Canada ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Alberta Politics: Mission accomplished in Syria? Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose on that claim!

Apr

15

2018

Mission Accomplished? Donald Trump’s crowing Tweets prove the wisdom of Karl Marx’s dictum: History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. This fact is a significant blessing, nonetheless, at least insofar as Friday night’s tactically and legally dubious missile raid by U.S. military forces on Syria is concerned. How many Iraqis were slaughtered after ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Newly-signed FPT housing framework agreement

Apr

12

2018

I’ve just written a blog post about the newly-signed federal-provincial-territorial housing framework agreement. This agreement builds on (and helps move forward) Canada’s National Housing Strategy, which was released last fall. One of the points made in the blog post is that the federal government’s stated objective of removing approximately half-a-million households from core housing need ...

Dead Wild Roses: When Tolerance Serves the Status Quo – Keeping Females Silent and Complicit in their Oppression

Apr

5

2018

The status quo is a nasty piece of work. It has a multiplicity of tools and avenues of attack and repression available to keep the current equilibrium and quell dissenting voices that threaten the norm. Tolerance, is considered to be a ‘good’ liberal value. Yet, in context of female struggle in society it is used ...

THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: NATIONAL CARERS DAY: A TIME TO THANK YOURSELF AND TELL OTHERS!

Apr

2

2018

April 3rd is National Carers Day in Canada. You won’t receive any cards or cakes for National Carers Day. You won’t be handed a box of chocolates or a new diamond ring either. If you did, you would have made it or bought it and wrapped it yourself. That’s the thing about caregiving, it’s for someone else, ...

Alberta Politics: Reflections on Easter Sunday, 2018: There really is a war against Christianity … it’s being waged by Christians

Apr

2

2018

PHOTOS: Easter Sunday shoppers at West Edmonton Mall. Is nothing sacred? Well, actually, something is: The Almighty Market, god of Canada’s state religion. Below: A brass idol to the Market God in New York City’s Wall Street district. Below that, two unchristian politicians beloved by North American Christian conservatives: Doug Ford Jr. and Donald J. ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Inequality-redistribution in Canada update

Mar

18

2018

Two years ago I posted my first guest blog focused on income inequality, specifically how changes in Canada’s redistribution over the last three decades have increased after-tax income inequality, and how these changes compared to OECD trends. The figures and analysis in this post update the earlier blog, based on the most recent OECD data ...

The Disaffected Lib: I’ve Got an Idea to Rescue Justin From His Slump

Mar

8

2018

Unfair or not, Justin Trudeau has taken a hit in the public’s mind over his pretty clumsy trip to India. With JT et famille sporting an elaborate wardrobe of Bollywood’s best fashions, the Indian press took the piss out of him pretty relentlessly. The local scribblers piled on. Now Trudeau’s approval numbers have dropped to ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten proposals from the 2018 Alternative Federal Budget

Feb

24

2018

I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s AFB will also bring in ...

The Common Sense Canadian: On Energy & First Nations, politicians want to have their cake and eat it too

Feb

21

2018

Jonathan Ramos cartoon Canada can fight climate change and build more climate-ravaging pipelines. First Nations’ rights should be respected – just not at the expense of these pipelines, dams and other major projects they oppose. Got it? It’s hard to fathom, but these are the positions of our provincial and federal leaders. They want to have their ...

Michal Rozworski: The problems with progressive free trade and a divided labour movement

Feb

20

2018

…And we’re back to regularly-scheduled programming. Apologies for the podcasting hiatus to (now really faithful) listeners; I hope to be back to regular episodes once again. I’m restarting the show this week with two great guests. First up, I speak with Angella MacEwen about the on-going NAFTA re-negotiations and whether Trudeau’s much-vaunted “progressive free trade” ...

The Cracked Crystal Ball II: On Media Piracy and "FairPlay Canada"

Feb

18

2018

This is a new development to me, but then I haven’t been following the issue of piracy all that closely for some time. The upshot is that a group of commercial interests are lobbying the CRTC to set up an anti-piracy panel. The submissions started flowing in after the coalition of more than 30 members ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Panel discussion at federal NDP policy convention

Feb

18

2018

Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian ...

Dead Wild Roses: An Open Letter to the BC NDP – The Feminist Current

Feb

12

2018

Hey folks, go sign the letter at the Feminist Current to the BC NDP calling for a response to questionable actions of its VP. This letter was sent to all addressees, via email, on February 2nd. A response was requested within seven days. To date, we have not received a response. ATTN: The New ...

