This is the kind of news Stephen Harper and the Conservatives would wish you didn’t hear. That’s because it debunks the self-made myth that they’re competent economic managers. They want us to believe that Canada survived the recent global recession better than most countries because of them. And, they’re rapidly
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DeSmogBlog: House Republicans Sacrifice Human Health For Alleged Job Creation
redtape.jpg With July 2012 officially behind us, the U.S. jobs report for the month has economists and politicians concerned about the employment situation in America. And even though the economy added 163,000 jobs (economists had predicted only 100,000 jobs to be added for July,) the unemployment rate and the underemployment
Continue readingTrashy's World: Rona and Lowes
I’m more than a little worried about Rona being taken over by the American retail giant, Lowes. I deliberately shop at Rona for my building and repair supplies- after my local Home Hardware default shop – Because. It. Is. Canadian. Laugh all you want. Tell me that I’m a dinosaur
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jonathan Chait points out how the gap between the citizens hardest hit by a weak economy and a political class which faces virtually none of its effects explains the lack of urgency in dealing with mass unemployment: The political scientist Larry Bartels has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
Jim Flaherty… Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday new rule changes to define “suitable employment” and “reasonable” efforts at finding work have yet to come down, but as far as he’s concerned people should be prepared to take pretty well any available job. “There is no bad job, the only
Continue readingelementalpresent: “Gotta Spend Money to Make Money”… or is it “Make Money to Save Money?”
“Young people want to retire early and spend, too”. That’s the main finding of a survey commissioned by the Bank of Montreal, released today in newspapers across the country. The coverage of the survey report is problematic on its own. For instance, although 1000 Canadians aged 18 and over were
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Retiring baby boomers…Society’s malignant tumour?
Canada’s baby boom is said to have commenced way back in 1946. I myself was born 20 years after the start of the boom, and having just celebrated my 46th birthday that means the front end of the baby boom is now hitting retirement. What does this mean for our
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The presidents of Canada’s provincial Federations of Labour highlight how the provinces need to respond to the Harper Cons’ efforts to push down wages and trample on workers’ rightst: Canadians need our country’s premiers to denounce this low-wage agenda and stand up for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Employment & Labour Legislation Submission
Plenty of others will be chiming in today on the future of employment and labour law in Saskatchewan; here’s my personal contribution. Many other voices have expressed concerns about the limited amount of actual consultation provided through the within process. My intention is not to merely echo those concerns (however
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Rick Salutin discusses the link between parity of wealth and democratic participation, while pointing out why there’s reason for people to engage much more in the latter (W)hy didn’t the majority ever vote to expropriate the rich and take all their stuff? Perhaps
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Lana Payne criticizes two forms of cash hoarding: both the assets sitting idle in corporate coffers, and the money that’s been funneled offshore by wealthy individuals: By the end of each episode (of “Hoarders”)…the audience finds out if the featured hoarders have been
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David Olive comments on the world food crisis, making the point that what we’re lacking is some link between more-than-sufficient productive capacity and the nutritional needs of less wealthy people around the globe: (A) permanently higher price for oil spurred successful innovation to
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Looking for a jobs in Québec – Use every tool available and stay positive
One of the great things about publishing a blog is that you get to share personal experience about some of life’s stressing moments, and perhaps give some perspective to those who might be going through similar challenges. Living in Quebec and being exposed to the media here I’ve noticed that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Zach Carter shines a spotlight on the few types of interests who stand to gain from austerity: But the austerity game also has winners. Cutting or eliminating government programs that benefit the less advantaged has long been an ideological goal of conservatives. Doing
Continue readingCanadian Trends: UPDATE-1: Chinada
China’s state oil company is offering $15 billion for Calgary’s Nexen. At this point I’ve really lost count of how many Chinese acquisitions have been made in the last few years. The sale will probably be allowed as the looting of Canadian assets continues unabated. Welcome to Chinada, please temporarily
Continue readingRedBedHead: Spain & The Madness of Europe
There’s a saying that defines madness as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. By that criteria, it’s clear that the European Union’s response to the long and painful crisis unfolding on that continent is utterly and completely mad. With the appearance a few years ago
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Joe Stiglitz discusses the link between increased inequality and the U.S.’ economic frailty: Any solution to today’s problems requires addressing the economy’s underlying weakness: a deficiency in aggregate demand. Firms won’t invest if there is no demand for their products. And one of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – The Guardian reports on the Tax Justice Network’s study on offshoring which finds tens of trillions of dollars to have been funneled to tax havens: Using the BIS’s measure of “offshore deposits” – cash held outside the depositor’s home country – and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Doug Saunders discusses how corporate cash hoarding is limiting any economic recovery – and what we can do about it: (T)his should be a great time for companies to invest: low prices, low interest rates, cheaper labour costs. A sensible company would build
Continue readingGreedy embezzler costs 200 employees their jobs
A former employee at a government funded organization has recently been charged with embezzlement. The name of the organization and the person involved is not what is important, so I am keeping that out. Her story is just an example though. I am not a hard writing journalist, just a
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