After months of continued pressure, Minister of International Development, Bev Oda’s ridiculously obscene, tax payer funded lifestyle has come to an end: she has resigned. I won’t say more here than I said previously, but it is worth marking the occasion by noting that continued public outrage does indeed result in
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Progressive Proselytizing: The messy divorce of horse racing and slots in Ontario
I play online poker regularly. My wife loves to watch horse racing on TV. Given this, one might think I would be sympathetic to the long running slots-at-racetrack program which sees government run slots available at racetracks around Ontario in a revenue sharing agreement where the racetracks get 20%, or $345 million a
Continue readingbastard.logic: Has Centralization of Power to the PMO Put Canadian Democracy on Life Support?
Don Lenihan has a must-read column up today, on how centralization of power to the Prime Minister’s office over the past several decades has atrophied the connection Canadians — especially youth — had with our government, and what he believes this could mean for Canada’s system of democracy: In the early 1970s,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Risky theories… Dangerous economic experiments…. Can we afford Harper’s Conservatives?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper… (Creepy Voice): “Dangerous experiments and risky economic theories. Can we afford these Conservatives much longer?” Below: Leo de Bever and a youthful Paul Krugman. The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and its Alberta branch plant known as the Wildrose Party continue to push risky
Continue readingConservative war on ideas and the great leap backwards
#cpc #bcpoli #pmsharper #ndp #cdnpoli For those who think that American style ultra-stupid conservative politics would never come to Canada, brace yourself – its on its way. And I’m not just talking about Sun News network, dubbed as ‘Fox North’ by its critics – even if they do come close
Continue reading350 or bust: Extreme Weather Blasts U.S.: “The Sun Felt Like Fire On Our Skin”
In North America, we are starting to experience the global climate disruption that results from dumping more heat-trapping carbon dioxide molecules into the earth’s atmosphere; and it ain’t fun. The folks in the Eastern U.S. are reeling from the effects of a”derecho” storm, that has left millions without power from
Continue readingwmtc: how are you celebrating national stop harper day?
Today is National Stop Harper Day. People all over the country are using this day, officially known as Canada Day, to gather and organize and express their anger – and their fear – at the anti-democratic and inhumane policies of the Harper Government. In keeping with the spirit of Occupy
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The National Post on union kids’ camps: Threat or menace?
Kids from Friedrich Engels Cabin at Camp Solidarity think about ways to seize control of the means of production at the National Post and establish the Information Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Well, they’ll never get the chance, because they never worked for Ted Byfield! The National Post says union kids
Continue readingwmtc: jason kenney calls refugees "illegal immigrants", scolds us for caring about them
My disgust at Jason Kenney reached new heights today, and that is really saying something. It’s not enough to destroy the Federal Interim Health Program, leaving thousands of vulnerable people without health insurance in a country that claims to have universal health care. When Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews wrote a
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Mum’s the word now over ‘authorizing water pollution’.
You might remember a few days ago that I was highlighting a letter from Keith Ashfield, our Fisheries Minister, proudly proclaiming that the federal budget implementation bill ‘will offer new tools to “authorize” water pollution, while allowing the government to outsource services to protect the country’s waterways’, because the current
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: M-312 Doublespeak Decoder: the “toe in the birth canal” argument.
The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform has been sending its New Abortion Caravan from the B.C. coast to Ottawa — arriving in Toronto on Wednesday, where protesters attempted to deface the graphic posters on the truck using a coathanger. While the second hour of debate for Stephen Woodworth’s attempt to
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadian Government To Refugees: You’re On Your Own
A week ago I was attending my last day of class at the Canadian School of Peacebuilding. The 15 students in my “Speaking Up, and Being Heard” class on citizen advocacy spent much of that Friday morning presenting citizen advocacy campaigns that synthesized what we had learned. All of the
Continue readingcenterandleft: Conservative Transparancy Now Scientifically Proven to be a Joke
51st place isn’t necessarily always a bad thing. The 51st wealthiest person in the world, or the 51st smartest are blessed to be so lucky. It’s a placement they can be proud of. When your country is ranked 51st on any list, it is unlikely to be a source of
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans rights bill supporters being targeted. Also, a flag for you.
On Wednesday June 6th, Parliament voted to send Private Member’s Bill C-279: An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) to committee for review as part of its trek toward passage. I had expressed concerns at that time about some possible
Continue readingIn defence of 14-year-old girls
So it was that MP Charlie Angus, the NDP’s self-appointed guardian of civility, has declared that Twitter has “turned us all into 14-year-olds in a cafeteria” where “[e]verybody gets to be a Grade 9 girl.” Yesterday’s context, of course, was Patrick Brazeau’s calling reporter Jen Ditchburn a “bitch” because she
Continue readingwmtc: 59 cents campaign: stand up for health care for refugees
On Facebook: We at the 59 Cents Campaign find the Canadian Government’s decision to cut portions of refugee healthcare by means of the Ministerial Order of Hon. Jason Kenney, published April 25, 2012 to be unacceptable. We believe that if Canadians stop to consider the effect which these changes will
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Can one old man with a typewriter really have Fox News North on the ropes?
The Source, With David Climenhaga: Here I am on the set of my new Fox News North TV show with two polite young people from the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties to whom I’m about to be rude. Below: Sun News Network commentator Ezra Levant; Senator Patrick Brazeau. Sun News
Continue readingwmtc: relax, canadians. voter suppression is "as old as the hills". says a cpc lawyer.
In a recent post, I summarized the Conservatives’ arguments in Federal Court, as they attempted to have the case against their illegal election practices dismissed before any evidence had been heard. I was just paraphrasing, of course. But now I have a real quote, thanks to an email sent today
Continue readingwmtc: national portrait gallery? no, it’s the national harper gallery!
Quick, get a dictionary and look up megalomaniac. See if it shows Stephen Harper’s picture. Then again, maybe Harper had none to spare. I missed it when Kady O’Malley and Elizabeth May broke this story, so I’m glad I saw this in the Ottawa Citizen. Emphasis mine. Harper gallery leaves
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tory Brent Rathgeber knocks cabinet perks? Maverick move or just maverick shtick?
Your favourite blogger, with Brent Rathgeber, the original blogging Tory. What’s up with Brent Rathgeber? Specifically, is he a maverick, or is he just doing the maverick shtick? Mr. Rathgeber, as is well known to readers of this blog, is the Member of Parliament for Edmonton-St. Albert, and he is
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