I had never intended to make the first part an ongoing “series” and was really just the result of my angry ranting, yet again I feel a need to ask journalists why they are not doing their job. Today’s article of interest: Alison Redford ‘advancing Alberta’s interests’ at elite gathering.
Continue readingTag: budget
Accidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – May 4, 2012
Friday, May 4 saw a relatively short day of debate on the omnibus budget bill – but with a few twists on the discussion seen to date. The Big Issue Claude Gravelle noted that the range of major changes in C-38 goes far beyond the environment alone. Ted Hsu wondered
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – May 4, 2012
Friday, May 4 saw a relatively short day of debate on the omnibus budget bill – but with a few twists on the discussion seen to date. The Big Issue Claude Gravelle noted that the range of major changes in C-38 goes far beyond the environment alone. Ted Hsu wondered
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: May 3, 2012
Thursday, May 3 saw yet another debate over the Cons’ use of time allocation – this time respecting the omnibus budget bill which features so many radical changes that demand serious discussion. And not surprisingly, the opposition parties raised plenty of entirely valid concerns, while the Cons obfuscated and ran
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: May 2, 2012
A combination of the one-year anniversary of Canada’s 2011 federal election and a relatively short day in Parliament left little room for a lot of debate on Wednesday, May 2. But the day did see some serious questions raised about the Cons’ rush to pass their budget without debate. The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne tears into the Cons for being interested solely in developing a junk labour market where both work safety and income security are sorely lacking. And Chris Selley offers his own rebuttal to the “no such thing as a bad job” mentality:
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 23, 2012
Monday, April 23 was the first day back in the House of Commons following the Easter break. And it featured some of the most lively and telling discussion we’ve seen yet on the Cons’ anti-refugee legislation as the second-reading debate reached its end. The Big Issue As part of the
Continue readingPop The Stack: The Opposite of Rational Decision Making
It’s rare that a government accused of undervaluing science and making policy decisions based on predetermined outcomes rather than rational analysis comes straight out and admits that how they function. But today Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird did exactly that. “Why should taxpayers have to pay for more than 10
Continue readingPop The Stack: The Opposite of Rational Decision Making
It’s rare that a government accused of undervaluing science and making policy decisions based on predetermined outcomes rather than rational analysis comes straight out and admits that how they function. But today Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird did exactly that. “Why should taxpayers have to pay for more than 10
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – I’ll very much hope Chantal Hebert is wrong in her conclusion that Canadians are getting ever more doubtful as to whether change is possible through the ballot box. But one can’t much argue with her take on why that perception might be
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jim Stanford neatly sums up how the Cons’ obsession with selling off both natural resources and natural resource producers affects other industries: There is no doubting the statistical correlation between oil prices and the loonie. Econometric analysis indicates that since the turn of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 4, 2012
After the Cons refused to listen to the opposition parties’ proposed amendments, Wednesday, April 4 saw a day of debate on the main budget motion in the second-last day before a Parliamentary break. The Big Issue Nycole Turmel rightly labeled the budget as being based entirely on (gratuitous) austerity, while
Continue readingPop The Stack: Sometimes Democracy Is About Fighting
Once again Green Party Member of Parliament Elizabeth May (I never get tired of hearing that phrase) is threatening to stand up for democracy and parliament when almost no one else will. She is planning to use what parliamentary procedures she can to slow the passage of the budget bill as a
Continue readingPop The Stack: Sometimes Democracy Is About Fighting
Once again Green Party Member of Parliament Elizabeth May (I never get tired of hearing that phrase) is threatening to stand up for democracy and parliament when almost no one else will. She is planning to use what parliamentary procedures she can to slow the passage of the budget bill as a
Continue readingArt Threat: Ghosts with Shit Jobs – Is this $4,000 “lo-fi sci-fi” the future of Canadian Filmmaking?
It is the year 2040. China is the world’s dominant economic power, while North America’s decline has forced most of its citizens into degrading and menial jobs. In Toronto, two “silk-gatherers” collect and sell “spiz,” the remnants of secretions from giant arachnoids. Other jobs of the future include “digital janitor,”
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Conservative Support Among Older Canadians Plummets. NDP Leads Now By A Wide Margin
CARP, (Canadian Association of Retired Persons), has released their latest poll regarding federal politics. For the first time in years, a party other than the Conservatives leads. The NDP now has an 8 point lead over the Conservatives. This poll definitely spells trouble for the Conservatives as their core support
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 3, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 saw the final day of debate at second reading of the Cons’ budget – and once again featured plenty of work by Peter Julian to introduce the types of perspectives the Cons would never tolerate if they could avoid it. The Big Issue Once again, Julian
Continue readingPop The Stack: Stop the Sell Out
LeadNow Campaign : Stop the Sell Out This is truly important. Our democracy is being strong-armed by the Conservatives. They are using their majority to begin altering the progressive nature of our country. Even if we can’t stop everything they are doing in the short term we cannot let this disregard
Continue readingPop The Stack: Stop the Sell Out
LeadNow Campaign : Stop the Sell Out This is truly important. Our democracy is being strong-armed by the Conservatives. They are using their majority to begin altering the progressive nature of our country. Even if we can’t stop everything they are doing in the short term we cannot let this disregard
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 2, 2012
Monday, April 2 saw the second day of Peter Julian’s extended budget speech. And perhaps the point most worth noting is how many Canadians outside of Parliament took the opportunity have their voices heard in the budget debate. The Big Issue So let’s focus this review on some of the
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