I wonder what former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper will make of the success of the scary far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in Sunday’s elections
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Politics and its Discontents: On Short Attention Spans And Political Expediency
The climate catastrophe bearing down on us serves to underscore the fallibility of our species and the shortcomings of our politics, as these Star letter-writers
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Politics And Climate Change
Sad to say, climate change and politics in the worst possible sense are inextricably linked. Even as we face the defining crisis of human existence,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Colourful former Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin finds another windmill to tilt at, for Freedom Conservative Party
Last observed pursuing a claim against Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer alleging abuse of process, colourful former MLA Joe Anglin has found a new way to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Carbon taxes are the Obamacare of Canada: invented, then cynically abandoned, by the right
“Putting a price on carbon” was always going to be unpopular with people who use fossil fuels out of necessity and for fun – viz.,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Bromantics on stage: Jason Kenney and Doug Ford mount the rostrum in Calgary to attack Justin Trudeau and carbon tax
Give Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party their due: They got a large and enthusiastic crowd out last night to their rally in Calgary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There’s a meeting in Calgary tonight, and the people there are going to be very, very angry
Two well-heeled older men who never wanted for anything during their upbringings and now live comfortable, privileged lives will be getting together in Calgary this
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Free advice to Senator Paula Simons: When in doubt, don’t file an expense claim; avoid sparring with PM
I imagine most journos working nowadays for the moribund and increasingly far-right Postmedia newspaper chain daydream about making a miraculous escape from their travails –
Continue readingcentre of the universe: A Canadian (Thanksgiving) Parable
Once there was a Queen. She reigned over many lands, in the manner of constitutional monarchies with their own parliamentary systems based largely, if not
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Conservatives would have fought harder to protect Canadian dairy farmers? Don’t believe it!
A lot of Canada’s Conservatives were wearing long faces yesterday about the impact of the freshly inked United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on this country’s dairy industry.
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Canada signs on to new NAFTA.. er… USMCA trade deal
It’s not a perfect deal, and there are some things in it I’m not totally happy about (ie the pharmaceutical companies getting 10 year patent
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rick Strankman out as UCP candidate, latest Horner Dynasty scion in, deep in Alberta’s dinosaur country
Even if you’re no fan of Rick Strankman, United Conservative Party MLA for Alberta’s dinosaur country, you have to feel a little sympathy for the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP leader discovers there’s no affliction more persistent than an outbreak political theatrics in India
Jason Kenney’s mid-September sojourn to India with a couple of his United Conservative Party sidekicks was pure political theatre, likely aimed as much at the
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Much Ado
There’s little doubt that cannabis and cannabinoids (not an alien race of green-skinned interstellar travellers, but the compounds that comprise the active ingredients in cannabis,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The furious denunciations of Tzeporah Berman in Alberta are unprecedented, hypocritical and dangerous
Orthodoxy means not thinking – not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness. — George Orwell, 1984 + + + The stream of vituperation directed at B.C.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Manipulation 101
It is to state the obvious that politicians and their party apparatchiks are practiced manipulators. They target their demographic, employ experts to craft messages to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As Edmonton and Ottawa awake to Jason Kenney’s (un)diplomatic funny business, stuff starts hitting the fan
Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney and two of his MLAs are running around India again today acting as if they are representatives of the governments
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Yesterday’s floor crossing won’t make much difference, but at least the Tories are getting their drama lessons
One way or another, as of yesterday 143 politicians have crossed the floor of the House of Commons or a Canadian legislature since Confederation. If
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Turning Doug Ford’s Attack on Toronto into a Movement for Democratic Renewal
Photo by CTV Toronto An open letter about Bill 5 Better Local Government Act We, the undersigned group of scholars and teachers, deplore the autocratic
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s Passage to India is nothing more than a nice fall holiday with two friends
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney and UCP MLAs Prasad Panda and Devin Dreeshen took off for India yesterday. The main problem with the UCP
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