The UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, wants to modernize the monarchy. In our modern day and age, you see, the practice of preferentially selecting male over female heirs is the wrong symbol and really ought to be changed so first born daughters can…
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Scott's DiaTribes: A break from blogging – now a meeting with bloggers
I’ve been on vacation for a week – hence the inactivity here, if you’re wondering why nothing new in a week. I’m still on vacation, but I’ll be meeting up with some of our Progressive Blogger membership (and some invited g…
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Learn about gay and trans kids? No. Have them protest abortion? Okay.
A group of parents in B.C. are adamantly opposed to the Burnaby school district enacting an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policy. Catholic school districts in Ontario want to ban rainbows and Gay-Straight Alliances. Charles Adler is worried that a calendar that is a teachers’ reference (and notes the Transgender Day of Remembrance) might cause kids to become 
Progressive Proselytizing: The Influence of Green Parties
Green parties so often exist on the fringes of the political spectrum, often without direct political power, and so it is important to periodically remind ourselves of why they are indeed important and have a role to play. The specific mechanism of thi…
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Voter Apathy: When Complacency is Collaboration
(click pic to enlarge)Well I must admit that on a gloriously warm Indian Summer long weekend, it was easy to forget that I’m living in Stephen Harper’s monstrous Canada.Easy to imagine that I was living in some paradise, where …
Continue readingThe Wandering Joe: Oh yeah, torture…
I’m not sure why this wasn’t more of a story during the election, but the Afghan Detainee issue has once again made the papers. Afghanistan’s internal security service and police use torture and other abusive methods to extract confessions from suspected insurgents held in a number of detention centres around
Continue readingThe Wandering Joe: Oh yeah, torture…
I’m not sure why this wasn’t more of a story during the election, but the Afghan Detainee issue has once again made the papers. Afghanistan’s internal security service and police use torture and other abusive methods to extract confessions from suspected insurgents held in a number of detention centres around
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Ontario election aftermath & is it time for mandatory voting?
It was a fascinating result last night in Ontario (I say that as someone interested in political science, not as a Liberal partisan). It’s not often in a First-Past-The-Post electoral system that you see a party fall exactly 1 seat short of a majority, but that’s what happened in the case of Dalton McGuinty and The Ontario Liberal Party. Late polls indicating a majority never materialized, or the PC party again had more dedicated partisans coming out to vote. That said, the Liberals were way behind in polls 2-3 months ago, so a win, even if it fell short of a majority, has to be a satisfying outcome for […]
Continue readingMontreal Simon: My First Thoughts on the Ontario Election
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about the Ontario election.Maybe. Zzzzzzzzzzz.But tonight all I have the energy to say is that the bigot Tim Hudak is now officially a LOSER. The scummy little bottom feeder.My riding, Trinity Spadina, helped sc…
Continue readingWall Street Occupation
Back in 2008 when I wrote this post I had this prediction to make: This is very much where we are today. Everyone from the EU to GWB Jr., has been doing neoliberal damage control. The problem is that it … Continue reading →
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Liberal 3-Peat in Ontario!
Seriously? That is a somewhat amazing result given the three-way nature of the race and how close the polls were in the run-up to election day.
Continue readingDemocraticSPACE Projects Liberal Majority in Ontario
Here are DemocraticSPACE’s average projections for the Ontario election. Keep in mind that there is actually a range of outcomes (the #s below represent the average). Riding-by-riding projections are here: http://t.co/mx0ECWc9. Province-Wide Liberal – 60 seats (40.0%) PC – 31 seats (34.2%) NDP – 16 seats (21.0%) Green – 0 seats (3.5%) Northern Ontario Liberal […]
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Please vote today in Ontario
All the polls are done (we think – last minute ones seem to keep trickling out). So are all the debates. It’s voting day in Ontario.
Last election the turnout was 52%. Very pathetic. I encourage you, no matter who you support, to exercise y…
How to read economic language for bias: “wage inflation” in Newfoundland and Labrador
Sometimes we read things and we get that gut feeling that we are being subtly manipulated. Economics is of course full of this subtle manipulation. Words like “choice”, and “efficiency” and even phrases like “free trad…
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Something brewing beneath transphobic ads in Ontario
On September 28th, Charles McVety’s Institute for Canadian Values pushed a proposed curriculum for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) into the forefront of the Ontario election, with a full-page ad published in the National Post. The ad read, “Please! Don’t Confuse Me. I’m a girl. Don’t teach me to question if I’m a boy, 
Scott's DiaTribes: Polls aplenty in Ontario
To recap in the last day, Ekos, Nanos and Ipsos all indicate the Liberals are close to or will get a majority (Ipsos even went so far as to say in an interview that it’s over – the Liberals will win), while Abacus is showing a tighter Liberal lead that could go either way, and now Angus Reid has released a poll this AM saying they have a slight PC lead.
I’m not sure if that’s it for polls – Harris Decima is the only major pollster I haven’t seen release anything of late – but it appears it will again come down to who can get their […]
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Ontario Election 2011: Why the left should hope for a Liberal Minority with NDP support
I suspect that many people, perhaps most, have a favorite party that they would prefer to win a majority. Somewhat incorrectly, I think, it has become the conventional wisdom that we should always hope to have a majority government. I have even heard i…
Continue readingwmtc: unlawful access: new openmedia video on harper govt’s internet spy plan
OpenMedia.ca has launched an important new video at The Mark: please watch and share.Wmtc: mandatory, warrantless internet spying coming to canada, unless we stop it.Petition: here.Email your MP: here.
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: The closing days of the Ontario campaign
Only a few days left until Ontario voters get out to vote for their next provincial government, and the polls that came out on the weekend still had a neck and neck race. Ekos released a new poll this AM which seemed to indicate the Liberals were pulling away just a tad, but it still is close.
It will be interesting from my standpoint to see a) which polls were closest (online, IVR or traditional phone) and also the similarities/differences to the Ontario vote from the federal election in May, and what can be learned from that.
Also, with regards to a rumour of Harper coming to Toronto to […]
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The role of public relations in the military
Canada’s top military figure, Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk has gotten media attention recently since it was revealed that he spent over a million dollars on government aircraft to fly to such things as “Military Appreciation Nights” at NH…
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