If, like me, you are a retired senior to whom the fates have been reasonably kind, you have the luxury to contemplate the world around you at your leisure. If you are at all engaged in the larger world, however, that contemplation is rarely relaxing or enjoyable. You have seen
Continue readingTag: democracy
Democracy Under Fire: Electronic Voting Not an Option…. yet.
Following the panel discussion on voter engagement of young people at Ryerson University recently backbench Liberal MPP Arthur Potts proposes that the voting age should be lowered two years, to 16. Scotland and Argentina are among the places where teenagers are allowed to cast ballots at that age, a time
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Managing Dissent and the threat of Populism in the US
We’ve had a few pieces on the disconnect between the public and the political process. This essay by Richard D. Wolff looks to answering the question why, despite there being two different political parties in the US, that the overall arc of the US body politic maintains the same general
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: No room for dissent. No time for silence. #nlpoli
The controversy about The Rooms’ recent request for proposals is not about Muskrat Falls. Maybe someone at The Rooms or within the provincial government thought that was the problem when Des Sullivan raised concerns about it. After all, Des is well known as a critic of Muskrat Falls. That might
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Democratic Renewal
Recently Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative interim leader Vic Fedeli, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, and Green Leader Mike Schreiner recently gathered at Ryerson University to discuss – not to debate – the need for democratic renewal . Moderated by the Star’s Queen’s Park columnist, Martin Regg Cohn the forum
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Nick Falvo highlights some of the most important proposals in the CCPA’s alternative federal budget (parentheticals omitted): 3. Introduce a national pharmacare program. This proposal would help address the fact that many Canadians simply cannot access prescription medication; it would also result
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: The Tyranny of the Click
A new study has found that overwhelming majority of Canadians believe in the critical role of journalism to democracy, and support more policies to defend the industry. “Financial pressures have strained Canada’s news industry, with layoffs in newsrooms across the country. News Media Canada has proposed overhauling the Canadian Periodical
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It Wasn’t Just a Crazed Kid with an Assault Rifle At that Parkdale High School Yesterday. He had Company, America’s "Bought and Paid For" Congress.
I watched Lawrence O’Donnell interview a father whose 15-year old daughter was at the Parkdale, Florida high school where 17 people, mainly students, were gunned down yesterday. The man’s daughter had not been harmed but he was visibly upset by the event and what she had gone through as she
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Democracy Scale.
The Economist Intelligence Unit released on Wednesday its 2017 Democracy Index, which ranks 167 countries on a 0 to 10 scale. Only countries with scores above 8 are categorised as “full” democracies. The US was downgraded from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy”in the same study last year, which
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Democracy in Crisis
Freedom House, the U.S.-based institute which surveys the progress of democracy, civil society, freedom of speech and the media round the world has produced a report headlined “Democracy in Crisis” – a grim reportage showing that democracy’s “basic tenets – including guarantees of free and fair elections, the rights of minorities, freedom of
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Speaking Truth to Power.
By now most readers will have read that Sen. Jeff Flake ripped Trump a new one last Wednesday in a speech in the U.S. Senate and perhaps read some extracts from that speech in news reports. If you have not already done so I encourage you to read the entire
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Monbiot’s Out of the Wreckage
The book cover says the book “provides the hope and clarity required to change the world.” Well, he certainly tries. He’s got a plan of action that’s possible, but I didn’t get the requisite hope necessary to be spurred to action. It’s a bit of an overview of many ideas
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Looking Back – Why Didn’t Obama Fix the System and Help the Working Class?
Now that we’re in the era of the 45th republican administration the battles we fight are more basic. Defending basic rights of people and defending the societal institutions that promote equality in society. That is where we are now. But back in the first term of the Obama presidency he
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: If The Shoe Fits
For some strange reason, this resonates with me: Recommend this Post
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Shades of Orwell
The thought police are increasingly active in Trumps Americka, ‘The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. Policy analysts at
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: The FCC’s plan to repeal net neutrality threatens democracy everywhere
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposed plan to dismantle net neutrality threatens democracy and the free exchange of ideas and information via the Internet. Even if the FCC votes to repeal net neutrality this week, the fight to save the must continue. The post The FCC’s plan to
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Tending the Garden
“You have to tend to this garden of democracy, otherwise things can fall apart fairly quickly. And we’ve seen societies where that happens,” Former president Barack Obama In these days of a clearly ‘unstable’ individual in a position of great power in the US of Eh who does not seem
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Fitting End to a Country Grown Too Old
Remember when North America was called the New World? Well, in some ways, it’s rather old, very old. The United States boasts of being the world’s oldest constitutional democracy and, even if that means brushing a few other nations such as Switzerland under the carpet, it clings to that claim.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: David Suzuki: Corporate influence inflames political cynicism
Even though elected politicians, especially those who end up holding cabinet positions, often prioritize corporate interests over those of their electors, David Suzuki still encourages us to overcome political cynicism and participate in the democratic process. The post David Suzuki: Corporate influence inflames political cynicism appeared first on The Canadian
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chris Hedges Looks at The True North.
The first two words give it away, “Pity Canada.”Chris Hedges looks at Canada and sees us succumbing to the U.S. contagion only behind the mask of moderation. On reading this you may think he goes too far, is too harsh. Perhaps, but not entirely. And, yes, it is harsh in
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