Toronto Councillor Shelley Carroll Back in July, 2011, a remarkable thing happened. Councillor Shelley Carroll, a progressive and vocal critic of Mayor Rob Ford, sent a letter to her riding association in Ward 33 (Don Valley East) which she has represented since 2003. Beyond her stated opinion that the City’s
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the reeves report: Rob Ford’s ‘Gravy Lane’
Cyclists on the Jarvis St bike lane Back in July of 2011, the Toronto Cyclists Union led the attack against the vote in City Council to remove the bike lanes on Jarvis St. that had been installed only 12 months previously under Mayor David Miller. The Bike Union was ultimately
Continue readingthe reeves report: The cautious politics of choosing a leader
NDP leadership candidates at the first debate held in December, 2011. As the race to replace Jack Layton heats up, it was only a matter of time before the candidates began taking significant steps to differentiate themselves from their fellow candidates. Eight candidates remain in the race to lead the
Continue readingthe reeves report: Mulcair reaches out to NDP’s environmental wing
NDP leadership candidate Thomas Mulcair NDP MP and leadership candidate Thomas Mulcair has staked his leadership bid on the support of the NDP’s remaining environmentalists by pegging ‘sustainable development’ as the cornerstone of his campaign. It’s a policy decision he hopes will clinch him the leadership of the federal New
Continue readingthe reeves report: Laureen Harper’s Big Opportunity
Laureen and Stephen Harper. Even though it has been Ottawa’s worst kept secret for years, the rumour (which in all likelihood has some truth to it) that Laureen Harper has moved out of 24 Sussex Drive and into the Chateau Laurier has been making the rounds yet again. The rumour
Continue readingthe reeves report: Quebec to sue Ottawa over access to gun registry data
Quebec's Public Security Minister Robert Dutil After tabling legislation in late October that would abolish the long gun registry, Prime Minister Stephen Harper let the other shoe drop: that in addition to the registry ceasing to exist as a tool to pry into your private life or help police officials
Continue readingthe reeves report: Fighting the deficit by defunding the Catholic school system
St. Boniface Catholic School in Toronto. The question of funding for Catholic education in Ontario is similar to the question of reforming the first-past-the-post system we employ for electing members of parliament – any rudimentary thinking on the issue would show it to be egregiously undemocratic and discriminatory, yet politicians
Continue readingthe reeves report: UPDATED: Federal Court rules Agriculture Minister violated the Wheat Board charter
Agriculture Minister Gary Ritz on 'Marketing Freedom' Judge Douglas R. Campbell has ruled that Agriculture Minister Gary Ritz violated the Canada Wheat Board charter and the law with regards to making fundamental changes to the structure of the organization and “must be held accountable.” “Had a meaningful consultative process been
Continue readingthe reeves report: Harper stands by McKay amid calls for his resignation
Canada's Defence Minister Peter McKay Some things have become clear in the past week with regards to the helicopter flight Defence Minister Peter McKay took in July 2010. McKay was on a fishing vacation in Newfoundland outside of Gander and one morning he found out he was needed in Ontario
Continue readingthe reeves report: Globe columnist John Ibbitson talks politics and how the West has won
Globe columnist and author John Ibbitson. A standing room only crowd assembled last night at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto to hear Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson speak on the current state of Canadian political affairs. Ibbitson’s talk, it would seem, was convened to inform the assembled crowd of
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario’s Auditor General slams McGuinty for ‘hasty’ green energy investments
Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter. Ontario’s Auditor General, Jim McCarter, released his Annual Report to the legislature earlier this morning, and the 460-page document has some troubling findings about the hasty way in which Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty approved green energy investments in his second term. “While this helped these
Continue readingthe reeves report: Environment Minister Peter Kent tells Durban that Canada will not renew Kyoto
An environmental protester at the Durban Conference mocks Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. According to CJOB in Manitoba, Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent has informed delegates at the Durban climate talks in South Africa that Canada will not renew its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol that would run from 2013
Continue readingthe reeves report: NDP leadership debate showcases the (many) party hopefuls
NDP leadership candidates in the first leaders debate The first NDP leadership debate was this afternoon, and it would appear from the coverage that the only victor was expediency and those who speak in sound bites. Nine candidate took the stage (Brian Topp, Thomas Mulcair, Paul Dewar, Nathan Cullen, Toronto
Continue readingthe reeves report: NDP MP Peter Julian defends Canadian football with Bill C-360
NDP MP Peter Julian I came across this odd nugget of parliamentary protectionism courtesy of iPolitics.ca – Peter Julian, four-time elected NDP MP for Burnaby-New Westminster, has introduced “An act to support Canadian professional football,” a.k.a. Bill C-360, a.k.a. the Canadian Football Act. The bill acknowledges that Canadian football, as
Continue readingthe reeves report: ON Premier Dalton McGuinty rumoured for federal Liberal leadership
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty may be publicly dismissing any interest he may have in running for the federal Liberal top job, but sources close to the Premier told Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin last week that McGuinty has not ruled out the possibility of moving
Continue readingthe reeves report: Is Bob Rae the Liberals next Keith Davey?
Senator Keith Davey chats with Prime Minister and Pierre Trudeau in this 1976 photo. Peter C. Newman’s latest book When the Gods Changed: The Death of Liberal Canada was supposed to be the book that chronicled Michael Ignatieff’s rise to political power in Canada. Plucked from the wilderness – question
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario should brace for cuts ahead of March 2012 budget
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. Matt Gurney in the National Post lays it on a little thick when he calls the Ontario Liberals – and Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan in particular – “financially illiterate” for their recent announcement that the province will
Continue readingthe reeves report: Occupy protests must find a way to politicize while dodging rubber bullets
UC Davis campus police pepper spraying protesters. A second wave of evictions and police violence is being unleashed upon Occupy protesters across North America, and the resiliency of the movement will be determined in the coming days as protesters must find a way to work around court injunctions and police
Continue readingthe reeves report: Don Drummond predicts health care will consume Ontario budget by 2030
Don Drummond speaking at the CD Howe Institute Therapy or Surgery? A Prescription for Canada’s Health System examines the state of health care provision in Canada, and offers a staunch defence of the public model. And while the report does indicate that many facets of the current system should remain
Continue readingthe reeves report: Mowat Centre report finds current EI system riddled with “systemic inequities”
Employment Insurance available through Service Canada Making It Work, the latest report from the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto, has taken aim at Canada’s system of Employment Insurance (EI), one of the cornerstone’s of Canada’s welfare state system. Riddled with “systemic inequities” and “regional political considerations,” the EI
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