In Parts 1 through 4 of this blogpost, I looked at some international and national trends and events which I expect to influence 2013. In Part 5, I’m taking a closer look at Canada’s national political parties, and what voters and supporters can expect over the next year. The
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Sudbury Steve May: Crystal Ball Gazing, 2013 Edition, Part 4: The Canadian Political Scene
In earlier blogposts, I laid the foundations for my predictions, and proceeded to discuss a few municipal-level issues, along with how next year’s political situation in Ontario might play itself out. I predicted that the Liberal government will fall, but I was uncertain whether that would be in the late
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Crystal Ball Gazing, 2013 Edition, Part 3: Greater Sudbury, Toronto and Ontario
In Part 1 of this blogpost, I spent some time writing about neo-liberalism, and how it will continue to effect global trends in 2013. I took a closer look at some of those trends in Part 2 of this post. Now, in Part 3, I’ll make some specific predictions about
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Crystal Ball Gazing, 2013 Edition, Part 2: International Trends
In Part 1 of this blogpost, I spent a little bit of time writing about why I believe the neo-liberal economic system, as formulated at Bretton-Woods in 1944, will continue to be the dominate paradigm through which world events play themselves out, at least for the next little while. In
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Crystal Ball Gazing, 2013 Edition, Part 1: The Paradigm
2012 has come to an end, and it’s time for me to turn my attention to 2013. Gazing into my crystal ball, I’m first going to share with you a little bit of information about the lens through which I’m viewing potential future events, and then I’m going to make
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: The Conservative Party of Canada is a “Real and Present” Danger to Canada’s Economic Health by Ignoring the Climate Crisis
First off, I’d like to start this post with an apology. I’m sorry that this is going to be a very lengthy post, and the fact is, I’m liable to lose many of my readers part way through. I’m encouraging you, however, to hang in there with me, because this
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Green Chris Turner has All of the Momentum in Calgary Centre By-Election
There’s big news out of Calgary today. It seems that the media narrative of a relatively smooth by-election victory for Conservative candidate Joan Crockatt has come face-to-face with the reality of an electorate out looking for change. Since Crockatt’s selection by the Conservative Party to carry the banner in Calgary
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: World Turned Upside Down? The Politics of Carbon Pricing
What’s a Green to make out of the rumours coming out of Washington that President Barack Obama may consider including a carbon tax as part of the mechanism which the U.S. will use to back away from the looming “Fiscal Cliff”? The U.K.’s Guardian reports that former Vice President Al
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Consulting about Nuclear Waste in Communities along Transport Routes
My letter to the editor of the Sudbury Star was published in yesterday’s paper (November 6/12). The letter expresses concern about the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s site selection process for a long-term repository for high-level nuclear waste. The timing of publication is pretty good, given that Indpendent Member of Parliament Bruce
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Prosperity in a Low-Carbon Economy: Greater Sudbury Should Say "No" to Costly Rural Residential Development
The following text is taken from Speaking Notes prepared in advance of a special public meeting (September 27/12), hosted by the City of Greater Sudbury’s planning staff, as part of the City’s 5-year review of our Official Plan. The review has been on-going for sometime. Planning staff had previously identified
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Carbon Tax Fall-Out: Tom Mulcair and the NDP Choose Partisan Games Over Good Public Policy
Today, I am at a complete loss to adequately explain the growing frustration which I’ve been feeling with the Tom Mulcair’s New Democratic Party. “Frustration”, frankly, is too light a term to describe the feeling. As I can’t explain the emotion, let me at least relay the facts which have
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Greens Not "Absolutely" Opposed to Fossil Fuels, Nuclear and Hydro Power
An edited version of the following text was published in the print version of the Northern Life (Tuesday, September 18, 2012) and on their website on Tuesday, September 24/12. The following text represents my complete submission to the Northern Life, and includes hyperlinks. The original article appearing in the Northern
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Motion Sickness: Green Party Members Greenlight Problematic Motions Ahead of 2012 BGM
Please note that this particular blogpost may only be of interest to Members of the Green Party of Canada, supporters, and other political insiders. Also, please be advised that some of the links to specific party motions will not work unless one is first logged into the Green Party of
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: The NDP’s Dangerous National Unity Game: The Triumph of Talking Points Over Truth
What’s going on with Canada’s New Democratic Party lately? It seems to me that the NDP has decided to imitate Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party, at least when it comes to secrecy. Given that the NDP likes to trumpet that it’s an “open and transparent” political party, ever since Tom Mulcair
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Voting Morally, Not Strategically in Melbourne and Etobicoke Centre
Ahhh…the summertime! Long days spent pushing the stroller through my community. Hot nights spent drinking beer on the front porch. What better time to think / talk politics? Well, maybe if there were an election going on…but there’s not, at least not yet. Certainly, we know that federally, there will
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Greens Doing Politics Differently: A Smart Play by Elizabeth May in Etobicoke Centre
Yesterday, it was reported by Globe & Mail political columnist Gloria Galloway that Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May would urge her party not to run a candidate in the riding of Etobicoke Centre, should the Supreme Court of Canada determine that a by-election is necessary due to voting
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Electoral Co-operation and a New Kind of Liberal Leadership Contest
Of all of the things which have been on my mind over the past few weeks, tonight I find myself writing about the Liberal Leadership campaign. Why on Earth do I think that’s important enough for a blog post, when there are no announced candidates, and the vote won’t be
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Greater Sudbury at a Crossroads, Part 4: Towards a Green City
What kind of City do we want to inhabit in the future? If you ask that question to 20 different people, you’re likely to get 20 slightly different answers. However, studies have shown that generally speaking, there are really two different and competing visions which shape our perception and desires
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Greater Sudbury at a Crossroads, Part 3: Planning to Get Around in the City of Tomorrow
Here in Greater Sudbury, we know full well that there are a number of things which we must do in order to create a city which will meet our future needs. Our ability to do so, however, is limited by a number of factors, including a lack of leadership, and
Continue readingSudbury Steve May: Greater Sudbury at a Crossroads, Part 2: The Importance of the Decision-Making Process
Looking backwards and moving forwards to identify significant trends at local, regional and global levels, we can make some assumptions about the future in which we are likely to find ourselves. Locally, Greater Sudbury is poised for moderate growth, particularly due to continuing investments in the mining sector. With an
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