Last year this Conservative government collected $424,418,000 in taxes to pay for carbon emissions. That same year Canadians used 38,208,346,000 litres of gasoline. Doing the quick math, Canadians paid 1.1¢ or $0.011 for every litre of gas they consumed in 2011. Now Canadians weren’t taxed at the pump, though it
Continue readingTag: Canada
Politics, Re-Spun: So Did YOU Get a 3% Raise Last Year?
So, did you get a 3% raise last year? The average Canadian did. See the first chart below. If not, you’re behind the average Canadian. And even with a small offset of increased hours worked going up by only 1% for the 12 months ending last June, at worst, the
Continue readingWhat ails Canada?
I pilfered the heading of this post from a recent editorial in the Guardian: “Maple leaf ragged: what ails Canada?” The article suggests that our country’s “hardline stances” on a number of issues has triggered “an undercurrent of anxiety” in our public discourse. A long list of examples is provided:
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: They’re Like Junkies, They Really Are
We know that existing, known fossil fuel reserves already on the books of global energy companies are five times greater than the maximum amount of fossil fuel we can consume and hope to remain within the 2C safety mark for global warming. Put another way, four fifths of the known
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Conservative Carbon Tax
Emitting carbon has a cost to Canadians, whether we call it a carbon tax or not. Considering this Conservative government is spending money on increasing health care costs from respiratory damage due to pollution, that it is spending money on additional infrastructure because of climate change, and that it is
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Conservatives and Their Media
Earlier today a friend and I were discussing how the Conservatives get away with telling lies all the time. My answer was this: The Conservatives have confidence in the mainstream media and their ability to help pull the wool over the eyes of so many Canadians. The fact that we
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Bad News: Two Polls Give Harper Conservatives Edge Over News Democrats
As the Canadian Parliament returns for what promises to be another acrimonious session, two opinion polls show that the Harper Conservatives hold a slight lead over Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll pegs Conservative support at 34 per cent, the New Democrats at 27, the Liberals at 24
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Naomi Klein – Unacceptable risks in pipeline expansion to Vancouver
RELATED: Naomi Klein Debunks “Ethical Oil” Fiction AUDIO: On “A Sense of Justice”, disecting Enbridge and the Canadian tar sands On International Women’s Day, A Focus on Canada’s Gender Deficit
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Not So Leblanc Slate
Leadership races are often an opportunity for a political party to start over with a blank slate, Liberals might not get that chance if a slightly hypocritical Dominic Leblanc gets his way. Liberal MP Dominic Leblanc is discouraging anyone from running for leadership who only seeks to raise their profile
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: TrapWire, PRIME, Now Alberta Police Fingered
I was shocked, and disapointed that the CBC article today about police reports including Charter violating intel, didn’t have mention of BC’s PRIME system.
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Stephen Harper’s farcical democracy award
News that Stephen Harper has been granted an award as World Statesman of the Year for his alleged work as a “champion of democracy, freedom and human rights” is beyond farcical. Writing in the Toronto Star, Bob Hepburn was understated when he called the award a “sad joke.” The organization
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Kate Middleton Exposes Canada’s Need For The Monarchy
Once a monarchy is to be defended like a Lindsay Lohan, the country that ultimately depends on it for stability will end up in far worse places than rehab. Besides more than enough skin, pictures of a half naked Kate Middleton have revealed why Canada still needs the monarchy. Not
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Canada Politics News Roundup For Sunday, September 17, 2012
Here’s a selection of our key news headlines on the eve of the Canadian Parliament’s return for the fall session. It’s going to be another acrimonious session. But the real bad news is that a new Harris-Decima poll gives Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives a 7-point lead over Thomas Mulcair’s
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Canadians oppose drug patent extension in Canada-EU trade deal: POLL
A new poll by Ipsos Reid, released today by the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Health Coalition, shows that what would otherwise be high support for a Canada-European Union free trade deal collapses on the issue of pharmaceutical drug costs, with 69 per cent of Canadians opposing a deal that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Imperial Premiership
You don’t have to convince many British Columbians that Ottawa no longer functions as a democracy. Consent, in the twisted mind of Stephen Harper, is something that is extracted at the ballot box and ceases to have any relevance during the actual term of government. Because Harper deems our consent
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: ‘Winners’ And Losers In Quebec Asbestos Mess
Photo: Vsmith/Wikipedia Support for Canadian chrysotile asbestos is dead. First point, this: Canada should have gotten out of the asbestos game a long time ago.All asbestos causes cancer. We won’t use it. And, we’ve been out of step with our European friends.But now, the inconvenient rub.With apparently no clear plan about
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Rights And Religion Make Us All Fundamentalists
“How dare Islamic fundamentalists kill to protect their religion from such a small and meaningless movie. And though I oppose the hate-filled and misguided film, I would die fighting to protect the studio’s right to release it.” – The irony of fundamentalism. The recent violence in the Middle East over
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Fair Weather Friends: Western Reaction(s) to the Middle East Protests
The ongoing protests in the parts of the Middle East and North Africa, ostensibly in the wake of a Z-list anti-Islam film produced in the US, have elicited the same tired, hackneyed response on the part significant portions of Western audiences and commentators. “Savages,” the refrain has been, “uncivilized barbarians!”
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Right-wing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford should step down: POLL
Fifty-five per cent Torontonians want their right-wing Mayor Rob Ford to leave office if he is found guilty in the ongoing conflict of interest case, according to the results of a recent poll by Forum Research. Can you blame them? Last week, Ford appeared in court in a conflict of interest case
Continue readingTrashy's World: Lougheed
Was always a Canadian first. I didn’t always agree with him, but there was no denying that. (4) Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
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