Wednesday, April 25 saw one of the more noteworthy economic debates we’ve seen in the current session of Parliament, as a former-PC-turned-Liberal raised the issue of income inequality to a noteworthy response from the Harper Cons. The Big Issue Scott Brison presented what should have been a relatively non-controversial motion
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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your long weekend reading. – While some of us may recognize that there’s little reason to lend much credence to the talking points spewed out by any Con spokespuppet, others have tried to give the benefit of the doubt as long as possible. But Lawrence Martin notes
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 24 saw a day of debate focused on a relatively non-contentious piece of legislation: a citizen’s arrest bill which largely reflected Olivia Chow’s work after charges were laid against David Chen of the Lucky Moose. The Big Issue When it came to the substance of the bill, there
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne tears into the Cons for being interested solely in developing a junk labour market where both work safety and income security are sorely lacking. And Chris Selley offers his own rebuttal to the “no such thing as a bad job” mentality:
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 23, 2012
Monday, April 23 was the first day back in the House of Commons following the Easter break. And it featured some of the most lively and telling discussion we’ve seen yet on the Cons’ anti-refugee legislation as the second-reading debate reached its end. The Big Issue As part of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Drew Anderson comments on the support the NDP is winning among groups which have historically supported the Cons: Seniors and men. Until now they formed the rock-solid base of the Conservative Party. But they’re trending towards Mulcair, and that should have Harper’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson raises an absolutely devastating point to refute anybody trying to use “it’s all about growth!!!” as an excuse for slashing social supports and handing free money to the rich: In this age of austerity, we are constantly told by governments that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your day. – Kayle Hatt’s blog looks to be a must-read from here on in. And his post on what to draw from the latest polls is particularly worth a read: Every poll that has been released since Thomas Mulcair was elected leader of the NDP
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: No tough choice
Back here, I discussed how ridiculous the Cons’ “tough on crime” model would look if applied to any other area of policy – and used that comparison to question why we’d handle criminal justice any differently. But after a minority government period where the Cons mostly limited their shows of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 5, 2012
Thursday, April 5 was the final sitting day in the House of Commons before a two-week Easter break. And the debate was much less sharp than in previous days, as the primary bill up for discussion was supported by all parties. The Big Issue That bill was S-4, a bill
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jim Stanford neatly sums up how the Cons’ obsession with selling off both natural resources and natural resource producers affects other industries: There is no doubting the statistical correlation between oil prices and the loonie. Econometric analysis indicates that since the turn of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 4, 2012
After the Cons refused to listen to the opposition parties’ proposed amendments, Wednesday, April 4 saw a day of debate on the main budget motion in the second-last day before a Parliamentary break. The Big Issue Nycole Turmel rightly labeled the budget as being based entirely on (gratuitous) austerity, while
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Joan Bryden reports on the Cons’ latest abuses of majority government power, this time in allocating and shuffling around the few opposition days already available in Parliament for their own purposes. But it’s worth noting the difference between the responses of the affected
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On tectonic shifts
I haven’t spent much time discussing the spate of recent polls showing the NDP with a modest lead on the Cons, as those top-line results can easily enough be considered an expected consequence of a tired government trying to force through controversial legislation against a popular new leader. But CARP’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Erin points out that there’s a relatively simple cure for Dutch disease – just as long as provincial governments are willing to put citizens ahead of resource extractors: (S)ince resources are priced in American dollars, the higher exchange rate further reduces provincial resource
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jim Stanford sets the record straight as to how Canada’s manufacturing sector has eroded over the past couple of decades: (T)echnology can explain some of the job loss, but not most of it. It certainly cannot explain the disproportionate carnage in Canadian
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 3, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 saw the final day of debate at second reading of the Cons’ budget – and once again featured plenty of work by Peter Julian to introduce the types of perspectives the Cons would never tolerate if they could avoid it. The Big Issue Once again, Julian
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Linda McQuaig is hopeful that Quebec’s student protests against tuition hikes might remind many Canadians that we can do more than just meekly accept austerity and inequality: What seems to particularly gall some English Canadian commentators is the fact that the Quebec
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Cons’ attacks on the environment and its defenders are starting to attract plenty of unwanted attention, with the Globe and Mail editorial board weighing in as the NDP, the other opposition parties and the environmental movement join forces to reject the utter
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 2, 2012
Monday, April 2 saw the second day of Peter Julian’s extended budget speech. And perhaps the point most worth noting is how many Canadians outside of Parliament took the opportunity have their voices heard in the budget debate. The Big Issue So let’s focus this review on some of the
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