I strongly believe that Stephen Harper should resign. $3.1 billion missing or unaccounted for. Despicable behavior of Senators that he appointed. I stopped watching news as the Harper government’s behaviour is so depressing. He is the worst Prime Minister we have in my memory.
Continue readingTag: corruption
Walking Turcot Yards: Paris Rising, Montreal Falling, Neither Bodes Well
The two great French cities of the world, well, Montreal used to be worthy, are having some development conundrums. Paris has decided to add a dozen highrise buildings but away from the city centre – the Eiffel Tower must always be the dominant structure there. So Paris does have limits,
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Over 100,000 Protesters Hit the Streets in Brazil
Some of country’s biggest ever rallies sweep major cities. Bus fare hike is the last straw as high costs and poor services spiral Read the full report from the Guardian here.
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Former Conservative candidate and "shadow MP" on your tax dollars arrested in Quebec corruption probe
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Saulie+Zajdel+arrest+UPAC+surprise+Conservatives/8536640/story.html “He was known as the “shadow MP” of the federal Mont-Royal riding, hovering and thinking about making another run at the job after losing in 2011….Saulie Zajdel’s stunning arrest Monday on five charges including breach of trust, corruption and fraud sent a shock wave through the ranks of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Doreen Massey observes that our political vocabulary has largely been hijacked by corporatist language: At a recent art exhibition I engaged in an interesting conversation with one of the young people employed by the gallery. As she turned to walk off I saw
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that to end your weekend. – Dave Coles introduces readers to the Cons’ latest attack on labour – with a backbencher’s private member’s bill again serving as an excuse to introduce unprecedent restrictions on union organization. – Michael Harris suspects that the Cons’ attempt to delay any public
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Miller makes the case to take aim at inequality in Canada: With globalization being the holy grail of efficiency, it became a race to the bottom as international capital sought the lowest cost and the lowest wages. The result in Canada and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Thomas McDonagh discusses how the combination of concentrated corporate wealth and ill-advised trade agreements has allowed business interests to override the will of even strong citizens’ movements: In 2009, when the government of El Salvador refused to issue an environmental permit to
Continue readingPolygonic: “I didn’t know!” – the death throes of a desperate squirmer
The Conservatives are losing their favourite, time-tested tactic to reset public opinion: just say the word “sponsorship.” For seven long years, anytime they could be criticised for ethical lapses, for cronyism and corruption, for pork and for secrecy (in a word, umm, always), they could simply refer back to “sponsorship”
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On instructing clients
Let’s once again take a slightly closer look at what’s been reported about the Cons’ senate scandal – as yesterday’s revelations about the involvement of Stephen Harper’s special counsel and legal adviser Benjamin Perrin may offer a few more indications as to who was actually pulling the strings. To start
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On corrupted institutions
Plenty of others have had loads to say about the scandal surrounding Stephen Harper, Nigel Wright, Mike Duffy and the Senate generally – with Wright’s resignation today serving as just the latest chapter of a story with plenty left to be told. But I’ll add a couple of notes to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Paul Krugman draws a much-needed connection between austerity politics and Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine: What Smith didn’t note, somewhat surprisingly, is that his argument is very close to Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, with its argument that elites systematically exploit disasters to push through
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Transport Quebec warns motorists: stay away from Turcot Interchange this weekend
It was built below specs and has been poorly maintained. Saving on maintenance costs in the first 3 decades created full time maintenance contracts that has cost, and will cost taxpayer’s, over 100′s of million of dollars to maintain a structure that is scheduled to be torn down. Somebody has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom offers an insider’s look at outsourcing: Arlene says any outsourcing scheme begins with the institution’s senior management. Usually, she says, the aim is to transfer about 60 per cent of the affected jobs — often in back-shop areas like information technology
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Akaash Maharaj: Margaret Thatcher’s Verdict on the Liberal Party of Canada
My article in the Globe and Mail: My one conversation with Margaret Thatcher about the Liberal Party of Canada began with a chill in the air, and ended with our host mopping his brow. We were all polite, but there were daggers behind the smiles and venom coiled around the
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Goverment Talking Corruption Free Turcot
To say I am behind the times on Turcot would be an understatement. Seems I have drifted into focusing a lot of my online attention into relaying the ongoing tragedy that is our federal government under Stephen Harper via Facebook and occasionally Twitter in recent years. Of course it is
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Akaash Maharaj – Advisory: New Leadership for the GOPAC Global Secretariat
I am enormously grateful to the Board of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption for their confidence in naming me their Executive Director, and I will work tirelessly to justify their faith. I feel deeply privileged to have a chance to work with GOPAC’s global alliance of democratically elected
Continue readingAkaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism: Akaash Maharaj – Advisory: New Leadership for the GOPAC Global Secretariat
I am enormously grateful to the Board of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption for their confidence in naming me their Executive Director, and I will work tirelessly to justify their faith. I feel deeply privileged to have a chance to work with GOPAC’s global alliance of democratically elected
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Alan Feuer writes about New York City’s brilliant use of “big data” to connect the dots in making public policy. And the examples look like a rather compelling reason why we should be looking to expand public-sector data collection and analysis as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jason Fekete reports on the growing recognition that tax evasion and avoidance are serious global problems – and the Cons’ attempt to be seen nodding at the issues. Needless to say, that posturing would be far more plausible if the same Cons weren’t
Continue reading