Max Fawcett

Calgary

Lead Columnist at National Observer

Lead columnist for Canada's National Observer.

Articles

Pierre Poilievre might be cooked

1 week ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

So far, at least, he's shown no signs of being able to thread this particular political needle. Take his recent comments about immigration , ones that seem designed to appeal to a very specific slice of his party's base - and alienate the rest of the country in the process. "We want severe limits on population growth to reverse the damage the Liberals did to our system," he told reporters before turning on his heel and walking away from their follow-up questions.
Canada's Conservatives still aren't serious about housing

2 weeks ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

For what it's worth, I suspect many members of his generation (and mine) would be happy to live in the sort of modified shipping containers that are being designed and built right now, including the ones in his own city . But modular housing is so much more than just the use and conversion of shipping containers. It's an entirely new approach to homebuilding, one that uses factories and their inherent economies of scale to drive down costs.
Mark Carney's grand climate bargain comes into view

3 weeks ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

No new pipelines without decarbonization, in other words. This immediately shifts the onus to the oil industry, which has been slow-playing its promised investment in carbon capture and storage technology for years now. If it doesn't finally move ahead there, the conversation around new pipelines is effectively over - and the blame will fall squarely on them.
Alberta's grievances aren't actually reasonable

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

Francis also highlights the "unfair seat distributions in the House of Commons," which she says "favours Liberal-voting provinces at the expense of the West." Alas, this isn't actually true. After the most recent electoral redistribution process, one that saw three seats added in Alberta, the most under-represented province in parliament in terms of the ratio of seats to population is actually Ontario.
Pierre Poilievre needs to fight for Canada

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

As a conspicuously educated and literate man, former Alberta premier Jason Kenney is surely familiar with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. And yet, it still didn't stop him from creating his own political monster in the United Conservative Party, a sewn-together beast that is now wreaking havoc on both his province and country by empowering and amplifying Alberta's separatist movement. "This is playing with fire," Kenney told the media at ATCO 's recent annual general meeting.
Separatists, Silos, and the Battle for Canada's Future

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

With the federal election behind us and America's interest in annexing Canada apparently on hold for the time being, it's tempting to think the worst of the recent crisis is behind us. My fear is that the real battle has only just begun. Alberta's increasingly noisy separatist movement, and Premier Danielle Smith's willingness to amplify and enable it, creates a clear fissure that Donald Trump could exploit.
Gregor Robertson still doesn't get it

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

Like many Canadians, I was prepared to give Gregor Robertson a second chance. As a born and raised Vancouverite and someone who has been writing (and warning) about the housing market for almost two decades now, the appointment of Robertson as Canada's new housing minister didn't exactly fill me with optimism.
Canada's Conservatives are flirting with danger

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

If that sounds like an echo of the MAGA universe's attitude towards elections their party doesn't win, well, it should. Former MP and Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day suggested that the growing use of mail-in ballots poses a risk of - you guessed it - election fraud. That's both a clear callback to the MAGA universe's favourite conspiracy theory about the 2020 election and a warning that the virus of know-nothing Trumpism is actively spreading on our side of the border.
Danielle Smith is playing with fire

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

It was, in some respects, a remarkable performance. Yes, the province may have billions of barrels of oil in the ground, but no jurisdiction in Canada is better at mining grievances and anger than Alberta. Smith, meanwhile, is the most talented conductor of this symphony of bullshit we've ever seen. She gives them life, grants their ludicrous claims and grievances credibility, and harnesses their anger to her cause.
Mark Carney isn't here to play

1 month ago | nationalobserver.com | Max Fawcett

In so doing, he'll make it obvious that this is not the second coming of Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, one that failed to live up to the promise that it would do politics differently. Carney is also drawing a useful distinction with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has seemed determined to play the role of his biggest provincial antagonist. Smith, after all, has refused for months now to call the byelection for Edmonton-Strathcona, where NDP leader Naheed Nenshi will run (and win).