Lobbyists gather in the lobby of the House of Commons at Westminster. Below: Politician turned lobbyist Chuck Strahl, B.C. Lobbying Commissioner Elizabeth Denham. Notwithstanding his classification as a Designated Public Office Holder under the federal Lobbying Act, former Reform Party, Canadian Alliance and Conservative office holder Chuck Strahl is breaking
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Alberta Diary: In four letters, Brian Jean, the Crossword King of Parliament Hill, has Q-U-I-T
How Brian Jean may have started to see himself after whiling away too many hours on Parliament Hill over the decade. Amateur psychologizing by blog authors is unlikely to resemble the actual mental state of real Parliamentarians. Below: The real Mr. Jean, who announced yesterday he is quitting his job
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Crappy New Year 2014: Canada’s economy in the shitter Yes,…
Crappy New Year 2014: Canada’s economy in the shitter Yes, it’s the economy, stupid! As of January 2014, the Canadian economy continues to be shite, swirling down the toilet. The Harper Conservatives are flushing our country down the drain. When I say “the economy”, I mean the real, boots-on-the-street, money-in-your-pocket
Continue readingwmtc: january 12-19: let them stay week 2014: stop the deportations!
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the arrival in Canada of Jeremy Hinzman, the first US Iraq War resister to seek asylum here after refusing to participate in an illegal and immoral war. Yet 10 years on, Jeremy and his family, and many other U.S. war resisters, are still
Continue readingAlberta Diary: NDP-Grit coalition to defeat Rob Anders? Unlikely! This is a Tory civil war
Alberta Premier Alison Redford, left, glares at Rob Anders, far right (as it were), Canada’s Worst MP, as challenger Ron Liepert, centre, with an unidentified vole who is not authorized to speak on the record, look on. Actual Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated, but pretty much. Below:
Continue reading350 or bust: The War On Knowledge: Is the Harper Government Canada’s Taliban?
* Silence of the Labs: The Fifth Estate More links: How The Harper Government Committed A Knowledge Massacre
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: The Keystone Cops guarding our PM
I’m not one to defend Prime Minister Harper over anything, but what exactly was his security detail doing (or not doing) to allow this serious breach of security to happen? In an interview airing Monday on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Devlin explained how he got past the prime
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Fear & Loathing in Calgary Signal Hill: rumble on the right breaks out in Calgary
Your blogger in 2011 with Ron Liepert, Alberta’s former Worst Provincial Cabinet Minister. Below: Calgary West Member of Parliament Rob Anders, Canada’s worst MP, with his friend and supporter, Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Coming soon to the new federal riding of Calgary Signal Hill: fear and loathing on the campaign
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Denials all around of Olivia Chow being offered Ontario Lt.Gov position
Good to hear: New Democrat MP and possible Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow says she hasn’t been offered an appointment as lieutenant-governor of Ontario, despite a rumour reported Monday. Chow, the MP for Toronto’s Trinity-Spadina riding and widow of late NDP leader Jack Layton, is a strong contender in the
Continue readingwmtc: government destruction of environmental archives: the harper govt’s war on facts marches on
At year’s end, The Tyee reported that a memo – marked “secret” and first reported on OCanada.com – cast grave doubts on the Harper Government’s claim that environmental archives were destroyed only after they had been preserved digitally. In other words, the memo proves what progressive and concerned Canadians have long
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A Belated Happy New Year 2014 – Political Musings For The Year Ahead
I’d have sent this out to everyone sooner, but as of today, I’m on Day 7 of a nasty bug that has been sweeping around the area at holiday time and unfortunately, through my family and me as well (despite the fact I got a flu shot earlier this year
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Why I voted for Jim Coutts in 1984 and probably would again, a lesson in retail politics
Jim Coutts, son of the Great Plains and, as long-time principal secretary to Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, once said to be the second most powerful person in Canada. (University of Lethbridge photo.) Below: The Lancaster bomber arrives in Nanton, inconveniently huge, but still too small to house a roadside
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Newsana: A News Aggregator To Help Keep People Informed and Engaged
“Our mission at Newsana, our goal, is ultimately to become the world’s arbiter of high-quality news, analysis, ideas and opinions” … The biggest problem with the online news experience right now is there is just too much content.” – Ben Peterson, Newsana co-founder Those of us with a passion for
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Warning to Canadians: Reefer Madness in Colorado and Washington could mean the end of civilization as we know it!
Your intrepid blogger with one of the wholesome and touristic murals of Legal, Alberta – evidence Civilization As We Know It survives in Canada, thank goodness! Note the crowds of tourists. Below: Perfesser Dave; Mural on the Legal Post Office; Mural on the wall of Denver Airport; So, do you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Happy New Year! Get ready for generational change in Canadian politics
Expect the new faces of Canadian politics to be young faces – like those of Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, 34, shown above with some clapped-out old geezer, and Manitoba MP and former NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton, 31, below. “Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The Top 13 from 2013: Alberta Diary borne ever upward on wings of far-right loons
Ron Paul, the crazy uncle of the American right, surrounded by grinning acolytes at the 2013 conference of the Manning Centre for Undermining Democracy in Ottawa. Putting Dr. Paul here worked before, so maybe it’ll work again! Below: For New Year’s Eve, we show Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who says
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Sympathies to George Smitherman & family
Tragic news for former Ontario Deputy Premier and Toronto mayor candidate George Smitherman, and his family: Christopher Peloso, the husband of Ontario’s former deputy premier George Smitherman, has been found dead after being reported missing for the second time this year…Smitherman released a statement saying Toronto police confirmed to him
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Remember the reason for the season: It’s time to put Krampus back into Christmas
Jiggers, look busy, it’s Krampus! And why is this mom giving him the thumbs up, I wonder? Below: Santa Claus, the God of Coca-Cola; Che Guevara; and Jesus Christ. Never mind Jesus Christ! It’s time to put Krampus back into Christmas. Who the hell is Krampus, you wonder? Well, we’ll
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Prostitution is like abortion: you can’t stop it
With the Supreme Court striking down Canada’s prostitution laws, they have forced the issue into the public sphere. Within a year, Parliament has to decide to pass new laws regarding prostitution, or decide not to. Undoubtedly this is going to be a highly politicized topic and much like the Liberals
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: More Grinch remarks from Conservative Cabinet Ministers/Appointees
I said a couple of days ago I thought these guys might clam up leading to the Christmas holidays after the James Moore debacle, but no, they just can’t seem to help showing themselves as the modern-day Ebeenezer Scrooge/Grinch government. I obviously underestimated the foot-in-mouth disease, as its spread. I’m
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