Were I given to the Christmas flights of fancy that prompt people to compile impossible wish lists that usually include a desire for world peace, the end of disease, and the termination of world hunger, I would add one more: politicians who show respect, rather than contempt, for the intelligence
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom Today
The union movement is one of the last remnants of the great postwar pact between labour, capital and government. That pact provided Canadians with things they still value, from medicare to public pension plans. Good wages in union shops kept pay high, even in workplaces that weren’t organized. Unions agitated
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Psst – A Message for Teacher-Bashers
Here in Ontario, teachers have fallen into disfavor thanks to their refusal to meekly accept the unfairness and unconstitutionality of Bill 115. For those who enjoy getting outraged over such impertinence and call teachers selfish, may I suggest you watch the following in order to gain some perspective? Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Think Again
For those who believe Stephen Harper was showing uncommon common sense when he seemed to repudiate his Firearms Advisory Committee last month, think again. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Which Black Do You Prefer?
If you are Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the choice is clear. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Prospect of Revolt
I cannot help but wonder how healthy our democracy might be if its myriad abuses at the hands of the Harper regime elicited the same spirited response from citizens as this did from people over a few pictures. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Yet Another Failure of The Corporate Community
We hear everyday about the grim prospects that our young people face – protracted periods of unemployment, underemployment and contract work have become the norm, rather than the exception, even for those with extensive education. Even going back to school to pursue graduate studies or certificate programs offers no guarantee
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Editorial Recommendation
A bit of a busy day today, so I only have time right now to recommend today’s editorial in The Star, a timely warning about the implications of increasingly popular anti-union legislation that has only one goal: to reduce the remuneration of workers. One can only hope that Canadians will
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Taint of Ideology
Although I’m sure that I frequently fall victim to it, I am deeply offended by lazy thinking, our seemingly endless capacity to fall back on ideological bromides as a substitute for careful and reasoned consideration of an issue. Instances of such defective cogitation abound, and are especially noticeable in online
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: With Some Ambivalence
In light of the unspeakable tragedy in Connecticut yesterday, in some ways it seems manifestly disrespectful to write a regular blog post today. Yet, to become paralyzed with despair over the evil in the world is not the answer either. Far better it is, in my mind, to try to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The MacKay Mission
I really have nothing new to add to the sad spectacle of ministerial incompetence epitomized by Defense Minister Peter MacKay, whose ongoing mission and primary responsibilibilty seems to be never admitting to error or apologizing. However, the Star’s Tim Harper does have some thoughts on the reasons for his intransigence
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Lesson From Egypt
The other day I wrote a post contrasting the fervent engagement of the Egyptian people as they pursue their demands for a representative democracy, contrasting that passion with our own seeming indifference to the deficits we face here at home. This morning’s Star has published a letter from James Quinn,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Unions After Bill C-377
In my favorite Shakespearian play, Hamlet, there is a scene wherein his erstwhile friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, explain that an acting company that used to enjoy great popularity has fallen on hard times. Thanks to a new craze in which troupes of child actors have become the rage, and “are
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Workers of the World Unite- You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Union Shackles!
That perhaps might have been the call in Michigan yesterday, as it joined 23 other states in enacting so called ‘right-to-work-legislation’ that ‘liberates’ workers from mandatory union membership and union dues. Passed by a Republican-dominated House of Representatives, the new law was proudly proclaimed by Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Canadian Success Story
Many years ago, campaigns urging people to ‘Buy Canadian’ abounded. A point of pride with many, patronizing our domestic suppliers of goods and services, although more difficult than in earlier times thanks to the corporate pursuit of ever-higher profits at the expense of domestic jobs, is still possible. Today’s Star
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A No-Cut Clause for Peter MacKay?
Readers of this blog may be aware that I am no fan of Harper Defence Minister Peter MacKay. The breadth of his ineptitude is stunning, and the concept of ministerial responsibility seems foreign both to him and his boss. Countless times he has proven to be an embarrassment, not only
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Robocalls and Fingerpointing
If crimes were committed in misdirecting voters in the last federal election, who cares who the complainants that have brought this matter before the courts are? Apparently the Harper regime does. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Fools These Mortals Be
The title of this post, taken from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, hardly qualifies as a startling insight. Nonetheless, after reading two columns in this morning’s Star, I couldn’t help but reflect on the mass of contradictions that we are. It has likely always been thus, but stands in especially sharp
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Canada and Egypt: A Study in Contrasts
My wife, well aware of my anguish over the disengagement with democracy of so many Canadians, made a comment this morning that has inspired this post. She observed the sharp contrast that exists with Egypt, where the notion of democracy is still more a dream than a reality, a dream
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sins Of The Harper Government: Ministerial Incompetence, Secrecy, and Contempt For Democracy
For anyone who needs a quick primer over the damage being done to Canada and its citizens by the Harper regime, I recommend the following: In the F-35 fiasco, truth is the first casualty, a stinging indictment not only of the government lies surrounding the true projected costs of the
Continue reading