menu_open Columnists
Max Fawcett

Max Fawcett

The Walrus

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Nova Scotia’s forest ban is a test — just not the one some people think

Tim Houston is trying to prevent the sort of wildfires that caused death and destruction in his province just two years ago. To some people, though,...

latest 5

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Nova Scotia’s forest ban is a test — just not the one some people think

Tim Houston is trying to prevent the sort of wildfires that caused death and destruction in his province just two years ago. To some people, though,...

latest 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Solar and wind are conservative punching bags. They're also winning the fight

Solar and wind are conservative punching bags. They're also winning the fight

Conservative politicians in North America love pretending that wind and solar can't possibly compete with fossil fuels. They might want to pay...

01.08.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada’s Conservatives can’t quit their grocery price politicking

Canada’s Conservatives can’t quit their grocery price politicking

Climate change is obviously driving up the cost of food. Why can’t Canada’s Conservatives admit it?

29.07.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada’s premiers should tread more carefully on climate policy

Canada’s premiers should tread more carefully on climate policy

Canada's premiers are spoiling for a fight with Ottawa over climate policy. They just might get it.

24.07.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre’s safe seat isn’t so safe after all

The Conservative leader clearly thinks the byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot is going to be a cakewalk. His opponents have other ideas.

17.07.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Alberta will never double its oil production 

Both Danielle Smith and the separatists she keeps enabling want to see Alberta double its oil production. Spoiler: It won't be Mark Carney or the...

10.07.2025 6

National Observer

Max Fawcett

The Conservative war on EVs is bound to fail

It seems almost inevitable now that electric vehicles will become part of the Conservative Party of Canada's ongoing culture war.

04.07.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith is putting out a fire with gasoline

Another day, another panel ostensibly aimed at addressing Alberta's grievances with Ottawa — and putting out the political flames the UCP...

26.06.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre might be cooked

The Conservative Party of Canada will reportedly hold a leadership review next January. It's not at all clear that Pierre Poilievre will even...

19.06.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada’s Conservatives still aren’t serious about housing

Housing affordability remains an existential issue for millions of Canadians. So why do Conservative MPs like Jacob Mantle seem so determined to...

12.06.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Mark Carney’s grand climate bargain comes into view

Danielle Smith clearly wanted a fight with Mark Carney. So far, she’s getting her ass handed to her. 

05.06.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Alberta’s grievances aren’t actually reasonable

The defenders of Canada all seem to agree that Alberta's grievances with the federal government are worth taking seriously. But what if they...

29.05.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre needs to fight for Canada

Canada’s Conservatives spent years feeding the fantasy of Alberta separatism. Now they have to crush it

22.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Separatists, Silos, and the Battle for Canada's Future

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...

15.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Gregor Robertson still doesn’t get it 

The Liberals were given one stay of political execution on their poor handling of the housing file, both because of Justin Trudeau’s resignation and...

15.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada’s Conservatives are flirting with danger

The MAGA movement has long defined itself through its willingness to deny the legitimacy of election results. After their recent defeat, Canada's...

14.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith is playing with fire 

As the premier of the province it’s her job to talk the separatists down, not rile them up. But to Smith, her most important job is clearly that of...

07.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Mark Carney isn’t here to play

By letting his opponents expose the smallness of their politics, Carney’s will start to look bigger by comparison.

06.05.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada needs a true National Energy Program

It’s time for the Liberals to build another national energy program. Done properly, this one can enhance national unity rather than undermining it.

01.05.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Mark Carney needs to depolarize our politics

Under a more proportional system, both parties would be incentivized to compete more aggressively in all parts of the country — and rewarded for...

30.04.2025 30

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre's dystopian desperation

The Policy Horizons report was meant as a public policy thought exercise, not a piece of political ammunition. But in turning it into one, Pierre...

25.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Mark Carney should axe the emissions cap

Mark Carney is poised to win the most seats in Alberta and Saskatchewan of any Liberal leader in 50 years. If he wants to double down on that...

23.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre is a victim of his own successes

Pierre Poilievre has long been defined by his willingness to attack, and it’s what brought him to the brink of the biggest political victory of his...

22.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

The CBC matters more than ever

Pierre Poilievre’s rallies are a big hit, even if they’re not as big as his supporters would like to pretend. But the thousands of people turning...

