Good afternoon Vancouver, how’s your head? The hand-wringing and spinning has commenced in full force now in the wake of the riot which gripped the downtown core after the Canucks Game 7 loss. The narrative which emerged, both in the media and thanks to public statements by the Vancouver Police, is that—are you ready for […]
Continue readingTag: democracy
On governance (3): The Crown.
So, yeah. The Crown. This could be a really short post — hell, by my standards, it probably will be.Here’s the thing. Constitutionally, we need the Crown. We can’t get rid of the monarch, or at least the Governor-General, without overhauling the whole…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Is Capitalism Terminally Ill?
Today (June 15th) the Toronto Star broke news that the NDP was planning to drop the term “socialism” from its party’s platform. This was a mere formality of what had been in existence for decades: the party hasn’t been “socialist” in any shape or form for a very long time. On the very same day, […]
Continue readingOn governance (2): Parliament
This one’s going to be a little disconnected. The overarching thread, as said yesterday, is figuring out how to adjust our governing institutions to suit the importance of the principle of autonomy — that is, the idea that legitimate government author…
Continue readingOn governance: (1) Principles
How should we govern ourselves? Since Locke’s Second Treatise, the presumption has been in favour of self-government — that is, each individual adult person has the natural right to govern his or her own life. Thus government by others is, when legiti…
Continue readingOpposing the #HarperRegime: thinking strategically over the next four years
Sorry, dear friends. This is going to be one of those times when I try to get cerebral, but not too cerebral, and end up sounding like a wanker. Business as usual, in other words.
In the context of last week’s Twitter exchange with @thekeenanwire over…
Continue reading@thekeenanwire and the police / government / society we deserve
Over at The Grid, Edward Keenan’s got a thoughtful and compelling piece about the police assault on Dorian Barton at last summer’s G20, and the shameful saga surrounding the SIU’s on-again, off-again attempts to investigate.
We all know how that song …
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Turn A Page
The contemptible actions of the Harper government have reaped a little more protest in the chambers of Parliament. A few years ago it was a Gallery protest in the House of commons, and this time a parliamentary page (worker bee) held up a homemade protest “Stop Harper” sign in the Senate chamber during the Throne […]
Driving The Porcelain Bus: Senate protester DePape offered job by Michael Moore
Doc maker Michael Moore backs rogue page over stunt – thestar.com
“For a young person to do that and to do it peacefully, and quietly and with grace, I thought it was a very powerful moment,” Moore told The Canadian Press on Sunday from New York. …
Politics and Entertainment: A Memo to David Akin
On the Hill: Memo to Brigette: There are no shortcuts in politics. It takes long, dull, dreary work http://bit.ly/mC2SsL
Everything you argue is based on the premise that political activity should take place within the system, with established instit…
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Democracy in America
Another day, another nadir of utter stupidity… “This is what democracy looks like,” the dancing assclowns shouted in defense of their right to behave like jackals at public memorial sites. Meanwhile, their country is in a total shambles… $15 trillion … Continue reading →
The Progressive Economics Forum: Scheer Success
Andrew Scheer has been elected House of Commons Speaker. I met him in 2004, when we were federal candidates in adjacent Regina ridings. I was the no-shot NDP candidate against then-Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and he was the long-shot Conservative candidate against veteran NDP MP Lorne Nystrom. At the end of that summer, we were […]
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Brigette DePape reminds us of our duty
Some people are upset with the protest in the Senate by Senate page Brigette DePape.The issue is not when and where and how she protested (in the Senate in the middle of the Throne Speech). The issue is that the Canada that we value and have worked har…
Continue readingOn the Quebec question: (4) Devolution
So far, I’ve argued that there are good reasons to favour Quebec’s right to determine, on its own, whether to separate from Canada. One option that has come up under various names — “sovereignty association” or “asymmetrical federalism” — is the poss…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Releasing Government Bad News Under Cover of a Hockey Game
Based on the bad news coming from the BC and Canadian governments under cover of game one of the Stanley Cup finals, we should be wary of the Canucks going to seven games. It used to be Friday afternoons were a great time for governments to release bad news. The week’s media cycle was drifting […]
Continue readingOn the Quebec question: (2) Self-determination
Yesterday, I suggested that objections to the definition of a “clear majority” in favour of separation as 50%+1 were insincere, and really masked forms of other objections. The first I want to talk about is the claim that there is something wrong with …
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Corporate Personhood Alert!
We have to spend some time this week carefully watching BC business playing good cop and bad cop. The good cop is opposing the idea of a corporate tax rate of zero, while the bad cop says that corporations should be able to vote, like real human beings. British Columbia Chamber of Commerce president John […]
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The greatest of dangers
The challenge is not to become a machine. The greatest danger is not from outside: the greatest danger is ourselves – that is, the greatest danger is losing touch with our own hearts and common sense. Above all, strive to maintain compassion and pres…
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