Sheriff Stephen can’t skate, but he does know how to cull a herd.After his big win, the Sheriff sat on a fence post and mused about the future and the past.“Our people have been waiting for this for a very long time,” he offered. “And I, for one, am not
Continue readingAuthor: James Laxer
JAMES LAXER: ADVANCE COPY OF GLOBE AND MAIL ENDORSEMENT OF STEPHEN HARPER FALLS OFF LEAKY WIKS TRUCK
(Read it here first. This is an exact copy of the Globe editorial. Only the words have been made up.)Last week on these pages, we expressed our preference for Michael Ignatieff over Jack Layton. We found Mr. Layton to be living in a past when income gaps between the rich
Continue readingADVANCE COPY OF GLOBE AND MAIL ENDORSEMENT OF STEPHEN HARPER FALLS OFF LEAKY WIKS TRUCK
(Read it here first. This is an exact copy of the Globe editorial. Only the words have been made up.)
Last week on these pages, we expressed our preference for Michael Ignatieff over Jack Layton. We found Mr. Layton to be living in a past when incom…
Continue readingJames Laxer: ADVANCE COPY OF GLOBE AND MAIL ENDORSEMENT OF STEPHEN HARPER FALLS OFF LEAKY WIKS TRUCK
(Read it here first. This is an exact copy of the Globe editorial. Only the words have been made up.)Last week on these pages, we expressed our preference for Michael Ignatieff over Jack Layton. We found Mr. Layton to be living in a past when income gaps between the rich
Continue readingStephen Harper: Now He’s The Champion of National Unity
Now we’ve seen everything—Stephen Harper, who only a few years ago counseled Albertans to build “firewalls” around their province to protect it from Canada, has proclaimed himself the indispensable champion of national unity. Without him at th…
Continue readingJames Laxer: Stephen Harper: Now He’s The Champion of National Unity
Now we’ve seen everything—Stephen Harper, who only a few years ago counseled Albertans to build “firewalls” around their province to protect it from Canada, has proclaimed himself the indispensable champion of national unity. Without him at the helm of a majority government, this one-time quasi-Alberta separatist would have us believe
Continue readingSTEPHEN HARPER: SANS MOI LE DELUGE
As the Prime Minister of a long-established, if complacent, democracy, Stephen Harper is supposed to say that for him the will of the people is paramount. He is supposed to declare that whatever House of Commons Canadians establish through their votes…
Continue readingJames Laxer: STEPHEN HARPER: SANS MOI LE DELUGE
As the Prime Minister of a long-established, if complacent, democracy, Stephen Harper is supposed to say that for him the will of the people is paramount. He is supposed to declare that whatever House of Commons Canadians establish through their votes, he will accept it and work with it. He
Continue readingTEN COMPELLING REASONS TO VOTE FOR STEPHEN HARPER
(Let’s raise the tone of the debate. This is about values, and principles, not which level of government has jurisdiction. Vote for what you believe in.)
1. If you believe that the wealthy are the bastion of liberty in a world threatened by the to…
Continue readingThe Great Disconnect: Stephen Harper’s Platform and What Canadians Really Want
There is a yawning gap between the platform Stephen Harper is presenting to the Canadian people and what Canadians tell pollsters are their major concerns. The dangerous disconnect between what the people want and the plans of those who control the sta…
Continue readingOver My shoulder: I see Stephen Harper
Crime fighter Stephen Harper says that Canadians deserve “to live in a country where they don’t have to look over their shoulders as they walk down the street.”
Throughout the ages, fear-mongering has always been a weapon of choice of those we n…
Continue readingStephen Harper Does Not Want YOU To Vote
Stephen Harper and his operatives in the Conservative War Room have determined exactly who they want to show up at the polls on May 2. They don’t want YOU.
In 2008, only 59 per cent of those eligible to vote did so. The Conservatives hope the turn…
Continue readingOn the TSX-LSE Affair: A Modest Proposal
London: Canadians have received countless assurances that the deal to conjoin the TSX with the London Stock Exchange in a 45-55 deal will bestow only positive results on Toronto and the Canadian financial sector. “This is great news,” declared Xav…
Continue readingRepublicans Read the U.S. Constitution Aloud: A Pack of Tricks on the Dead
The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives began its control of that august body by reading aloud the Constitution of the United States. Democrats jointed them in the exercise.
John Boehner, the new Speaker of the House, began the re…
Continue readingJames Laxer Lecture: The Crash and After—Economic Choices for Canada
I will be delivering a lecture on Wednesday, January 5 from 4.00-6.00 p.m. in the Senior Common Room at Vanier College (Room 010 Vanier), York University. The lecture will deal with the causes and consequences of the global economic crash, the reconfi…
Continue readingThanks Rob Ford: For Putting Toronto in touch with its Inner Detroit
Thanks to Rob, we’re an internal combustion city again, a city of the Great Lakes, up there with Buffalo and Cleveland, humming on the wheels of motor town, twinned with Detroit, our inner Detroit.
Thanks to Rob, we’ve abandoned our Amsterdam cycl…
Continue readingHarper’s Christmas Special: The Myth of How Fortress North America will boost Canadian Exports to the U.S.
Over the past quarter century, it has been a commonplace for right-wing continentalists to insist that without binding agreements between Canada and the United States, Canadian exports will be shut out of the American market.
In the mid 1980s, membe…
Continue readingGuns: What the Proponents of Fortress North America Want You to Forget
The Canadian proponents of Fortress North America want you to think about the prospect of speedier passage across the Canada-U.S. border for goods and people. They propose that we “thin” the border between the two countries and “fatten” it aro…
Continue readingMEET ROBMAN: TORONTO’S MAYOR IS A SUPERHERO
(This is the first in an occasional series on Robman, Toronto’s mayor, who dons a pink cape and flies into combat on behalf of taxpayers.)
On the morning when he takes office, December 1, Toronto’s mayor leaves for work at the crack of dawn. He d…
Continue readingStop Fortress North America: Don’t Let the Harper Government Make a Secret Deal with Washington
The Harper government is engaged in secret talks with the U.S. government to negotiate a sweeping Fortress North America security deal with Washington.
For over a decade, Fortress North America has been a favourite goal of the political right and co…
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