Rob Anders’ recent trouble with the law reminds us of the former Reform Party and Conservative MP’s past thoughts about the laws of nature. Twenty-one years ago, Mr. Anders made up half of the party’s much-remarked-upon Parliamentary chastity caucus, of which Jason Kenney was the other half, or the only
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Canadian Dimension: Cooperative foreign policy for the multipolar world
The Reconciliation Monument in Ottawa, commemorating Canada’s role in international peacekeeping operations around the world. Photo by Michel Rathwell/Wikimedia Commons. Below, Canadian Dimension has reprinted the foreign policy platform of Dimitri Lascaris, an author, lawyer and eco-socialist running to become the next leader of the Green Party of Canada. Online
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The little-known Ontario tribunal standing in the way of defunding the police
A recent Ipsos poll showed 51 percent of Canadians support defunding the police, and yet there is no means by which this can be translated into policy in Ontario. Photo by Bobb Barratt/OPP/Flickr. The police murder of George Floyd in May of this year sparked what is likely the largest
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Riding high in the polls, B.C.’s New Democrat premier calls a snap election — the right, predictably, whinges
VICTORIA — Strangely, all those conservatives who are anxious to get us back to school and business as soon as possible didn’t seem to be very happy yesterday when B.C. Premier John Horgan called a snap election for Oct. 24. Supporters of B.C. political parties other than Mr. Horgan’s New
Continue reading52 Ideas: I wish Rex Murphy would understand that change is coming…
In 2018, the Toronto Paramedic Service (TPS) introduced 11 hybrid-electric ambulances into their fleet. Like many other North American cities, Toronto has been working on reducing its carbon footprint. The adoption of hybrid-electric ambulances was just one step in changing its consolidated vehicle fleet. In the City of Toronto Consolidated
Continue readingAlberta Politics: We have met the enemy and he is us — Alberta in the midst of a climate damn emergency
VICTORIA — The world is waking up to the fact the climate emergency is, well, an emergency. This certainly isn’t good news for Alberta, although, perversely, it may be good news in the short term of the United Conservative Party of Premier Jason Kenney and governments like his in other
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta takes over as Canada’s political Crazytown; privatized health care suffers a setback
VICTORIA — When I was growing up here in Lotusland, British Columbia had the reputation of being the Crazytown of Canadian politics. The late Allan Fotheringham, the Vancouver Sun columnist we all read religiously, famously summed up Canadian politics like this: “In the Maritimes, politics is a disease; in Quebec
Continue readingScripturient: Will communism as a dominant political ideology ever make a comeback
I took the title from a discussion on Quora about whether Communism is dead or will re-emerge, and if so under what conditions. I don’t believe that the author of the post (Susanna Viljanen, from Aalto University in Finland) who opens that discussion wanted to see Communism arise again, but
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Let John A. Macdonald fall
The statue of John A. Macdonald (not pictured) was toppled during an anti-racism demonstration in Montreal on August 29. Photo by Ray Ordinario/Flickr. On August 29, protesters toppled John A. Macdonald’s statue in Montréal’s Place du Canada, leaving our first prime minister’s headless, graffiti-stained effigy to lie in the square,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Sir John A. comes tumbling down—Alberta’s Jason Kenney wants to raise him back up again
The statue of John A. Macdonald (not pictured) was toppled during an anti-racism demonstration in Montreal on August 29. Photo by Colin Knowles/Flickr. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is outraged. “A mob has torn down and defaced the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Montreal,” he Twitter-raged on August 29.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Dimitri Lascaris is the best choice to the take the Green Party forward
Dimitri Lascaris is one of eight people seeking to succeed Elizabeth May as leader of the Green Party of Canada. Photo courtesy of the Team Dimitri campaign. Few party leadership contests in recent years have been as critical for the left in Canada as the current race for the leadership
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Order saying Alberta schools won’t have to enforce social distancing lands like a sucker punch
Whoever it was in the Alberta Government that decided it would be a good idea to risk springing the news on the public that COVID-19 social distancing rules won’t apply to classrooms just hours before schools reopen was seriously mistaken. The United Conservative Party government’s “near-normal” back-to-school scheme was already
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Death toll from fall of Montreal statue still stands at zero, but apoplectic Wexiters may be at risk
The death toll from the fall of John A. Macdonald’s statue in Montreal Saturday still stands at zero, the gods be praised. One would have thought it was much higher, however, given all the outraged virtue signalling from Conservative politicians and their “issues managers” here on the western edge of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Kaycee Madu, no stellar cabinet performer, is promoted to where he can do less harm; other stars fall
Kaycee Madu, possibly Alberta’s least successful cabinet member in the estimation of his portfolio’s key stakeholders, as Alberta justice minister? Who saw that coming? Former Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Minister Tanya Fir (Photo: Facebook). Of the three major political events affecting Alberta that took place while your blogger was
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Can the federal Green Party reshape Canadian left politics?
The Green Party has always been a mix of conflicting politics and their statement on their own political place on the left-right continuum often reinforces this understanding. Photo courtesy of the Green Party of Canada. There has always been a gap between how the Green Party of Canada is framed
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Shadowboxing with Russian bots
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo courtesy of the Kremlin/Wikimedia Commons. In the name of democracy Hide your kids, hide your wife, the Russians are coming, but this time for Canada’s pipelines, and they’re taking Alberta with them! At least, this is a scenario devised by Defence Research and Development Canada
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: An Assessment of Erin O’Toole’s selection as Conservative Leader
In a leadership convention that will be known as much for it counting machines shredding ballot votes and the long delay in announcing results as it will for the picking of a new leader, the Conservative Party’s members finally picked someone to replace the inept Andrew Scheer. (Scheer didn’t go
Continue readingScripturient: Where is Wat Tyler Now That We Need Him?
I was disappointed that the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began with such vigor and hope in 2011, soon petered out into a sputtering, unfocused political miasma barely a year later. I was even more deeply disappointed that the antifa (anti-fascist) protests, which also seemed to have such promise earlier
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If Press Gallery membership for the Rebel is so important, why are Postmedia reporters still in the gallery in Ottawa?
What are we to make of the peculiar fact that Postmedia reporters still occupy their comfortable chairs in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa? A quick scroll through the national Press Gallery’s comparatively informative website reveals at least 10 journalists employed by Postmedia Network Canada Corp. are members of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The economics of small nuclear reactors, touted by Jason Kenney as a ‘game changer,’ just don’t add up
When Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says small nuclear reactors “could be a game changer in providing safe, zero-emitting, baseload power in many areas of the province,” as he did Sunday in a tweet, he’s pulling your leg. For a variety of economic and technical reasons, the scenario Mr. Kenney described
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