Justin Trudeau and his band of sunny men and women have had, up to this point at least, a pretty easy ride with the Canadian electorate. After years of darkness under the Harper regime, the liberating promise of an open government bent upon truly representing citizens had an allure and
Continue readingTag: Bill C-23
Northern Reflections: What An Open Border Means
Justin Trudeau went to Washington a couple of weeks ago. His mission was to keep the border open. But, with Donald Trump as president, having an open border has taken on a whole new meaning. Bill C-23 — which has not yet been passed — allows American border guards to
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: What An Open Border Means
Justin Trudeau went to Washington a couple of weeks ago. His mission was to keep the border open. But, with Donald Trump as president, having an open border has taken on a whole new meaning. Bill C-23 — which has not yet been passed — allows American border guards to
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper to blame for Elections Canada’s awful voter registration mess
Elections Canada has made an awful mess of voter registration for the 2015 federal election. It’s a mess that recalls bad memories of the 2011 robocall scandal. Stephen Harper is partly to blame. The post Harper to blame for Elections Canada’s awful voter registration mess appeared first on The Canadian
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper’s “anti-democratic” Fair Elections Act challenged in court
Activists led by the Council of Canadians have filed a Charter challenge to the Conservatives’ Fair Elections Act or Bill C-23 in the Ontario Superior Court. The post Harper’s “anti-democratic” Fair Elections Act challenged in court appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Senate must fix Harper’s Orwellian Fair Elections Act: Petition
by: Obert Madondo | May 16, 2014 The Harper Conservatives used their majority in the House of Commons to bulldoze their dictatorship-style “Fair Elections Act” earlier this week. The bill is now back in the Conservative-dominated Senate where it’s certain to pass. Canadians and their democracy-loving allies aren’t giving up the fight. Through
Continue readingMaple-Flavoured Politics: Stephen Harper Admits He’s Taken Canada to Third-World Status
The title of this post sounds implausible, but it’s true. You may already know this because it’s a dominant social media meme in Canada these days. Stephen Harper was a Reform Party MP in 1996. At the time, the Liberals had a majority in the House of Commons—a majority they
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23 Passed, Stinkers Included
Whatever amendments were made to Bill C-23, they didn’t address much of anything that I raised as problematic in my earlier analysis of the first draft tabled in the House of Commons. Full text here. Never before have I seen a piece of legislation so clearly designed to “stack the
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: CPC Lied To Elections Canada On RoboCalls?
The corruption that is the CPC’s actions in the 2011 election continues to fester. The most recent instalment comes to us via Stephen Maher’s latest column. In an email May 1, party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told Elections Canada that Conservative call centre workers were not advising voters that Elections Canada
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Open Letter: 400+ Academics Demand Withdrawal of Harper’s Orwellian Fair Elections Act
“Free and fair elections lie at the heart of our democracy. The government should not underestimate the commitment of Canadians to defend this fundamental principle.” by: Various | April 23, 2014 Last month, more than 160 professors signed an open letter to express grave concerns about the damage to Canadian
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Speculation: Harper’s Pugilistic Stance On Russia/Ukraine
Harper’s stance on Ukraine does not make a lot of sense in terms of the general back and forth of diplomacy and foreign affairs. Canada is in no position to dictate to Russia on matters military – a country of 143,000,000 can raise a much more substantial military than one
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: An Open Letter From Academics on Bill C-23
Published in The Globe and Mail. Highlights: (much of which have been discussed in more depth on this blog) Investigating electoral fraud. Bill C-23 fails to provide the Commissioner of Elections power to compel witness testimony in investigating systematic electoral fraud such as the 2011 “robocalls” scandal. Witnesses with knowledge
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: The Senate’s proposed amendments to election bill are a facade.
The committee in the Senate designed to look at the (un)Fair Elections Act – Bill C-23 – tried to come across as dramatically wanting to amend this bill….it came up with 9 proposed amendments that were unanimously agreed to. That got initial press coverage as saying the Conservative-dominated Senate was
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: Linda Frum, Talking Points and the Dumbf
*Dumbf = dumbfuckery – a condition that appears to be unique to the creation of Harper Government talking points regarding Bill C-23. On Huffington Post this morning, I read Michael Bolen’s commentary on Bill C-23 which led me to Linda Frum’s more verbose op-ed defending her TWITter position from earlier this
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: The Senate Takes A Swing
Okay, now the Senate is talking about wanting to see some amendments to the Harper Government’s bill to undermine Canada’s democracy. The interim report recommends: — Removing a provision which would allow political parties to exempt from their election expenses any money spent to raise donations from anyone who has
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Fair Elections Act could sink Stephen Harper and Conservatives in 2015
by: Obert Madondo | April 12, 2014 This week Canada’s two main opposition parties declared war on the Conservatives’ Orwellian Fair Elections Act. One that could bring down Harper during the 2015 federal election. While falling short of declaring the Fair Elections Act an election issue for 2015, both the Official Opposition
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Con$ Only Want Cons To Vote
Bill C-23 is an appalling piece of legislation. It is filled with more underhanded deceitfulness than any piece of legislation should ever contain. If there ever was any doubt about the motivations of the Harper Government in tabling this piece of poison, I think Senator Linda Frum’s comments on Twitter
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Conservative logic: Promoting high turnout/ensuring fair election is a conflict?
That’s what Conservative Senator Linda Frum seems to think: (for lack of a better term). Some twitter tweets give her position quite clearly: “Elections Canada role is to administer fair elections. Not to motivate. Not to induce. More integrity when mission is clear cut.” and this, as a reply to
Continue readingcartoon life: Poilievre’s opinion
“I never made such a gesture.” responds Pierre Poutine, in response to critics of the so-called “Fair Elections Act’”. Filed under: comment, digital, illustration, photo Tagged: bill C-23, Canada, CPC, democratic reform, Pierre Poilievre, politics
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: Accountability for Thee Not For Me
It’s not exactly news that Harper has never liked Elections Canada. In fact, it’s less than news. His outraged utterances about Elections Canada when he was head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) in the 1990s set the tone for the content of Bill C-23. “The jackasses at Elections Canada
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