The other evening I put up a post on Kellie Leitch, the erstwhile physician turned Conservative M.P., enthusiastic sycophant and prominent apologist of all things Harpereque. As he occasionally does, The Salamander, in a comment on the post, offered his own observations of Ms. Leitch and a host of other
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: Stephen Harper – He’s Not Here For You
But of course I state the obvious here, don’t I? Nonetheless, for those who like regular and ongoing illustrations of the fact that the Prime Minister and his acolytes are in the thrall of ‘special interests,’ one need look no further than a report in today’s Toronto Star. Currently, non-financial
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Kellie Leitch Speaks Again In Her ‘Master’s Voice’
Like the good yeo(wo)man she is, Ms Leitch never deviates from the Harper regime script as she ‘answers’ Evan Solomon’s questions about the Temporary Foreign Worker’s Program. One only hopes that her collar is not pulled too tightly; given Canada’s doctor shortage, it would be sad to lose a trained
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Silver Lining
Now that the weather has markedly and rather consistently improved over the past week in my part of Ontario, yard work beckons, so for now I offer this perceptive nugget from a Star reader, who sees some benefit to the Harper regime’s estrangement from the United Nations: Canada not up
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Is Democracy?
The other day I wrote a post on the decline of democracy under the Harper regime. Included was reference to Bob Hepburn’s recent piece on the same subject. Although I am not quite as cynical as the letter-writer, Star reader Al Dunn of Kingston, in responding to Hepburn, expresses the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Harper Government’s Legacy of Death
Checking my blog archive, I found that I have written a total of 22 posts on asbestos. Here is number 23. Two years ago, Canada was the sole nation to oppose adding chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous products under the Rotterdam Convention. Such a listing would not have
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Glimmer Of Principle
Laurie Hawn, Alberta Brent Rathgeber, Alberta Kevin Sorenson, Alberta Mike Allen, New Brunswick Joe Daniel, Ontario Larry Miller, Ontario Stephen Woodworth, Ontario What do all of the above M.P.s have in common? In addition to being members of the federal Conservative caucus, each, it seems, has some surprising integrity. Each
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Glimmer Of Principle
Laurie Hawn, Alberta Brent Rathgeber, Alberta Kevin Sorenson, Alberta Mike Allen, New Brunswick Joe Daniel, Ontario Larry Miller, Ontario Stephen Woodworth, Ontario What do all of the above M.P.s have in common? In addition to being members of the federal Conservative caucus, each, it seems, has some surprising integrity. Each
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Are Canadians Experiencing Buyers’ Remorse?
Many of us who blog, tweet, or post political views on Facebook cannot, I suspect, avoid the periodic and unsettling notion that we are simply ‘preaching to the converted’ instead of reaching a larger audience with our perspectives and commentaries. Yet we persevere, both as a catharsis for our own
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: For The Regime In Ottawa So Convinced Of Its Competence….
A few reminders that the truth is otherwise from our friends at Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Anniversary Many Would Like To Forget
In his column today, Tim Harper reminds us that yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of the Harper majority government. It is hardly an occasion that progressives take delight in as columnist Harper makes reference to some of the regime’s retrograde policies and ‘achievements’: – streamlined environmental regulatory reviews – the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Harper’s Fiscal Ineptitude
Since the story has been covered in the mainstream press, and The Sixth Estate has done his usual fine and thorough job of analyzing its implications, I have nothing to add to the tale of the missing $3 billion from the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism (PSAT) Initiative. Not only does
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Appealingly Democratic Concept
Although I am a retired teacher aware of the potential drawbacks of this concept, I find it appealingly democratic: H/t GB Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Leaf Nation, Or Just More Tired Rabid Harper Partisanship?
Some may think this clever. I just think it is pathetic (and I’m not even a fan of the Liberals). Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Dominoes of Democracy – Part 2
What is one of the chief effects of the Harper regime’s preference for an ideologically-based policy model over one premised on logic, facts and empirical evidence, as explored in my earlier post? The decline, perhaps even the demise, of a healthy democracy in which citizens are engaged and informed participants,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Dominoes of Democracy – Part 2
What is one of the chief effects of the Harper regime’s preference for an ideologically-based policy model over one premised on logic, facts and empirical evidence, as explored in my earlier post? The decline, perhaps even the demise, of a healthy democracy in which citizens are engaged and informed participants,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Dominoes of Democracy
Cause and effect. Sometimes the relationship is obvious, as in, for example, a cigarette left smoldering on a couch and the subsequent conflagration that destroys a house. Other times, to see the relationship requires some digging, some thinking, some connecting of the dots. To its shame the Harper regime, as
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Depraved Indifference – UPDATED
The term ‘cultural divide’ does not begin to explain this. Depraved indifference, on the part of both the company and the parents, perhaps does. UPDATE: This piece on Slate, which includes a ‘charming’ video on ‘My First Rifle,’ is well worth a look. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Much Deserved Mockery – Part 3
A bit of a busy morning ahead, so for now something more from our friends at Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper that amply attests to the fact that the spirit of resistance and dissent is alive and well in Canada: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Change of Heart, Or A Change In Political Winds?
Much has been written and discussed about the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, both on this blog and in various other media; consequently, I suspect that the majority of well-informed Canadians will look with deep cynicism upon the announcement that the Harper regime intends to crack down on widespread employer abuses
Continue reading