Jagmeet Singh has a job as leader of the federal new democratic party. With parliament shut down, he has virtually disappeared. Canadians have forgotten about him. Only voters in Brampton, Ontario remember what he looks like. Mind you, he represents Burnaby South in B.C. these days. Maybe somebody there has
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Digging into the ‘Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns’ Inquiry’s probe of the plot to replace capitalism with a dystopic ecotopia
Now that people are sitting down and actually reading the papers commissioned by Alberta’s so-called Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns, they’re finding paranoia and poppycock aplenty. It begs a question, though. What was Inquiry Commissioner Steve Allan up to when he reached out and paid significant sums from the
Continue readingCathie from Canada: Back to normal
What a relief it is to just have normal politics-as-usual going on everywhere these days – blaming Trudeau for stuff that isn’t his fault, blaming O’Toole for stuff that IS his fault, watching Biden taking over the US government, its all good these days. I don’t wake up and doom-scroll
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Orangutan vs The Army Of The Dead
(Written before the 2020 US election, this short piece still sums up the situation in American politics very well.) Trump is no fairy tale prince, and nor am I a supporter of the big orange buffoon; but we need to be honest about things: he’s up against the army of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Oh, Those Poor Deluded Fools. They’re Not to Blame.
There’s a growing effort underway in the ranks of America’s left to excuse the sins of Trump’s legion of useful idiots. It’s not their fault. They’re to be pitied, not scorned. They’ve been handed a bad deal so they lashed out and latched on to the first smooth talker
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Morneau Out… Again
There are times in this time of COVID that it feels like we’re being swamped by everything that’s going on. So many big things have happened with such intensity in the moment, only to disappear from the news and be forgot as other big things come forward. I guess that’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Remembering Leo Panitch—an iconic figure of the Canadian left
Leo Panitch (1945-2020), Professor Emeritus at York University in Toronto. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. The numerous writings and comments spurred by Leo Panitch’s death have expressed shock, grief, gratitude and admiration for his contributions to scholarship and the pursuit of progressive political causes. They are eloquent testimonials to his stature
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: A Statement Made During the Return of Parliament
Yesterday was the first day of Parliament for 2021 and it was quite a busy day to be sure. We had the resignation of Senator Lynn Beyak, the Liberals removing Brampton MP Ramesh Sangha from their caucus, the continued fallout from the resignation of Governor General Julie Payette, the issues
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Simon Enoch traces the COVID-19 spending that’s taken place in Saskatchewan – finding that most of the support has come from the federal government, while Scott Moe has combined a refusal to lift a finger (and indeed a failure to make use
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Good Bye And Good Riddance
The Canadian political scene is being reconstituted. Some of its ugliest practitioners are leaving the stage. Susan Delacourt writes: It appears to be sweeps week in Canadian politics — when troublesome political players get swept right out of the action. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals tossed an MP out of caucus on
Continue readingThings Are Good: Alphabet Union Wants Alphabet to Behave
The workers behind the unionization efforts at Google are expanding to take on the whole Alphabet, the parent company of Google. They’ve formed Alpha Global to be a common voice for issues facing Google workers around the world and for people who are being negatively impacted by the actions of
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Talking COVID Vaccine Deliveries & the Return of Parliament with Kristy Cameron
Yesterday I joined Kristy Cameron on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Kate Harrison & Lindsay Maskell for the “Political Heat” panel. We talked about how the delays in some COVID vaccines, what it means for Canada, the return of Parliament for the first day in 2021, what our elected leaders
Continue readingScripturient: English as She is Spoke
One of the more delightful books in my personal library is a reprint of the 1883 American edition of English as She Is Spoke, described by Wikipedia as, …intended as a Portuguese–English conversational guide or phrase book; however, as the “English” translations provided are usually inaccurate or incoherent, it is
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: My latest: Trudeau’s scapegoats
Usually, when Justin Trudeau is looking for someone to throw to the lions, he prefers women. Jane Philpott was one; she got kicked out of the Trudeau Liberal Party for telling the truth, and for refusing to go along with obstruction of justice. Oftentimes, however, Trudeau exhibits a fondness for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Canadians are on to O’Toole.
Every time I look at conservative leader Erin O’Toole, he reminds me of cartoons of the bloated English capitalist. What makes me laugh though are his on-going attempts to create a conservative party more acceptable to the mainstream of Canadian voters. And I hardly think tossing Derek Sloan out of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: America’s Original Sin – Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy theories propelled Donald Trump to power but it’s been the stuff of American politics since the 1776 Revolution. The United States of America was founded on a conspiracy theory. In the lead-up to the War of Independence, revolutionaries argued that a tax on tea or stamps is not
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s (Bombastic) Response to Biden Cancelling KXL’s Permit
On January 20 when the rest of the world was congratulating President Biden on his inauguration, Jason Kenney was attacking Biden’s character and threatening trade wars because Biden revoked Trump’s executive order approving KXL. Not satisfied that he’d made his point, Kenney appeared on Fox TV and other media outlets
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Stop the Lucrative Cruelty in Yemen
There was an online rally with some impressive speeches about the war on Yemen today, What Yanis Varoufakis referred as a form of “lucrative cruelty.” Here’s the full video and below are some of the words I found most impactful. Biden was there when it stared in 2015, a unilateral attack by
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The duty to end Israeli apartheid
Qalandiya checkpoint in the West Bank. Photo by Adam Nieman/Flickr. This week I tried to explain here that the continuing occupation and its transformation from a supposedly temporary situation to a permanent one, with the erasure of the Green Line (for Jews), has created a new situation: It is no
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