Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith prepares to set off on her 19-day American tour. Future America-friendly leaders may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Smith for real. With tout le monde political Alberta focusing on the province’s final farewell to Peter Lougheed, founder of the 41-year Conservative dynasty who
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Impolitical: Annals of statesmanship
There’s this news that prompts a spontaneous moment of reflection and good will from Canadians across party lines: “Tributes pour in for a gravely ill Peter Lougheed.” Considered one of Canada’s greatest statesmen and an unabashed champion for his home province of Alberta, former premier Peter Lougheed remains gravely ill
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Don Lenihan responds to Allan Gregg’s recent critique of Canadian politics, featuring this on the connection that ought to exist between ideology and policy: First, the fact that a policy is based on ideological conviction does not mean it is opposed to
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Why was the Iran Embassy Closed?
When Peter MacKay’s outspoken wife Nazanin Afshin-jam announced in July that Canada should shut down the Iranian embassy in Ottawa, on the nebulous charge that it was using cultural events to distribute propaganda (something which Canadian embassies have traditionally also done, incidentally), I almost wrote a post telling her to
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: WikiLeaks Begins Publishing The “Syria Files”
At a press conference held today, 5 July 2012, at the Frontline Club in London, WikiLeaks spokesperson Sarah Harrison announced that over the coming months, WikiLeaks will release a database of over two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies, dating from August 2006 to March 2012.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Evening Links
This and that to end your week. – Jeffrey Simpson discusses how the Cons have diminished Canada’s place on the world stage: For those who care about Canada’s international reputation and Canada’s ability to influence others in the pursuit of Canada’s self-interest, these are discouraging days. Everywhere, there is penny-pinching
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: The Failures and Embarrassments of Harper Regime Foreign Policy
Recently an editor from the increasingly pro-Conservative Montreal think tank the Institute for Research on Public Policy published a preposterous fluff piece in Postmedia papers praising foreign minister John Baird. I offer this blog post as a counterweight and as a sharp dose of realistic thinking. When Stephen Harper announced
Continue readingImpolitical: Statesman at work
Well this seems to have gone well, what with the takeaway platitudes of agreement between Hollande and Harper about the need for growth and for there to be stability in order to have growth. But wait! “After Harper meets socialist president, Tories take ‘sumptuous’ Europe to task.” Well, I’m sure
Continue readingImpolitical: Canada’s lack of consistency on death penalty policy getting attention
“Tories criticized for vastly divergent reactions to Canadians on death row.” As well they should be. The Canadian government’s urgent appeal to stop Iran from executing a Canadian citizen imprisoned there may be blunted by its “grudging” support for another condemned Canadian — Montana death-row inmate Ronald Smith — says
Continue readingImpolitical: Death penalty: Canada needs to be consistent
It is good to see this news of the Canadian government pleading for clemency for a Canadian in Iran facing execution: “Canada is gravely concerned by indications that the execution of Mr. Ghassemi-Shall may be carried out imminently,” Baird said in a joint statement Sunday with Diane Ablonczy, the junior
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Guest Post: Mulcair vs. the Chickenhawks
Dan Tan weighs in on Thomas Mulcair’s principled position on Iran – which may come as a pleasant surprise to anybody concerned that he’d be more interested in appealing to the Very Serious People than thinking carefully about whether military intervention is justified: North American & European capitals are inundated
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Guest Post: On governing authorities
Dan Tan offers another guest post – this one responding to a bit of misplaced advice from Embassy with a helpful reminder as to how policy is formulated within the NDP: The foreign-affairs publication ‘Embassy’ recently published the following article: Advocates hope new Opposition leader shifts NDP position on Israel
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Policy Highlights
With the NDP’s leadership convention set to start tomorrow (and assorted hospitality suites already starting up tonight), I won’t be able to finish off my initial plan to put together full policy reviews for each of the candidates. But instead, I’ll take some time to highlight a few innovative ideas
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher uncover an apparently-fictitious employee listed as one of Con contractor RackNine’s key contacts – nicely paralleling the obvious coverup behind “Pierre Poutine”. And Dr. Dawg places the latest revelations in context with the rest of the Cons’
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Assorted news from the past few days in the NDP leadership race. – While Niki Ashton had already introduced her justice plan, she re-emphasized her commitment to decriminalizing marijuana and treating addictions as illnesses rather than prosecutable offences in the wake of support for the principle from provincial Attorneys General
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Michelle Lalonde notes that despite continued giveaways from both the federal and provincial governments, Quebec’s asbestos industry may soon fade away due to a lack of any economic case for private funding. – Jessica Bruno reports on major cuts to the federal public
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jack Knox comments on how the rest of the world sees Canada under the Harper Cons: A week after bleating about foreign radicals slowing the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal, you have to figure Joe Oliver just wishes he had kept his cakehole corked.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Yes, Alice comes as close as one can to distilling the entire NDP leadership race into a single post. But there’s still plenty going on as the field becomes official – so let’s take a look at what’s new over the past couple of days. – Niki Ashton released a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Environics’ polling on inequality shows over 80% of Canadians wanting to see governments reduce the disparity between the rich and the poor – even as the current federal government moves as far as possible in the opposite direction: More than eight in 10
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 27 saw the House of Commons discuss the gun registry – and if the Cons’ choices to not just dismantle the federal long gun registry but also shred the evidence weren’t problematic enough, the debate also featured the Cons’ closure motion. The Big Issue Once again, that motion
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