Today on Music Break I am featuring one of my favourite and one of the longest surviving punk bands of all time: Social Distortion. They are fronted by Mike Ness on lead vocals and guitar, a man who is a little bit country, a little bit punk rock and 100% attitude.
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Pample the Moose: Bill 13’s passage, GSAs and the Catholic Church
Bill 13, Ontario’s anti-bullying legislation, passed third reading in the legislature today. The bill obtained 65 votes in support from the Liberal and NDP members, and 36 votes against from the Conservatives. I’m quite pleased that this legislation passed in the final form that it assumed, which incorporated amendments giving
Continue readingPample the Moose: Bill 13’s passage, GSAs and the Catholic Church
Bill 13, Ontario’s anti-bullying legislation, passed third reading in the legislature today. The bill obtained 65 votes in support from the Liberal and NDP members, and 36 votes against from the Conservatives. I’m quite pleased that this legislation passed in the final form that it assumed, which incorporated amendments giving
Continue readingPample the Moose: Bill 13’s passage, GSAs and the Catholic Church
Bill 13, Ontario’s anti-bullying legislation, passed third reading in the legislature today. The bill obtained 65 votes in support from the Liberal and NDP members, and 36 votes against from the Conservatives.I’m quite pleased that this legislati…
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: On "The Great Euro Crash" BBC Documentary
The Great Euro Crash with Robert Peston (2012) The BBC has been showing an insightful documentary on the current recession called The Great Euro Crash over the last couple weeks. It made some very valid and interesting points I hadn’t considered before and I wanted to share my thoughts on
Continue readingPample the Moose: Oh the Humanities!: Of Language Czars, the Civil Service and Policy-Making
A story about my research being presented today at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Waterloo appears in today’s National Post. I wanted to get this post up quickly because it clarifies a few points – and spins my research a little differently from how the Post
Continue readingPample the Moose: Oh the Humanities!: Of Language Czars, the Civil Service and Policy-Making
A story about my research being presented today at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Waterloo appears in today’s National Post. I wanted to get this post up quickly because it clarifies a few points – and spins my research a l…
Continue readingPample the Moose: Oh the Humanities!: Of Language Czars, the Civil Service and Policy-Making
A story about my research being presented today at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Waterloo appears in today’s National Post. I wanted to get this post up quickly because it clarifies a few points – and spins my research a little differently from how the Post
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: Dustin Brown on Michal Rozsival: Dirty Hit or Incidental Contact?
Dustin Brown Knees Michal Rozsival I felt a huge adrenaline surge and a level of ecstacy I haven’t felt since… when I woke up and found out the Los Angeles Kings had won their Western Conference Final series against the Phoenix Coyotes the night previous. I was proud of a team
Continue readingPample the Moose: Dalton McGuinty, GSAs and Catholic Schools – A rose by an ambiguous name
Over the past several days, Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, 2012 has been in committee hearings. This is the provincial government’s anti-bullying legislation, meant to provide support groups in schools for various groups of students that have bee…
Continue readingPample the Moose: Dalton McGuinty, GSAs and Catholic Schools – A rose by an ambiguous name
Over the past several days, Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, 2012 has been in committee hearings. This is the provincial government’s anti-bullying legislation, meant to provide support groups in schools for various groups of students that have been victims of bullying, but, when it comes right down to it,
Continue readingPample the Moose: Dalton McGuinty, GSAs and Catholic Schools – A rose by an ambiguous name
Over the past several days, Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, 2012 has been in committee hearings. This is the provincial government’s anti-bullying legislation, meant to provide support groups in schools for various groups of students that have been victims of bullying, but, when it comes right down to it,
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: France and Greece Reject Austerity
I am breathing a breath of fresh air after the French and Greek elections last Sunday. I’m not saying that the results were completely positive, but it is clear that the people of both countries unequivocally rejected austerity and making the middle and lower classes pay so that the rich can
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: You Don’t Say… May 4, 2012
I’m not saying I listened to the Beastie Boys every second of every day, but their music is important to the history of rock and rap and Adam Yauch (MCA) will be missed. Rest in peace. Hopefully he is continuing the fight for his right to party in heaven now.
Continue readingPample the Moose: A polarized Canada
Several weeks ago, a journalist from the Montreal Gazette called me up for a conversation about a feature she was writing about the increasingly polarized nature of Canadian politics. We talked for about an hour, and a fair bit of what I had to say appeared in this story which
Continue readingPample the Moose: A polarized Canada
Several weeks ago, a journalist from the Montreal Gazette called me up for a conversation about a feature she was writing about the increasingly polarized nature of Canadian politics. We talked for about an hour, and a fair bit of what I had to say ap…
Continue readingPample the Moose: A polarized Canada
Several weeks ago, a journalist from the Montreal Gazette called me up for a conversation about a feature she was writing about the increasingly polarized nature of Canadian politics. We talked for about an hour, and a fair bit of what I had to say appeared in this story which
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: You Don’t Say… April 26, 2012
I’m not saying that the provincial budget passed this week in Ontario is perfect, but it is much better after a few NDP ammendments. Collecting $470 million from the 23, 000 Ontarians that make over $500,000 a year will help pay down the province’s debt and will allow it to
Continue readingOn Wrestling, Politics and Other Musings of the Mind's Eye: Music Break…Turisas and Alestorm
Hello again. After a short hiatus I’m back and I’ve brought with me some some enjoyable European metal with a sense of humour. First up is is Finland’s folk/battle metal heavyweights Turisas. They do an inspired cover of Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’. I have also included videos for hits ‘Stand Up and
Continue readingPample the Moose: Happy Charter Day! And the importance of an "s"
Today’s the 30th anniversary of the formal adoption of the 1982 Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A lot of ink has been recently devoted to the Harper government’s non-observance of this day. I could add to this, but instead I’d like to draw your attention to the text of the formal statement issued by Heritage Minister James Moore and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson which was originally posted here. I say “originally posted” lest the initial text be changed.
The full statement reads:
Statement by the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on the 30th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982
OTTAWA, April 17, 2012 – Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982, which was formally signed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on April 17, 1982, in the presence of tens of thousands of Canadians on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
This anniversary marks an important step in the development of Canada’s human rights policy. Building on Diefenbaker’s Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960, the Constitution Act of 1982 enshrined certain rights and freedoms that had historically been at the heart of Canadian society into a constitutional document known as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Constitution Act of 1982 empowered our government to amend every part of Canada’s constitution, for the very first time.
As we look ahead to Canada’s 150th Anniversary in 2017, we encourage all Canadians to commemorate the milestones that have built our nation and made us the great country we are today.
There are all sorts of things that can be critiqued about this statement, starting with the omission of the Prime Minister and architect of the deal, Pierre Trudeau. But because I’m in a peculiar mood, let me instead draw your attention to paragraph 3 of the statement. There’s a rather important little “s” that is missing from the end of the word “government”. Because as any constitutional expert worth their salt knows, most parts of Canada’s constitution cannot be amended by any single government. In some cases, it takes at least two, in most it takes eight (seven provincial governments representing 50% of the population, plus the federal government), and in a few key areas it takes eleven governments to amend the constitution.
So unless there is a super-secret plan by the Harper government to start unilaterally amending the constitution, his ministers’ staffers did a terrible job proofing that mediocre statement.
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