Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Tuesday, May 21, 2013: Shopping for a Divorce Lawyer: One Size Doesn’t Fit All – Huffington Post (blog) Avoid the Unintentional Expansion of Retainers Emergency repairs for a broken justice system | therecord Former Prosecutor (Now Judge) Arrested
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Imperiled Canadian Soul
Although it has been many years since I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I recall that it was a far more subtle and eerie depiction of vampiric activity than the generations of films that it spawned. The latter almost invariably portrayed Dracula as a charming yet unholy creature who pounced swiftly,
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Democratic Deficit Quantified: Canadians’ Representation in Parliament Declines by 97%
This post is the first of a new series on the history and future of Canadian multi-party democracy. The posts will be based on a spreadsheet of election results which I’ve assembled using Elections Canada data for recent elections, and Wikipedia tables for older ones. The spreadsheet is not yet
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Murray Dobbin contrasts the B.C. NDP’s recent election loss against the type of popular focus which helped Saskatchewan’s CCF to earn a twenty-year stay in office in the face of far more hysterical opposition: You can design a campaign that projects a
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: FP: Wireless stranglehold: How Ottawa failed to break the dominance of the Big Three
As Minister Paradis reviews the proposed Telus-Mobilicity takeover, Ottawa faces an important decision about the future of the wireless industry in Canada. Will it intervene to stop the collapse of independent providers, or walk away from fostering a more open & competitive wireless market? Make your voice heard: http://demandchoice.ca/ Article
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Harper Understood
Here’s Stephen Harper giving a description of the Canadian federal political system. It’s obvious that his blubbering since about not understanding something about how the Prime Minister has unchecked power, is a charade. His “coup” talk during the coalition agreement of 2008, was bogus, he knows Parliament selects the Prime
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Conservatives spamming the email accounts of public servants
The Conservative Party of Canada is accessing contact information from government agencies to use for their PR efforts. Will political parties be able to access citizen data this way too? We are calling on the government to pass strong pro-privacy legislation to protect citizens. Add your name at http://StopSpying.ca/ Article
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Health care spending continues decline
Contrary to the hysteria from conservatives, health care spending continues to decline as a percentage of the provincial budget. Last year, health care accounted for 38.5% of total expenditures, this year the government plans to bring it down to 38.3%. This continues the trend downwards since 2003/4 when health care
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: More than 12,000 Twitter followers!
That means I only have to get 213,000 followers to catch up to Justin Trudeau! Easy peasy!
Continue readingRecreating Eden: Behind the Scenes: Let’s Hear It for the Nursing Staff!
One of the things I’ve been doing for years is volunteer for a three hour shift once a week at a local children’s hospital. I rock babies, play with toddlers, sometimes do a puzzle with someone older and occasionally listen to parents. And I watch. Watch the nurses quietly keep
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: FOIA Facts 2 – No Pro Bono – Federal Funds Mis-Used For Wegman Report And Much More
As begun in FOIA Facts 1, Ed Wegman and Rep. Joe Barton repeatedly called the Wegman Report “pro bono”* but Wegman and Said later claimed it as work done for existing Federal grants paid quarterly. Together, they “charged” 48 inappropriate works to grants they effectively treated as slush funds. Wegman
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Dissent or Terror: New Report Details How Counter Terrorism Apparatus Was Used to Monitor Occupy Movement Nationwide
By: Center for Media and Democracy | Press Release: MADISON, WI – May 20 – DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy today released the results of a year-long investigation: “Dissent or Terror: How the Nation’s Counter Terrorism Apparatus, In Partnership With Corporate America, Turned on Occupy Wall Street.” The
Continue readingeaves.ca: Duffy, the Government and the problem with “no-notes” meetings
So, for my non-canadian readers, there is a significant scandal brewing up here in Canadaland, regarding a senator, who claimed certain expenses he was not allowed to (to the tune of $90,000) and then had that debt paid for by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff (who has now resigned).
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Who They Are
Beginning with his caucus meeting today, Stephen Harper will try to wash his hands of The Duffy Matter. But, Andrew Coyne writes in The National Post, this stain will not wash away. To begin with, Nigel Wright’s claim that his personal cheque was charity to a friend in need simply
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Spot the Problem?
Of course, it could just be me… Filed under: International Affairs, Social Science Tagged: Helpful Infographics, Public Sector, USA
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Open letter to Toronto City Hall reporters
Dear folks: Rob Ford is going to deny he used drugs. Therefore, don’t ask him if he used drugs. Ask him instead why he won’t submit to a drug test. We’re his employers, after all. Sincerely, Warren
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation challenges new Shell tar sands mines [VIDEO]
By: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation | Press Release: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Indigenous people living downstream from the tar sands explain in their own words why they are saying enough is enough. Shell Canada is proposing two new tar sands mine projects in northern Alberta, Canada. From the perspective of the Athabasca
Continue reading350 or bust: Goodbye Fossil Fuels: Rejecting Scarcity & Embracing Abundance
It’s TED Talk Tuesday on 350orbust, and today’s talk, like last week’s, is from TEDx Sydney. Danny Kennedy,Founder and President of Sungevity. Before starting Sungevity Kennedy spent decades campaigning with Greenpeace; in this talk he discusses how profit can save the planet rather than destroying it. * Sungevity: The Life
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Sierra Club Canada: Shipment of LIQUID radioactive waste presents unprecedented risks!
By: Sierra Club Canada | Press Release: On Wednesday, May 15, the Sierra Club Niagara Group joined the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Women’s Indigenous Initiatives, and the International Institute of Concern for Public Health at a press conference on Main Street in front of the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Buffalo. This event
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: In Tuesday’s Sun: no longer part of the conversation
After the B.C. fiasco, Canada’s polling industry is — once again — engaged in a painful existential debate about what they do and how they do it. Because, make no mistake, they were dramatically mistaken about last Tuesday’s British Columbia election result. Going into the month-long race, every single pollster
Continue reading