There are some Conservative Senators who apparently don’t like being parrots for Harper all the time, but I didn’t expect to see a split like this over unions: The already testy relationship between Conservative MPs and the Senate hit more rocks Wednesday, as a group of Tory senators helped to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian home page: Morton: Salmon Virus Lab Stripped of World Body Certification
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), our global first line of defence against farm animal epidemics, just stacked the odds against stopping ISA virus from spreading in British Columbia. They stripped the lab I am using to track ISA virus of its international certification…I am going to make a
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: A more perfect "union" closer than ever
A huge, huge victory for human rights today in the United States with two decisions from the US Supreme Court. And it means the States is one step closer to joining the civilized world regarding equal marriages. First, in United States v. Windsor (12-307) the court voted 5 to 4
Continue readingMorton's Musings: Statements of intent can be hearsay where intent is a fact
R. v. McDonald, 2013 ONCA 442 holds: [58] The Crown’s purpose in introducing Ms. Lewis’s evidence of the statement was to help establish that the common intent of the members of the appellants’ group was to assault Bruer. For the Crown’s purposes, it would have been no different had the declarant
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Can boomerangs swing back out, after coming towards you?
It’s a fair question, because there was another putsch in Australia today. Three years after Kevin Rudd was forced out as Prime Minister by the ruling Labour Party in favour of Julia Gillard, today Gillard herself was shoved aside when it became clear her party has no chance of winning
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Road trip looks at how dangerous Conservative election plank plays out in real life
We’ve previously written on the folly of the provincial Conservatives in pursuing American-style labour legislation that would erode the standard of living for most Ontarians. Making most of us poorer will not help Ontario reduce health care costs – studies looking … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Failed States Index
Foreign Policy magazine and The Fund for Peace have released their 2013 Failed State Index. Nations are rated by five categories, Critical, In Danger, Borderline, Stable and Most Stable. Not many countries achieve the Most Stable rating – Canada, the Scandinavian countries including Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, that’s it.
Continue readingMorton's Musings: Lippa application dismissed – Paralegals can be directed to sit in body of court and be called after lawyers.
R v Lippa 2013 ONSC 4424 I can forward a PDF to anyone who needs it
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Time for transparency – why don’t Canadian representatives have same access to crucial TPP drafts as their U.S. counterparts?
Following weeks of sustained pressure from the international Our Fair Deal Coalition and others, we have some good news to report from south of the border. U.S. Congressional Representatives have finally been given limited access to the drafts of the secretive and extreme Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. It looks like
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Temporary Workers are a Fix, One That Keeps Us from Finding Solutions
When employers can’t find workers at a time of high unemployment, we’ve got a problem. Filling those vacant spots with guest workers is a low-cost fix, one that does nothing to solve our problem, perhaps even rendering it more intractable. Currently, more than 330,000 workers live and work in Canada
Continue readingLeDaro: Complexity of Human Body
Have you ever thought that how complex human body is? Here are some facts. Spare few minutes of your time and look at the data below: “We believe that the human body exhibits evidence of design, not accident. Here is a list of randomly selected facts that scientists have learned
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Why Mainstream Pride is Important – Commercialization and All…
I’m aware that many people in the LGBTQ communities have little use for the big Pride celebration and its evolution into a highly commercialized event, with its attempts to bury our political past. But I think it is a mistake to claim we’ve moved past the need for such celebrations.
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Why Mainstream Pride is Important – Commercialization and All…
I’m aware that many people in the LGBTQ communities have little use for the big Pride celebration and its evolution into a highly commercialized event, with its attempts to bury our political past. But I think it is a mistake to claim we’ve moved pas…
Continue readingMy Canada Includes Justice: Why Mainstream Pride is Important – Commercialization and All…
I’m aware that many people in the LGBTQ communities have little use for the big Pride celebration and its evolution into a highly commercialized event, with its attempts to bury our political past. But I think it is a mistake to claim we’ve moved past the need for such celebrations.
Continue readingThe HB-Log : The Canadian workplace has changed for the better
The Globe and Mail’s John Ibbitson regularly demonstrates his mastery in turning useful information into meaningless generalizations. In today’s butchering he argues the latest census numbers show that the workplace has barely “changed” over the past half century and our policies have failed. To put it bluntly, he’s dead wrong. Yes, I
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Make history — meet us in Niagara-on-the-lake July 24-25
It’s the last meeting of the provincial Premiers before the 10-year 2004 health accord expires. With the expiry of that accord, so too goes any concerted effort to implement a national strategy to fix health care. July 24-25 the Premiers will get … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Cathy Bennett to seek Liberal leadership #nlpoli
SRBP expects that Cathy Bennett, chair of the Bennett Group of companies, will announce her bid for the provincial Liberal leadership next week. More to follow… -srbp- .
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Is Obama’s Faith in Carbon Capture a Technicolor Dream?
President Obama’s climate action announcement yesterday relies heavily on carbon capture and storage technology eventually paying off as a commercially viable option. But carbon capture and storage (or CCS) continues to be more of a dream than reality. And a very expensive dream at that. According to a database maintained
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: W@AL: I was wrong. About everything.
Outside Sun News studios, following an appearance on Brian Lilley’s show, I am struck by a proverbial lightning bolt on the way to Damascus. Clearly, I was wrong about Dalton McGuinty, and pretty much everything else. Watch what happens next. Your browser does not support the video tag
Continue reading