whataboutism” in the comments below. Since when did dehumanization and advocating violence towards women, LGBTQ, minority groups, etc. become a contest of whose party did worse? –The Pink Panther

Some on the right are taking umbrage with the way they think they’re being painted with the same brush. I have no doubt that most of you are not in anyway supportive of the alt-right, but when you lash out at the left, it comes across as sympathetic to their cause. The alt-right is not part of your team in the same way Antifa is not part of ours. These are extreme groups that should be denounced by all. Don’t lose sight that the article is addressing a growing trend of the scourge that is racism. Don’t take it personally, and realize the alt-right is part of nobody’s team. –app_64987632

Thankfully, most of these guys are what we call “losers” They blame others for their inability to advance their own lives. Fortunately, hate-based ideologies ultimately fail because they are morally vacuous and unintelligent. The account of the white nationalist student teacher is troubling. I myself work in education and have been doing so for a quarter century; I work against racism, bigotry and homophobia and have been shaping young minds for more than a generation to value diversity, inclusivity and acceptance of others and more than anything a responsibility to speak out and act against the forces of hatred and division. –CognitiveDisonnance

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5. Don Cherry, fired by Sportsnet, hated any changes to hockey – and his imaginary Canada

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 11, 2019

Number of comments: 994

As a proud immigrant Canadian, 41 years in December, I never appreciated what Don Cherry was allowed to spew and got away with. Glad that is behind us and time to move forward. –John Aman 63

I for one would like to thank Grapes for 40 years of entertaining commentary. I didn’t always agree with what you said but did appreciate your point of view.

We can all thank Don Cherry for this grand finale. With his last episode of Coach’s Corner he has done what few politicians have managed, he has drawn national attention to Remembrance Day, inspired many of us to reassess how we regard this day and think about the sacrifices made by our soldiers. I bet there hasn’t been this much written about Remembrance Day since the years following the Second World War. –SCLEB

Ron MacLean nodded dumbly all during Don Cherry’s remarks, and gave a feeble thumbs-up sign when Mr. Cherry was done.

The problem with Canada isn’t that we’re a country of Don Cherrys … we’re not. It’s that we’re a country of Ron MacLeans. –John T.

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4. Trudeau apologizes again for wearing blackface, cannot say how many times he wore racist makeup

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

Number of comments: 1,004

Mr Trudeau, you do not represent me. –CoolG

I’m not the biggest fan of many of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s decisions, but this story shouldn’t make headlines. I hope I’m not the only one who is sick of old photos and old quotes from many years ago getting constantly dug up to discredit the candidate. Loads of people did dumb stuff when they were young, that has nothing to do with their current abilities. Mr. Trudeau shouldn’t even acknowledge this non-news. –Truearcadio

Two blackface pics and one blackface video from the king of virtue signalling. Justin Trudeau would fire any candidate with similar baggage. –jjfoxy

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3. Jody Wilson-Raybould’s decision to record phone call with Michael Wernick raises ethical questions

PUBLISHED MARCH 29, 2019

Number of comments: 1,036

The silver lining of this SNC-Lavalin saga is that it has awakened Canadians from their complacent slumber and has them debating our democracy with vigor and passion the likes we have not seen for a long time. That is a good thing and we can thank Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott for taking a stand against corruption and political interference in our judicial system. –John McCain

So Jody Wilson-Raybould called Michael Wernick, recording the conversation. He was unaware of the recording; she knew that she was being recorded, so would be very careful to provide the evidence needed by scripting the warnings she was giving. Sounds reasonable to me… –Roger Mann1

The positive thing is that we know exactly what they said. That cannot be a bad thing. It certainly reduced the spinning. Bottom line: Truth trumps all else. –D Hartley

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2. Did Jody Wilson-Raybould understand her role as attorney-general?

PUBLISHED APRIL 17, 2019

Number of comments: 1,147

The attorney-general needed to be the one who asked for outside opinions. She cannot, under law, be directed to accept outside opinions. The Prime Minister placed the AG in her role. It was his duty to ensure her competency. It was not his role to direct her in her duties. Directing an AG is political interference, plain and simple. This all comes back on Justin Trudeau. If they truly believed she was not up to the task, then they needed to replace her immediately. They chose instead to try and do her job for her and in doing so placed themselves in the role of AG. That is the real issue. –Lisa Weber

As a former prosecutor I have been waiting for an informed person to explain that consideration of the public interest is a mandatory element in every decision to prosecute. I don’t know why this took so long but am glad to see it ably, if belatedly, made. But neither side in this dispute put their case well. If all the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office were doing was wanting to ensure that all public interest factors had been fully examined and properly weighed, then that should have been their position throughout this controversy. It hasn’t been. As to the former attorney-general, she in turn has consistently ridden the “no interference” horse. leaving me wondering, as does Brian Greenspan, whether she in turn really understood her role. Or maybe she too is primarily playing politics. This is a game with two losers. –RWDenley1

Here’s a better question: Does Justin Trudeau understand his role as Prime Minister? –bandwigglin

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1. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer holds dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, had attacked Michaëlle Jean on same issue

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 3, 2019

Number of comments: 1,765

The Conservative raised a holy stink about Tom Mulcair being a dual citizen; and now their chosen one kept his citizenship. He may have started the paperwork, but he is still a citizen of the United States. –wellworn

The big difference between Andrew Scheer and the others is that that they all applied as adults for their foreign citizenship status, whereas Mr. Scheer had his bestowed upon him as an infant by his American father. In short he never sought U.S. citizenship, he received it as a birth right and should not be goaded into renouncing it just because his Liberal detractors are having a hissy fit. –Delphioracle

Not wanting to be left behind, Trudeau will be announcing that he is a dual citizen of both Canada and Quebec. –Super Mittens

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