There are those who argue that the greatest mistake we humans ever made was agriculture. And they have a point. For 200,000 years we lived a hunter-gatherer way of life, and we did rather well. Evolving in Africa, we came to occupy every continent on Earth except for Antarctica. Then
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Yet Another Reason Peter MacKay Is Unfit To Be Prime Minister
There are many reasons I dislike Peter MacKay, starting with the way he sought to pleasure his master Stephen Harper, by trying to turn this country into a prison state.The way he attacked our precious Supreme Court for daring to stand up for our Canadian values was absolutely disgusting, as
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Mini-Nukes or Those Little Bundles of "Instant Sunshine"
I first heard the term “instant sunshine” on some NATO base in Europe in the mid-70s. It was a slang reference to the bevy of tactical nuclear weapons, bombs or missiles, even a few artillery shells, deployed to destroy or at least delay a horde of Soviet and Warsaw Pact
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: The Basis Expectation of Bilingualism
In all Canadian political leadership campaigns, there are metrics and expectations that voters us to judge and assess the various candidates. There are certain things that are expected, some things that are nice to have and frankly, some other qualities that are to be avoided. And in every such campaign,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Gabriel Winant reviews Matt Stoller’s Goliath, and discusses in the process the importance of challenging the assumptions capitalism as a system rather than presuming that it can be rendered just merely by taking steps to break up immediate monopolies. And Alexandra Posadzki’s
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Mnuchin’s Madness
Last week, at Davos, Steve Mnuchin told Greta Thunberg to go back to school and study economics. Paul Krugman writes: One can only surmise that Mnuchin slept through his undergraduate economics classes. Otherwise he would know that every, and I mean every, major Econ 101 textbook argues for government regulation
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking CoronaVirus, Conservative Leadership & Labour Strife in Ontario’s Education Sector with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I had the chance to join Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” with Katlyn Harrison and Shane MacKenzie. We talked about the reaction of various governments to the outbreak of CoronaVirus, the state of the Conservative Leadership race and continued labour strife in Ontario’s education sector (where I have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who do you trust?
Trust seems to be on a sliding scale throughout your life. Trust is as simple as giving your baby a small toss and the loving feeling as the child squeals with laughter as you catch and hold the little tyke to you. Trust is family. Trust is in holding the
Continue readingThings Are Good: We can Still Learn from Traditional Approaches to the Built Environment
In a new book about how humans build and shape the environment around us, Julia Watson, argues that traditional indigenous techniques are the most efficient. Forget techno-carbon capture, smart cities, and other buzzwords; the best approaches already exist and we just need to use them. In her book, The Power
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: January 2020 Bits and Bites: Mathews Apprehended, Vanderweide Angers Vets, Northern Guard Defection, Are Ronny Cameron and Steven Lane Okay?
It’s been a minute, so we decided a nice round-up of January, 2020 was the appropriate way to get back into it. Keep your eyes peeled for some other changes too, which are just around the corner. Patrik Mathews, the former Canadian Reservist who was exposed last summer as a
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: No New Airport in Pickering In a Time of Climate Crisis
Could 2020 be the year that the federal government decides once and for all that building a new airport northeast of Toronto is simply not compatible with achieving Canada’s climate targets? The Pickering airport has long been a political football, punted down the road by every government of the day since
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Icarus, Meet Boeing
The global aviation industry is now responsible for emitting more greenhouse gases than the total emissions of 135 nations combined. The National Observer has an eye-opening report on the “spectacular expansion” of jet fuel consumption in our hyper-connected world. The burning of jet fuel is increasing by an additional 44 million
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Will John Bolton Be The One Who Finally Blows Up Trump?
I must admit that when the "stable genius" Donald Trump made the unstable warmonger John Bolton his national security adviser, I thought our goose was cooked.And that Bolton would be the one who would push Trump over the edge, and get us all blown up.So imagine how happy I am to
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: I’m sure it’s a coincidence and has nothing to do with that virus
Hand sanitizer stuff in Toronto: kind of hard to find today. pic.twitter.com/pInU7pZKWW — Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) January 27, 2020 Meanwhile, at another drug store… pic.twitter.com/D2ZoM9VEhK — Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) January 27, 2020
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking Life in a Minority Parliament with Produce Talks
Last week I had the chance to take part in something a bit different. I took part in a round-table discussion hosted by the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, with colleagues representing the Liberal, Conservative, along with my representing the NDP. We had a good conversation about the political landscape of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: But Thinking is So Much Work!
Misinformation and misunderstanding and misreporting are going to be the death of us. From news sources reporting who was in the plane with Kobe Bryant before details were released to the families to an old article about Ebola resurfacing as if it’s about Coronovirus, it’s now up to Joe Public
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Sonia Furstenau announces candidacy for B.C. Greens leader
For immediate release January 27, 2020 Sonia Furstenau announces candidacy for B.C. Greens leader VICTORIA, BC – Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley, announced that she is running to be the next leader Read more…
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Trudeau government has put ratifying CUSMA, the “New NAFTA,” at the top of its to-do list.
The first parliamentary session of 2020 will get underway on Monday. Here’s what we are watching for as MPs make their way back to the Hill. The “New NAFTA” The Trudeau government Read more…
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking CoronaVirus, Peter MacKay’s launch & Andrew Scheer sticking around on “The Arlene Bynon Show”
This morning I joined Arlene Bynon on “The Arlene Bynon Show” on Sirius XM’s Canada Talks 167, along with Alise Mills. We talked about the expansion of CoronaVirus, Peter MacKay’s Conservative Leadership campaign launch on Saturday and how that went (or didn’t go well) & Andrew Scheer telling everyone that
Continue readingWise Law Blog: 140Law: Legal Headlines for the week of January 27, 2020
Here are our leading legal headlines for the week of January 27, 2020 from Wise Law on Twitter: Lev Parnas asks Attorney General William Barr to recuse himself from investigation Trump Legal Team Asks Senate for Speedy Acquittal in Impeachment Trial Divorced father of three finds that splitting up can lead
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