Premier Kathy Dunderdale didn’t bring up crude oil prices at a scrum after her speech to the offshore industry association. Reporters did. [Link: CBC story and scrum video] No harm. No foul. That’s the way these things work. She accepted the way the reporters framed questions and went into her
Continue readingTag: Budget 2012
CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Budget Bill C-38: Canadians Step Up Fight Against Stephen Harper
It’s the eve of the House of Commons vote on Harper’s draconian budget Bill C-38. Earlier today, the Conservatives moved to shut down debate on the legislation. NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen (pictured) promises to make the Conservatives “feel a little pain” for the arrogance and deliberate assault on
Continue reading350 or bust: University Sustainability Initiative Saves Climate And Its Bottom Line, While Canada’s Economy Suffers From Lack of Green Practices
New Jersey’s William Paterson University adopted a climate action plan in 2009 that puts the university on a path to becoming carbon neutral by 2065 – and to reducing their baseline by 50 percent by 2025. A cornerstone of that work is their 3.5 MW solar array that snakes around
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Limiting fish protection to “serious harm” is a serious problem
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 The federal government’s Budget Implementation Bill, Bill C-38, recently introduced in Parliament, is self-servingly called the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act 2012, which is ironic because most Canadians recognize that you can’t have long-term prosperity by destroying wild stocks of fish. If you agree, you’re
Continue readingTrashy's World: Here they come again…
… the “royal” family, that is. Yup, time for the Harperites to once again waste some mega bucks – $1 million range – to host and fête members of Britain’s most famous inbreds. Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore defended the visit Monday in a conference call with reporters, saying the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: That didn’t take long: public sector negotiations #nlpoli
Here’s what your humble e-scribbler said on Wednesday morning about the fact the provincial government didn’t include any amount in the 2012 budget to cover salary increases: Pull the other one The budget contains no amounts for wage increases. Any talk of forcing departments to come up with increases out
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: More significant budget digits #nlpoli
3%: The amount by which Premier Kathy Dunderdale said she and her colleagues would be cutting spending in the current budget. As the Telegram editorial pointed out on Wednesday: Instead of the three per cent in program cuts suggested at one point by Premier Kathy Dunderdale, the province will actually
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Another Tom Marshall masterpiece #nlpoli
You’ve gone through the media reports and heard the interviews and comments from pundits and politicos alike. Now you want a better idea of what is going on and what isn’t happening. Well, right off the bat, anyone who reported about an austerity budget or that forecast any significant change
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Going, Going, Gone: Dismantling the Progressive State
“An Auction”. William Pyne and William Combe (1808). Now that some time has passed since the federal budget it might be useful to step back and assess what it says about where the government is taking us. Reaction has been pretty muted. The “centrist punditry” generally see this as an
Continue readingbastard.logic: Dueling Ledes (Compare & Contrast), Redux
AP video, Feb 15, 2011: A recent [US] government report states the terrorist threat from Canada is greater than from Mexico, and that only 50 kilometres of the border is adequately patrolled. CBC News, today: Major job cuts at the Canada Border Services Agency could undermine national security and public
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Silly NDP Budget Antics
As some know, I’m not one who normally goes out of my way to go after the NDP on a lot of things, as they have positions closer to me then the Conservatives do by a longshot, but if this is Thomas Mulcair’s new strategy, it doesn’t exactly bode well
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Budget 2012 shows Harper plans to stick around awhile
A week or so later, I’ve finally had a chance to take a gander through the Budget 2012 documents. I like to look through the source documents on things like this rather than rely on media and punditry analysis to form my opinions. And having done so, I have to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con War on Information Continues
In most countries a budget is a tool to control expenses. In Great Robot Leader’s Canada it’s a weapon to control information. Exhibit A: Stats Canada. Statistics Canada, the national statistics agency, informed its staff late last week that it has been ordered to chop $33.9-million from its planned spending
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Rae’s budget town hall: From gas prices to gas taxes, and other stuff too
This morning I randomly heard that interim Liberal leader Bob Rae and members of the Liberal caucus were holding a post-budget town hall at the Armenian Community Centre in Toronto. After debating it for a bit, I decided to drop my previous Saturday plan of re-runs of Holmes Inspection, followed
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Micah Goldberg: Pennywise Mr. Harper
The end of the penny has caused many important cuts in Steven Harper’s first majority budget to have been buried. CBC funding was cut to the amount of $115 million dollars, $56 million was cut from the Canadian Food Inspections Agency, the Katimavik program was scrapped altogether, the list goes
Continue reading350 or bust: Harper’s Budget: Fossil Fuel Subsidies Maintained, Conservation Groups Targeted
While I’ve been traveling in southern Ontario this past week, with little time to spend on the internet, it seems that I and my fellow Canadians have fallen down the rabbit hole. With the warmest March on the record books coming to a close after decades of scientific warnings about
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Mulcair – impressive in CBC interview
This is a day ago, but I thought it worthwhile to post for those who didn’t see it in it’s entirety. The new NDP and Official Opposition Leader is being interviewed by Evan Solomon on his reaction to the Conservative 2012 Budget. I thought it was a pretty impressive performance.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: About Those 19,200 Jobs
“Our government,” Jim Flaherty announced yesterday, “has chosen prosperity.” He then announced that the government would be slashing expenses by $5.2 billion and laying off 19,200 civil servants. In an interview with CTV’s Graham Richardson, John Baird heaped scorn on those who had predicted 60,000 job losses. Baird, like the
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Defending Canada’s Environmental Laws is just common sense
Thursday, March 29, 2012 Or “What your Mom taught you about Canada’s environmental laws” With a wide range of Canada’s environmental laws apparently on the chopping block in the coming weeks, and environmentalists under attack across the country, it has never been more important for Canadians to stand up for
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: By Whatever Means Necessary
Consider what has happened in the last three elections: In 2006, the Harper Conservatives — in their quest for a majority — broke Canada’s campaign finance laws. In 2008, they broke their own fixed date election law. In 2012, by suppressing key voters in key ridings, they flipped an election.
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