Here, on Brad Wall’s appalling admission that the Saskatchewan Party’s plan for a low-carbon economy is to move into Ontario’s basement rather than pursuing sustainable development in Saskatchewan. For further reading…– Wall’s comments and other provincial positions in the lead up to this week’s premiers’ meeting can be found here.
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Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, discussing James Coleman’s research paper on the different messages corporations send to regulators as opposed to shareholders when it comes to proposed regulatory policies – and how it signals the need to be extremely skeptical when the business lobby complains that a policy will affect jobs or economic development.
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Here, on the Saskatchewan Party’s choice to turn the graduate retention credit into a purely political goodie rather than a program which could conceivably retain Saskatchewan graduates, while at the same time devaluing the very concept of education for its own sake. For further reading…– The province’s explanation (such as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the need and opportunity to show some vision in our provincial budgeting and planning – even if the Wall government has no interest in bothering. For further reading…– I posted previously on the Sask Party’s habit of locking Saskatchewan into ill-advised long-term contracts which serve nobody’s interests but
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, condensing this post on the component parts of the Cons’ terror bill. For further reading…– Michael Geist writes that C-51 represents the evisceration of privacy in Canada. – Jim Bronskill reports on Amnesty International’s opposition to C-51 as a means of targeting activists. And Alyssa Stryker and Carmen Cheung
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the many problems with building social benefits and employment policies alike on a foundation of distrust. For further reading…– Rick Mercer rants about the obstacles the Cons are throwing in the way of veterans. And the CP follows up on the Cons’ response to Paul Franklin’s case here.–
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Here, condensing this post on the risks of allowing CSIS to self-assess the scope of Canadians’ Charter rights under C-51. For further reading…– Again, the go-to source for analysis of C-51 is Craig Forcese and Kent Roach’s site here. – Clayton Ruby and Nader Hasan’s analysis is here.– John Mueller
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Here, on the Cons’ attempt to spin an election narrative out of a fictional bogeyman rather than protecting or helping Canadians. For further reading…– The National Academy of Sciences offers a comparison of death rates from multiple causes in Canada and elsewhere, while Statistics Canada has more detailed data. And
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Here, on how the Saskatchewan Party’s manipulative consultation designed to push liquor retailing into the private sector only managed to highlight the fact that our current system is working just fine. For further reading, the consultation materials are here, including the survey results here (PDF). And even though those don’t
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Here, on why we can’t expect our federal political parties to answer some of our most important questions without some significant public pressure – and how we can build that pressure for ourselves. For further reading, I’ll point back to my earlier posts on what I’d hope to see happen
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Here, on how Saskatchewan residents should be able to count on secure housing, rather than being shunted into stopgap social housing by the Wall government. For further reading…– The provincial government’s announcement that affordable housing in Saskatchewan is no more can be found here. And the NDP’s response is here.
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Here, on how the now-infamous story of Eric and Ilsa bears a disturbing resemblance to how Brad Wall has handled Saskatchewan’s finances. For further reading…– Again, the original Eric and Ilsa story is here, with Rob Carrick following up here. And the story was picked up (with appropriate criticism) here,
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Here, on the Wall government’s secret attack on overtime pay for retail workers – and how it reflects a preference for the rule of lobbyists over the rule of law. For further reading…– See my previous posts here, here and here for background on the story – including the Ministry’s
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Here, on the OECD’s working paper showing that stronger environmental policies are entirely consistent with a more productive economy. For further reading…– Obviously, the area where the need for more stringent regulation is most obvious lies in our CO2 emissions. On that front, CBC reports on Christopher McGlade and Paul
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Here, on how we’ll soon be seeing both federal and provincial governments alike try to block out their real history with glossy ad campaigns – and why we shouldn’t let them get away with the plan. For further reading…– Torstar reported here on the Cons’ use of public money to
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Here, on the need to turn the holiday spirit of charity into lasting improvements in the lives of the people who need help the most. For further reading…– Joe Gunn and Iglika Ivanova also discuss the limitations of charity compared to structural change. – Jordon Cooper discusses Saskatchewan’s bad habit
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Here, on this week’s confirmation from the Broadbent Institute that Canadians severely underestimate wealth inequality – as well as the strong popular support to reduce the wealth gap. For further reading…– The Norton/Ariely study of the views of Americans on wealth inequality is found here, and discussed further here, here
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Here, on how the Cons’ secretive giveaway of what’s left of the Canadian Wheat Board can only be explained by their desire to eliminate collective marketing in favour of total corporate control. For further reading…– Janyce McGregor reported on the Cons’ refusal to consider allowing the Farmers of North America
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Here, taking a quick look at Canada’s options for electoral reform while arguing that an MMP system would create far better incentives for our political leaders than the alternatives. For further reading…– Alison wrote about our options in advance of yesterday’s vote on the NDP’s electoral reform proposal. – Eric
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Here, on the growing (and increasingly interconnected) movement to save our local and global environment alike from fossil fuel extraction. For further reading…– The latest pipeline under discussion is of course TransCanada’s Energy East. And it’s worth countering the message from Brad Wall (amplified by Murray Mandryk here) that our
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