As a temporary exile from the Centre of the Universe I don’t get a vote in this week’s upcoming municipal election. But I do have a stake. Toronto is my home, it’s where my heart lives and I intend to return and live the majority of my life there. So here’s what I believe about […]
Tag: democracy
DTK: Officer Bubbles vs. YouTube
Constable Adam Josephs: Officer “Bubbles”.Among all the evil that happened during the G20 protests and the ridiculous police crackdown – among all the illegal arrests, harassment, beatings and everything else – the thing we will most remember will be …
Continue readingDTK: Officer Bubbles vs. YouTube
Constable Adam Josephs: Officer “Bubbles”. Among all the evil that happened during the G20 protests and the ridiculous police crackdown – among all the illegal arrests, harassment, beatings and everything else – the thing we will most remember will be Constable Adam Josephs threatening to arrest a girl for blowing
Continue readingDTK: Officer Bubbles vs. YouTube
Constable Adam Josephs: Officer “Bubbles”. Among all the evil that happened during the G20 protests and the ridiculous police crackdown – among all the illegal arrests, harassment, beatings and everything else – the thing we will most remember will be Constable Adam Josephs threatening to arrest a girl for blowing
Continue readingPop The Stack: A Contrast in Leadership
This week we have seen a real contrast in leadership styles. First we have Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the UN. What should have been a sure thing, Canada being chosen to fill the rotating two-year seat on the security council, became a huge disappointment. Why did this happen? The reason seems to be that the […]
Pop The Stack: Democracy Around the Galaxy: A Hitchhikers Guide
In celebration of 42 day this Sunday here is an entry I offer from Pop The Stack for inclusion in that most remarkable of all books ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The subject is an introduction to some democratic systems in use around the galaxy. This should […]
Pop The Stack: Can Canadian Democracy Begin A New Era?
There are a couple things I’ve had on my writing stack for a while that have yet to be popped, but time is an ever contracting resource. So a call out to ask for people’s opinions on how to fix our democracy, a rant about my frustration over the 5-way train wreck that is the […]
bastard.logic: Bruyea, Veterans Affairs, and Canadian Democracy: Time to Go “Batsh!t Crazy”
by matttbastard Tuesday’s revelation that Sean Bruyea, a vocal critic of Veterans Affairs had his private medical records deliberately compromised by bureacrats in a brazen attempt to discredit his legitimate, extensive complaints about systemic deficiencies within the department has struck a … Continue reading →
Pop The Stack: Democracy is a Canadian Tradition
Just a housecleaning post with a bunch of random stuff I’d like to get out there. Canada is awesome and Vancouver’s not bad at all, at all. This site went over 8000 reads today due to a post from last year entitled Canadian Traditions. It shows the big human flag from Victoria’s Canada Day celbrations […]
Pop The Stack: The Myth of the Conscious Political Party
Two links to the growing discussion about suggestions that the Liberals and NDP form some kind of coalition to win the next federal election. First, the Globe. Scott Reid asks that we “Don’t sacrifice the Liberal Party for a coalition of the centre-left”. He makes some good points that the idea of a formal coalition […]
Pop The Stack: Could Coalition Be Used to Get the Bloc to Stop Being Separatists?
Great point by Chrystal on Lessons on Framing – Coalition Governments As important as the question regarding whether the Liberal Party and NDP would consider being part of a coalition government is whether the Conservative Party would. Why are virtually all media, journalists, other writers and democratic reformers ignoring this? Just because Canadians won’t vote in […]
Pop The Stack: Ibbitson Gets Some of it Right and Some of it Wrong
I have to respond to the Globe and Mail’s article today by John Ibbitson “Parliament takes another step toward being a true arm of government”. It has a lots of good facts, a couple good points and a few misleading and incorrect conclusions. Friday’s accord on releasing Afghan detainee documents… marks the rise of Parliament as a genuine […]
Pop The Stack: Lib-Dems Should Consider Tory Proposal, But be Wary
News now that the Liberal-Democrats have two offers from those courting them to form a coalition, and both involve a referendum on electoral reform. In brief: The Tories offer a referendum on Alternative Voting, basically the smallest step up from FPTP you could get. Not really proportional but better nothing. Important question (reply in comments […]
Pop The Stack: Future of Democracy Lies in Hands of Cleggy Weggy
So the old mother country has practiced democracy once again and wow, it was a doozy. With a hung parliament and a very distorted result returned by their First-Past-The-Post voting system, the Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats are now in talks to see if they can form some kind of coalition. Nick Clegg has said before that […]
Pop The Stack: Time to Come Together Around Democratic Reform
Today I’m going to tell you my vision for creating a national discussion about Democratic Reform. If you’re a regular reader of PopTheStack you know that one of the things I’m really passionate about is fixing our democracy in Canada. There are lots of things wrong with the way that voices of Canadians are heard, […]
Pop The Stack: Andrew Coyne speaks to the Liberal Party, but will they listen?
I’m just growing more and more fond of Andrew Coyne as time goes on. Maybe I’m getting older and more conservative, or maybe he’s getting less so. Or just maybe, the old templates of “conservative” and “liberal” aren’t nearly as useful as they once seemed to be. That is essentially the point of Coyne fantastic […]
Pop The Stack: The Next GG Should be Elected
News today that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is looking for a new Governor General. A number of names have already been suggested for possible replacements. I won’t speculate but my guess is we won’t get another former CBC employee. But I’d like to suggest to the Prime Minister that he think creatively about this choice. […]
Runesmith's Canadian Content: Forget Montreal – come to Canada 150 in Halton!
Reading the various blog posts and op-eds about this weekend’s ‘Canada at 150’ think-fest in Montreal, one might be forgiven for thinking that the whole thing is just some expensive, elitist wank designed to give the appearance of policy input without …
Continue readingPop The Stack: The Simplest Argument for Electoral Reform
Take a look at this simple and clear article on Democractic Reform from Fair Vote Canada. This is what Canadians need, a clear argument why our democracy is broken. There are some great basic arguments here that anyone interested in fixing our democracy should be repeating over and over to everyone they talk to about […]
Pop The Stack: Liberals Need to Stand Out and Stand Up
Gordon Gibson has a nice piece today in the Globe and Mail today on how the Liberals can differentiate themselves in the next election and help the country with a big problem at the same time. It turns out, Gordon agrees with me, that Electoral Reform is the safest and most exciting issue for the […]