Max Fawcett

Lead Columnist, Podcast Host 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 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,

308 Articles

A wind farm in Guangling County, Shanxi — one of many that are cropping up across China. Photo by Hahaheditor12667 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Why China isn’t an excuse for climate inaction

Conservatives might be mad as hell about China right now, but they're more than happy to use it as a beard for their indifference to climate change. Here's the thing: the China they imagine isn't the one that actually exists, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | June 6th 2023

Premier Danielle Smith speaks at a Calgary Women in Energy luncheon at Calgary’s Petroleum Club on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Photo by Chris Schwarz / Government of Alberta via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Danielle Smith can’t — or won’t — face the debts of tomorrow

The most important issue in Alberta's election was the one nobody touched: the energy transition and its impact on the province's future. Why Albertans will end up paying the price of that — and why Danielle Smith seems determined to raise the cost.

Opinion, Politics | June 1st 2023

Rachel Notley’s NDP needs to finish the job

The Alberta NDP's lack of a coherent economic message and its decision to announce a corporate tax hike mid-campaign cost it key votes in Calgary — and the election. Can the party learn from its mistakes and close the deal next time? asks columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion, Politics | May 31st 2023

David Johnston, Independent Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference, presents his first report in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

David Johnston is the right man for the wrong time

David Johnston delivered a serious and sober-minded report on foreign interference in Canada's democracy, one that almost immediately fell on deaf ears. Now, the government's in an even deeper hole — one it keeps digging for itself, columnist Max Fawcett writes.

Opinion, Politics | May 27th 2023