Max Fawcett

Lead Columnist Calgary

About Max Fawcett

Max Fawcett is Canada's National Observer's lead columnist. His brilliant essays and opinions are read and valued by millions of Canadians.

We're not sure how he finds so much time to write three substantial, searing columns a week and tweet through the day. Yet proof that he can and does is vivid on Twitter, where he engages in intense, irreverent conversations on politics and policy, with a special focus on the Kenney government of Alberta.

His Canada's National Observer columns are regularly highlighted on National News Watch, and he is a frequent guest on leading podcasts and radio shows.

Max's eloquent writing has been published in The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, The Walrus and CBC and he has been an executive editor at both Alberta Oil Magazine and Vancouver Magazine,

204 Articles

David Eby, the odds-on favourite to take over for John Horgan as both the leader of the BC NDP and the premier of the province, might finally give them a fighting chance, writes columnist Max Fawcett. Province of British Columbia/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Canadians are being crushed by the housing market. B.C.’s wannabe premier might be able to help

It’s intergenerational warfare by proxy, one that’s been fought on the battlefields of municipal zoning bylaws and redevelopment applications, and the forces fighting for more density and affordability continue to suffer heavy casualties, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | August 12th 2022

Now that the U.S. has managed to pass the biggest piece of climate legislation in history — both theirs and the world’s — it’s time for Canada to raise its own game, writes columnist Max Fawcett. Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz via Flickr

The U.S. just passed the biggest climate bill in history. Your move, oil and gas industry

With one stroke of President Joe Biden's pen, the new U.S. climate bill has created a massive tailwind — one that will propel the entire global economy in the direction of a cleaner and lower-carbon future.

Opinion | August 11th 2022

There is an important conversation to be had about the best way — and, crucially, the least costly way — for Canada’s farmers to reduce their emissions, writes columnist Max Fawcett. Photo Government of Alberta/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Why farmers are the freedom convoy’s next act

Time will tell whether they get around to dumping actual manure onto major highways in protest, or whether we’ll merely have to contend with the metaphorical version being thrown at our federal government, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | August 10th 2022

Pierre Poilievre’s horseshoe strategy

One thing should be abundantly clear by now: Pierre Poilievre is playing to win, and he’s not to be taken lightly, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | August 6th 2022

We need to be willing to cut elected officials a break now and then, writes columnist Max Fawcett. That means letting them, including our prime ministers, take a vacation once in a while. File photo by Andrew Meade

Stop punishing Trudeau for having a private life

If we want to ensure that our elected bodies look like the public they’re created to serve, we need to stop punishing the people in them for having private lives that include children and families, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | August 3rd 2022

Pierre Poiilievre is willing to do whatever it takes to beat Justin Trudeau, writes columnist Max Fawcett — even if it means setting Canadians against government agencies and institutions designed to help them. File photo by Alex Tétreault

Pierre Poilievre’s call to fire the gatekeepers is a Trump-style travesty

Whether he’s talking about global energy policy or the pileup at Pearson, Pierre Poilievre is calling to "Fire the Gatekeepers," writes columnist Max Fawcett. But that's the thing about gatekeepers: you don’t think you need them until you find out you do.

Opinion, Politics | July 28th 2022

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with the press in the National Press Gallery Theatre to talk about the parliamentary semester that just ended earlier today, on Wednesday June 20th, 2018. Photo by Alex Tétreault

Baffled by the carbon tax rebate? It's not your fault

When you’re up against an opponent willing to trade in bad-faith arguments and deliberately misrepresent the data, you can’t afford to assume the facts will speak for themselves, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion | July 26th 2022

Reaction from the two front-runners for Jason Kenney’s job in Alberta — Danielle Smith and Brian Jean — was even more removed from reality. Photo by Dave Cournoyer/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Canada’s oil industry fiddles while Europe burns

Canada’s oil industry has never shown much of a talent for reading the room, but it took its political tone-deafness to new depths this week. With parts of Europe literally ablaze and the United Kingdom having faced the hottest temperatures it’s ever seen, our oil industry’s leaders decided it would be a good time to explain why they can’t afford to reduce their emissions as quickly as the federal

Opinion | July 21st 2022

Joe Rogan is seen during a weigh-in before UFC 211 on Friday, May 12, 2017, in Dallas before UFC 211. Photo by: The Canadian Press/AP/Gregory Payan

Joe Rogan’s dangerous Canadian communist fantasy

Canada, of course, is as much a Communist country as Joe Rogan is a reliable source of information, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion | July 19th 2022

The recent Rogers outage gives the government free rein to crack down here, and they should use every inch of it, writes columnist Max Fawcett. Photo by Daria Nepriakhina/Unsplash

Now is the perfect opportunity for Trudeau to crack down on gouging by Canada’s phone companies

Opinion | July 16th 2022