Nothing in the books, essays, poems or tweets of Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay explicitly declares his political orientation. But a reader might deduce, from the vast knowledge of history and evolution of cultures that informs and inspires the fantastic fictional worlds Kay creates, that he shares conservative convictions about the importance of history and tradition. Moreover he subscribes to the ancient aphorism that “mythology is what never was, but always is,” which suggests a devotion to timeless moral truths. Most importantly, writes Bob Tarantino, Kay’s stories expand our understanding of what it is to be human, which is the essence of great literature.

Everybody bellyaches about judges when they disagree with a decision, but in Canada conservatives and libertarians have grumbled louder and longer than most. Many blame the 1982 Constitution and Charter when decisions don`t go their way, but Bob Tarantino says the problem is not the law, it’s the judges. Liberals and progressives have dominated the legal system for decades and if the right wants to balance the scales of justice, it has to build a conservative legal community from the ground up.

Thomas King has produced a new, almost poetic account of Indians and their relationship with European settlers. He inevitably struggles with articulating and abiding by a convention on how to treat individuals and collectivities. He is not alone. Bob Tarantino reviews The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America.

Our justice system is failing children who have been subject to the most awful and horrific of crimes. Toronto lawyer and C2C columnist Bob Tarantino explains… (Caution: the following article contains descriptions of the crimes.)

Our justice system is failing children who have been subject to the most awful and horrific of crimes. Toronto lawyer and C2C columnist Bob Tarantino explains… (Caution: the following article contains descriptions of the crimes.)

In 28 seconds, former Ontario General Michael Bryant found himself entangled in the life of Toronto bicyclist Darcy Allan Shephard. The encounter left Shephard dead but is the least interesting part of Bryant’s new book 28 Seconds: A True Story of Addiction, Tragedy and Hope. Instead, as Bob Tarantino writes in his book review, Bryant, whom his ex-wife once described as a “frat boy-savant” is in turn genuine and profound, and then opportunistic and crass…..

The CBC continues to polarize Canadians. While many view it as a cultural touchstone, many others also see it as an expensive anachronism in a multichannel universe. Bob Tarantino reviews a new book by former CBC insider Richard Stursberg, who recounts his time at the helm of the institution during one of its most tumultuous periods. The book’s subject points to a fundamental question which Stursberg grapples with, in an only unsatisfactory way: does the CBC deserve a billion dollars a year in public subsidy?”

Bob Tarantino looks at the sentence of pedophile Graham James, other recent wrist-tap cases, the Ontario Court of Appeal, appellate judges, and the Criminal Code—and finds what journalists John Geddes and Dan Gardner missed—in-your-face lenient sentences…(warning to readers: some of what follows describes crimes in graphic detail).

Little common ground exists between those who view Omar Khadr as a tortured man-child whose purported abandonment ranks as among the most grievous injustices of the last decade, and those who would have preferred that the enthusiastic young al Qaeda soldier had been left to die on the battlefield. C2C Journal’s Bob Tarantino reviews Ezra Levant’s new book, The Enemy Within: Terror, Lies and the Whitewashing of Omar Khadr.

Peter Newman could have written an insightful analysis on how and why the federal Liberal party was eviscerated. This isn’t it, writes Bob Tarantino in his review of When the Gods Changed….