16.04.2025 30

National Observer

Max Fawcett

The NDP needs more economic literacy

Progressives can, and should, still care deeply about climate change, affordable housing, and any number of other issues that aren’t automatically...

15.04.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

How Alberta keeps wrecking Pierre Poilievre's campaign

Every time Danielle Smith and Preston Manning open their mouths, they remind people that they’re willing — proud, even — to put Alberta first....

11.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Mark Carney's housing plan is a big step forward

After years of watching federal and provincial elected officials either do nothing about the housing crisis or just tinker at the margins, young...

08.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Canada's Conservatives still want to bet on America

Both Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith are still operating as though the world, and Canada’s place in it, haven’t fundamentally and permanently...

07.04.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Rehashing Bill C-69 isn't going to save Poilievre's campaign

This renewed bet by Poilievre on the oil and gas industry might help his Conservative Party of Canada win more seats in Alberta and Saskatchewan, if...

04.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre’s gender gap

As a general rule, men shouldn't talk about women's biological clocks. That's especially true if they have a track record like Pierre...

02.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith's separatism shell game

Conservatives are working through the various stages of political grief. Danielle Smith, ever the maverick, has decided to add a sixth one: empty...

01.04.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Growing Canada’s population isn’t radical — it’s essential

The combination of an aging population and declining birth rates is leading Canada, like every other developed nation on earth, into a demographic...

28.03.2025 30

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Abundance Liberalism has arrived 

As the surprise front-runner in an election that his Liberals seemed destined to lose, Mark Carney is the most visible champion of a broader movement...

27.03.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre vs Pierre Poilievre

There may have been a time when Canadians were willing to countenance the idea of electing a prime minister whose intellectual development apparently...

26.03.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith is Mark Carney's secret weapon

In a recent interview with far-right U.S. media site Breitbart, Smith handed Carney a gift-wrapped sledgehammer in the form of an admission that...

24.03.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Naheed Nenshi needs to get his elbows up

Naheed Nenshi has never failed at politics before. But if he keeps going the way he has over the last nine months, he's about to find out what...

21.03.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre can't escape Donald Trump

Recent polls show that voters don't trust Pierre Poilievre to deal with Donald Trump. His willingness to take Trump — a known and notorious...

20.03.2025 8

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre can't escape Donald Trump

Recent polls show that voters don't trust Pierre Poilievre to deal with Donald Trump. His willingness to take Trump — a known and notorious...

20.03.2025 9

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Conservatives just can’t quit the carbon tax

Pierre Poilievre has pledged over and over to "axe" the carbon tax. He probably never imagined someone else would do it for him.

18.03.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

The PBO is making itself political by refusing to see the obvious

The Parliamentary Budget Officer's latest report on federal climate policy has, once again, only served to muddy the water — and empower those...

17.03.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Pierre Poilievre might have punched himself out

After two years of throwing haymaker after haymaker, Poilievre suddenly finds himself pouring political sweat.  

14.03.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Donald Trump doubles down on his dumb tariffs

If there was a Nobel Prize for dumb ideas, Trump’s trade war would be a lock for it.

12.03.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith is auditioning for Team America

Danielle Smith still seems to think that the trade war with Donald Trump is really about border security. How long until she figures out what's...

11.03.2025 20

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Carney must go for the jugular

Canadians are looking for the person who can help guide the country through the economic and political storms of the next four years, not their own...

07.03.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Conservative leaders are failing Trump's tariff test

Attempts to appease Donald Trump have clearly failed. When will the remaining holdouts finally realize it?

05.03.2025 40

National Observer

Max Fawcett

The 'freedom convoy' never really loved Canada

Check the social media accounts of any prominent convoy participant, whether it’s Tamara Lich, Pat King, or their dedicated transcriptionists in...

21.02.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Government is good, actually

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are taking an axe to the American federal government. American citizens will be the ones who pay the price.

19.02.2025 40

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Danielle Smith and pipelines could save Canada. No, really

Canada should present Danielle Smith with an offer she can’t possibly refuse: full and unqualified federal support for a new pipeline to tidewater....

17.02.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett

Donald Trump can't slow down the energy transition

Those cheering Donald Trump's attempts to double down on fossil fuels should enjoy the good feelings while they last. The energy transition,...

14.02.2025 10

National Observer

Max Fawcett