The Common Sense Canadian: Horgan’s right on Kinder Morgan, even if he got Site C wrong

Feb

9

2018

On Kinder Morgan, John Horgan is standing up for British Columbians — as he should (BCNDP/Flickr) Dear Premier Horgan, I’m still mad at you for carrying on with Site C Dam, based on the utterly bogus reasons you offered the public. But when it comes to Kinder Morgan, I’ve got your back, because you clearly ...

Things Are Good: Canada Banning the Capture of Dolphins & Whales

Feb

8

2018

Increased coverage in media about the inhumane treatments of marine animals by entertainment facilities are impacting Canadian laws. Thanks to the efforts of documentarians, like in Blackfish, and concerned citizens Canada is making it illegal to capture dolphins and whales. Criminal code penalties are being considered by the senate to really drive home that Canada ...

Dead Wild Roses: Truth is Not Hate – How Accusations of Transphobia Silence Female Voices

Feb

3

2018

If there is anything that will enrage men more is women speaking out against their view of the world. The first class citizens get mighty mad when the second class start challenging their assertions and interpretations of the world. This post delves into the war of words that is currently raging between transactivists and radical ...

Dead Wild Roses: The Trans Madness in Canada and the Feminist Opposition – Meghan Murphy

Feb

1

2018

Oh, just shaking my head at this one. Watch the trans identified male dig a nice hole for himself as he debates with Meghan Murphy and other gender critical feminists. I have laws enshrined in society now that protects my male delusions of gender, fear me female! Of course, cue the defence against the world ...

Dead Wild Roses: What is a Woman?

Jan

20

2018

Pretty much every conversation I’ve had with people who, when it comes to basic biological facts, decide it necessary to jump through tortured hoops to evade this simple question. Is there a more clear example of men trying to impose their version of reality on the world? We cannot change sex (facts, don’t care about ...

Things Are Good: Canada to Monitor Behaviour of Corporations Aboard

Jan

18

2018

Canada announced yesterday that, like other nations, the country will be monitoring how Canadian corporations behave beyond its borders. Over the years there have been too many accounts of corporations based in Canada getting into conflicts and abusing communities of people internationally. Obviously this sort of behaviour is bad for people and tarnishes any positive ...

Dead Wild Roses: The Notion of “Gender Identity” is Antithetical to Feminist Analysis – Megan Murphy

Jan

17

2018

Meghan Murphy is one of Canada’s leading Feminists. This quote is from her article – “Thanks to trans activism, 2017 saw a return to old-school, sexist dismissals of women and women’s rights.” Definitely worth your time to go and peruse the entire article. What I would like to focus on is how well this ...

Dead Wild Roses: The Upcoming Vancouver (wo)Men’s March – The Failure of Inclusive Third Wave Feminism

Jan

16

2018

How can one tell when men have well and truly infiltrated 3rd wave feminism? When you invite a dude to speak at your Woman’s March who is advocate for the sex industry while concomitantly blocking feminists who are fighting for female liberation. I can fucking smell the inclusivity a mile away, can’t you? Funny how ...

Alberta Politics: Whose side should Canada take if two NATO states start shooting at each other? Don’t laugh … it could happen

Jan

16

2018

PHOTOS: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. If he looks ticked off, it’s probably because he is. (Photo: Kremlin.ru via Wikimedia Commons.) Hey! Don’t blame me if the only good royalty-free pictures of President Erdoğan come from Russia! Below: U.S. President and Commander in Chief Donald J. Trump (Photo: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons), Canadian Prime Minister ...

Dead Wild Roses: Reforming Politics One Reefer at a Time – Priorities of the Canadian Government

Jan

9

2018

In Canada it is easy to see where elite consensus lies. Marijuana legislation is barrelling ahead (potheads rejoice!) and electoral reform is dead in the water and slowly sinking out of the public’s consciousness. This is how electoral reform died in Canada: “In response, Trudeau pointed to a difference of opinions among the major political ...

Alberta Politics: Thanks to Donald Trump, the post-war American imperium that’s run like a Swiss watch is coming unsprung!

Jan

7

2018

PHOTOS: U.S. President Donald Trump’s inaugural parade makes its way through Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017, just before the stuff hit the fan and everything went to hell in a handbasket. (Photo: United States Navy.) Below: President Trump, former president Barack Obama, the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and former Australian PM and ...

The Political Road Map: New Year, New Wage, New Me

Jan

6

2018

Happy New Year to everyone! You may be wondering where I have been for the past five months, since The Political Road Map has become quite lonely. I decided that I would try out working in print media and took a position with a local newspaper. The work is hard, the clientele dwindling, but it ...