Theresa Lubowitz on the Death of Substantive Policy Canada is teetering dangerously close to the death of substantive policy as we know it, with the rise of a populist Conservative Government, a populist NDP Official Opposition, and a struggling Liberal Party so afraid of irrelevancy it has spent the last
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In 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 readingeaves.ca: Help OpenNorth Raise 10K to Improve Democracy and Engagement thru Tech
Some of you may know that I sit on the board of directors for OpenNorth – a cool little non-profit that is building tools for citizens, governments and journalists to improve participation and, sometimes, just make it a little bit easier to be a citizen. Here’s great example of a
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Draft Chow 2014
Photograph by/Photo par Montrealais. UPDATE (Sept. 27, 2012) Olivia appears to be willing to consider the idea of running for mayor!At least, she’s not ruling it out! “We’ll see what happens down the road,” she said, when asked again by the Toronto Star if she is willing to run for
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: Fixed Election Date #FAIL
WTF does not even begin to convey my complete and utter shock and disgust… Today, in the House of Commons, during Question Period, the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada asked the Prime Minister about Canada’s fixed election date (known as #elxn42 to the #cdnpoli Twitterati), the legislation
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Transparent Hypocrisy of Ethical Oil – who is really laudering money
The other week the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent accused Canadian Charities of “laundering money” because they accept some funds from outside the country. This is all been part of a larger effort – championed by Ethical Oil – to discredit Canada’s environmental organizations. As an open government
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Oil Sands in Alberta is like Language Laws in Quebec… It’s a domestic issue
This post isn’t based on a poll I’ve conducted or some rigorous methodology, rather it has evolved out of conversations I’ve had with friends, thought leaders I’ve run into, articles I’ve read and polls I’ve seen in passing. As most people know the development of the oil sands is a
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Data Movement is a Joke?
Yesterday, Tom Slee wrote a blog post called “Why the ‘Open Data Movement’ is a Joke,” which – and I say this as a Canadian who understands the context in which Slee is writing – is filled with valid complaints about our government, but which I feel paints a flawed
Continue readingeaves.ca: Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government: A Review
The other day the Canadian Government published its Action Plan on Open Government, a high level document that both lays out the Government’s goals on this file as well as fulfill its pledge to create tangible goals as part of its participation in next week’s Open Government Partnership 2012 annual
Continue readingEdwin Current: Paul Madger goes after mayor Quimby! sweet!
I’ve been lagging on my task of researching possible actions to receive a similar result but looks as though Paul Madger has taken this on. I just had to share this and send sentiment for positive results towards Paul. I hope this works out in Paul’s f…
Continue readingEdwin Current: Paul Madger goes after mayor Quimby! sweet!
I’ve been lagging on my task of researching possible actions to receive a similar result but looks as though Paul Madger has taken this on. I just had to share this and send sentiment for positive results towards Paul. I hope this works out in Paul’s favour and Rob Ford
Continue readingeaves.ca: Calculating the Value of Canada’s Open Data Portal: A Mini-Case Study
Okay, let’s geek out on some open data portal stats from data.gc.ca. I’ve got three parts to this review: First, an assessment on how to assess the value of data.gc.ca. Second, a look at what are the most downloaded data sets. And third, some interesting data about who is visiting
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Government moving forward on proposed unsolicited credit card cheque ban
The government announced that it will be introducing legislation to ban the practice of Credit Cards sending unsolicited “cheques” in the mail. I’m all for that! First the cheques themselves are treated like cash advances and begin accumulating interest as soon as they clear so it is better to… ..
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Government moving forward on proposed unsolicited credit card cheque ban
The government announced that it will be introducing legislation to ban the practice of Credit Cards sending unsolicited “cheques” in the mail. I’m all for that! First the cheques themselves are treated like cash advances and begin accumulating interest as soon as they clear so it is better… ..
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Government moving forward on proposed unsolicited credit card cheque ban
The government announced that it will be introducing legislation to ban the practice of Credit Cards sending unsolicited “cheques” in the mail.
I’m all for that! First the cheques themselves are treated like cash advances and begin accumulating inte…
Random Ranting Raving and Ratings: Sleeping on the Job – Conservative MP Rob Anders
The Conservative party claims to be the party looking out for Canadian Military Personnel and veterans but unfortunately the guy they appointed to the Veterans Affairs Committee has his eyes closed – literally. MP for Calgary West Rob Anders was caught sleeping during a presentation on… ..
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: The Conservative Party of Canada – A Study in Contradictions
I can’t help but notice that Conservatives have been all over the board with their policies and positions arguing on one side of an issue in one circumstance and the polar opposite in a different circumstance Here are just a few examples: The Conservative party that last year said the
Continue readingeaves.ca: Media Watch: The Globe and Mail’s Shifting Headline
Earlier today the Globe and Mail had one of these truly terrible “balanced” articles about the proposed federal crime bill. The headline screamed: Quebec expert backs Tory crime bill amid U.S. warning on sentencing. (Image below) So who was this expert you might ask? A university professor with years of
Continue readingeaves.ca: I Stand for My Rights & Privacy: The Coming Online Police State
“He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers.” This was Mr. Toews’s, the Minister of Justice, counterattack to a question in the house regarding concerns of letting the police monitor citizens internet use without a warrant. Apparently this is our choice: a big brother state or child
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: How MPs voted on Opposition Motion to Protect OAS
The motion to maintain the age requirements for OAS at 65 was defeated. The motion read: That the House reject calls by the Prime Minister to balance the Conservative deficit on the backs of Canada’s seniors by means such as raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and
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