It’s rare that a government accused of undervaluing science and making policy decisions based on predetermined outcomes rather than rational analysis comes straight out and admits that how they function. But today Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird did exactly that. “Why should taxpayers have to pay for more than 10
Continue readingAuthor: Mark Crowley
Pop The Stack: Sometimes Democracy Is About Fighting
Once again Green Party Member of Parliament Elizabeth May (I never get tired of hearing that phrase) is threatening to stand up for democracy and parliament when almost no one else will. She is planning to use what parliamentary procedures she can to slow the passage of the budget bill as a
Continue readingPop The Stack: Sometimes Democracy Is About Fighting
Once again Green Party Member of Parliament Elizabeth May (I never get tired of hearing that phrase) is threatening to stand up for democracy and parliament when almost no one else will. She is planning to use what parliamentary procedures she can to slow the passage of the budget bill as a
Continue readingPop The Stack: Protect the trees
Rob Ford wants to see 5-cent bag fee abolished because : “I believe the taxpayers don’t want to pay the five cents any more. It is actually six cents with the HST.” – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Really? Is that a good enough reason? What about the disincentive to waste plastic? People want
Continue readingPop The Stack: Protect the trees
Rob Ford wants to see 5-cent bag fee abolished because : “I believe the taxpayers don’t want to pay the five cents any more. It is actually six cents with the HST.” – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Really? Is that a good enough reason? What about the disincentive to waste plastic? People want
Continue readingPop The Stack: Who Needs Honour When You Have Fear?
I’m starting to think that The Conservative Party of Canada is trying to exhaust our outrage meters so we’ll stop complaining about real issues and just let them do whatever they want. Take a deep breath, maybe even a Tylenol and take just a peek at this site new site put
Continue readingPop The Stack: Who Needs Honour When You Have Fear?
I’m starting to think that The Conservative Party of Canada is trying to exhaust our outrage meters so we’ll stop complaining about real issues and just let them do whatever they want. Take a deep breath, maybe even a Tylenol and take just a peek at this site new site put
Continue readingPop The Stack: Stop the Sell Out
LeadNow Campaign : Stop the Sell Out This is truly important. Our democracy is being strong-armed by the Conservatives. They are using their majority to begin altering the progressive nature of our country. Even if we can’t stop everything they are doing in the short term we cannot let this disregard
Continue readingPop The Stack: Stop the Sell Out
LeadNow Campaign : Stop the Sell Out This is truly important. Our democracy is being strong-armed by the Conservatives. They are using their majority to begin altering the progressive nature of our country. Even if we can’t stop everything they are doing in the short term we cannot let this disregard
Continue readingPop The Stack: Time to Drop Left, Right and Centre
Words have power. Canadian politics is undergoing a realignment and the old words we use to describe the ‘political spectrum’ are becoming more a hinderance than a help in trying to understand the change and what can come next. There is an idea that all political ideas all fit neatly in
Continue readingPop The Stack: Time to Drop Left, Right and Centre
Words have power. Canadian politics is undergoing a realignment and the old words we use to describe the ‘political spectrum’ are becoming more a hinderance than a help in trying to understand the change and what can come next. There is an idea that all political ideas all fit neatly in
Continue readingPop The Stack: Harper reveals his true nature…he’s a bad message board troll.
This: Stephen Harper shouted down for saying NDP didn’t support fight against Hitler wow. just…wow. It’s depressing actually. I mean, turning the debate away from the war in question as a distraction is bad enough. But Hitler? Really? This is beyond what I expected from Stephen Harper. And I have very low expectations
Continue readingPop The Stack: Harper reveals his true nature…he’s a bad message board troll.
This: Stephen Harper shouted down for saying NDP didn’t support fight against Hitler wow. just…wow. It’s depressing actually. I mean, turning the debate away from the war in question as a distraction is bad enough. But Hitler? Really? This is beyond what I expected from Stephen Harper. And I have very low expectations
Continue readingPop The Stack: Dion Proposes New Voting System
Monday’s election results in Alberta demonstrate once again the strange outcomes that our First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting system can create. A difference in vote percentage between 43% and 34% leads to 61 vs 17 seats for the PCs. Meanwhile the remaining parties which received about 10% of the vote each get
Continue readingPop The Stack: Dion Proposes New Voting System
Monday’s election results in Alberta demonstrate once again the strange outcomes that our First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting system can create. A difference in vote percentage between 43% and 34% leads to 61 vs 17 seats for the PCs. Meanwhile the remaining parties which received about 10% of the vote each get
Continue readingPop The Stack: Our Democracy is Leaving on a Jet Plane
This latest article by Andrew Coyne on the F-35 fiasco gave me chills, it’s a must read for anyone who still believes in honest, representative government. See this excellent article by Brian Stewart for more background on the growing secrecy in recent years surrounding the F-35 purchase and other activities at
Continue readingPop The Stack: Our Democracy is Leaving on a Jet Plane
This latest article by Andrew Coyne on the F-35 fiasco gave me chills, it’s a must read for anyone who still believes in honest, representative government. See this excellent article by Brian Stewart for more background on the growing secrecy in recent years surrounding the F-35 purchase and other activities at
Continue readingPop The Stack: Conservative Budget Shows Us What is Important to Them
A common response from many pundits on the recent Conservative budget seems to be: sensible, dull, uncontroversial. David Frum recently published his analysis and went a bit further asking whether or not this budget definitively proves that Canada is the “best-governed country in the advanced democratic world”. He thinks it does. His question is especially
Continue readingPop The Stack: Conservative Budget Shows Us What is Important to Them
A common response from many pundits on the recent Conservative budget seems to be: sensible, dull, uncontroversial. David Frum recently published his analysis and went a bit further asking whether or not this budget definitively proves that Canada is the “best-governed country in the advanced democratic world”. He thinks it does. His question is especially
Continue readingPop The Stack: O America – Health Care and Gay Marriage
I usually stick to writing about Canadian politics but since I am on temporary exile in the “Land of the Free”™ for my postdoc I have been meaning to add a bit of Old American Spice to this blog. Two stories today seem to have pushed me over that critical
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