Max Fawcett

Lead Columnist | Calgary

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 Smith government of Alberta.

His Canada's National Observer columns are regularly highlighted on National Newswatch, and he is a frequent guest on leading podcasts and radio shows. He won the 2023 National Newspaper Award for best columnist, and also picked up a National Magazine Award in 2021 for his columns.

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.

He lives in Calgary.

458 Articles

Who's to blame for Alberta's debt problem?

The most recent budget from the government of Alberta included industrial-sized volumes of red ink, and no leader deserves more of the blame than former premier Ralph Klein, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

March 3rd 2021

Rachel Notley's NDP is poised to win in 2023. There's just one problem: Jagmeet Singh's NDP

The federal NDP's constant attacks on Trudeau go down well in Alberta, where most people who vote NDP provincially are Liberal supporters, writes Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

February 24th 2021

Really, Rex Murphy?

When it comes to the conversation about renewable energy and climate change, the falsehoods fly faster and farther than ever before, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

February 19th 2021

Erin O'Toole's political future depends on carbon taxes

If Erin O’Toole wants to avoid the same fate as Andrew Scheer, writes columnist Max Fawcett, he’ll have to do something that his predecessor couldn’t: take climate change seriously.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

February 16th 2021

Vaccines before votes, Mr. Trudeau

In the end, what most Canadians want isn’t an election over the COVID vaccination program but an effective and expeditious delivery rollout, columnist Max Fawcett writes.

Opinion

Coronavirus in Canada

Max Fawcett

February 9th 2021

Jason Kenney's embrace of open-pit coal mining has united Albertans against him

"The government is risking Alberta’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry and the health and well-being of millions of Albertans who live, farm and fish downstream in order to potentially create a few hundred jobs and a pitifully small stream of new royalty revenue," columnist Max Fawcett writes.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

February 3rd 2021

After Payette, affable Joe Clark may be just the unifying GG we need

Appointing a westerner who understands the feelings of Albertans toward Ottawa would help dispel growing western alienation, writes Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

January 26th 2021

If Biden cancels Keystone XL, Alberta becomes the world's laughing stock

The government of Alberta has invested more than a billion dollars in the Keystone XL pipeline. If the project goes down, the money vanishes with it, writes Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

January 19th 2021

Rigged Canadian election? Why Canada's Conservatives can't seem to quit Donald Trump

The Conservative Party of Canada has a full-blown case of Trumpism, Canada's National Observer columnist Max Fawcett writes, and the real question its members need to answer is whether it’s terminal or not.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

January 12th 2021

Conservatives are good at preaching about personal responsibility, bad at following it

When it comes to the Alberta government’s fondness for personal responsibility, one thing should be clear by now: They only think it applies to other people, not themselves, writes Max Fawcett.

Opinion

Max Fawcett

January 7th 2021