Tag: Canadian Politics, Economy and Foreign Policy

In my previous post, I outlined the disconnect between profitability and investment in Canada’s private sector. While businesses are doing well and profits have rebounded quickly after the global financial crisis of 2007, investment has continued its slow and steady 20-year decline. This decline is especially visible when investment is

Confronting austerity and the Conservative agenda Struggles for climate justice are working to stop corporate oil pipelines. Indigenous movements are fighting to decouple economic growth from the exploitation of traditional lands. Migrant justice advocates are struggling to halt the criminalization of immigrants and refugees. Students and workers are building struggles

With all the reporting on the Senate scandal you might think there’s not much more to be discovered. But reading the actual documents the RCMP turned up in its Mike Duffy investigation is definitely worth the effort. The documents pull back the curtain on Harperland, a landscape so profoundly unethical

Remember Brian Mulroney, the PM so many people loved to hate? We need to remember him so we can learn a lesson from that period in our political history: there is a real danger in demonizing prime ministers to the exclusion of other longer term political objectives. Mulroney’s unctuous manner,

Hassan Diab is a mild-mannered Ottawa university professor with a passion for history and culinary skills that surely the French would appreciate. In fact, the French government has invested much energy to have Diab brought to Paris, but not for his vegetarian kebbah. Rather, Dr. Diab is sought for questioning

Is the NDP the solution or part of the problem for those us who promote a Canadian foreign policy that favours ordinary people around the world? While pushing arms control measures and oversight of Canadian mining companies, this ‘Left’ party generally backs the military and a Western pro-capitalist outlook to

John Cutfeet travelled more than 4,000 kilometres — from one end of North America to the other — to attend the “Yes to life, no to mining!” event in the southern Mexican mountains from January 17 to 20, 2013. John is a spokesperson for the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (or simply “KI”)

We are so accustomed to the connection between political parties and democracy that to question the relationship between the two might seem absurd. But for those who recognize the multiple crises faced by humanity — the destruction of our environment, climate change, the ravages of unfettered finance capital, the undeniable

We are so accustomed to the connection between political parties and democracy that to question the relationship between the two might seem absurd. But for those who recognize the multiple crises faced by humanity — the destruction of our environment, climate change, the ravages of unfettered finance capital, the undeniable

With the next federal election a little more than two years away, it is time we started asking the Liberals and New Democrats what kind of government they will deliver if either one can bounce the Conservatives from power. It would be unwise to underestimate the Conservatives’ devious political smarts,

With the next federal election a little more than two years away, it is time we started asking the Liberals and New Democrats what kind of government they will deliver if either one can bounce the Conservatives from power. It would be unwise to underestimate the Conservatives’ devious political smarts,

Soon after the 2011 election, with his majority government at last in hand, Prime Minister Harper decided that nothing, but nothing, was more important to Canada’s entire future than a pipeline to carry oil from Alberta to the Pacific. This came as a shock to many Canadians, first because it

Soon after the 2011 election, with his majority government at last in hand, Prime Minister Harper decided that nothing, but nothing, was more important to Canada’s entire future than a pipeline to carry oil from Alberta to the Pacific. This came as a shock to many Canadians, first because it

By now many of you have probably heard of the rather incredible story of Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, having a relaxed and rather intimate conversation — and even allegedly appearing to be smoking crack cocaine – with a couple of drug dealers. In the cell phone video, the

The NDP’s stunning loss in B.C. is being deconstructed, dissected, analyzed and mourned over not only here but across the country. Every pundit and political junkie, including me, thought the NDP would win, even after their lead suddenly dropped. But unfortunately, most of the analysis won’t be very helpful for

The willingness of much of the Canadian media to go along with the Conservative narrative about Stephen Harper’s “moderation” has allowed the prime minister to wage a discreet class war against working people without attracting too much attention. Canadians don’t like Harper’s anti-worker agenda — when they notice it. That’s

The North has long been seen as a defining ideal of Canada. We are a “northern” country on the world stage and like to see ourselves in the long European tradition of “hardy” northerners. Yet 90 percent of the Canadian population lives in its southern belt, within a few hundred

Fast-paced changes over the previous four elections have transformed Canada’s federal political landscape. The Liberal Party’s vote has been halved and the Bloc Québécois suffered nearly as badly. The NDP made spectacular, if still precarious, gains under Jack Layton, with a historically unprecedented showing in Québec. Only the Conservatives’ advance

The 1950s was a time of momentous change in the world. Europe was rebuilding after having barely escaped the horrors of fascism. Africa and Asia were throwing off the yoke of colonialism. In the Americas, movements for social justice and democracy were springing up. The United Nations, once a dream,