Harper Norquist: Ideological soulmates Many feared (and fear) Stephen Harper’s hidden agenda, and for good reason. Patterned on the far right wing Republican model, Harper’s Reform Party took over the old Progressive Conservative Party in a semi-hostile merger, and has systematically set about implementing the strategy of Norquist Grover. Grover’s
Continue readingTag: framing
CuriosityCat: Abortion: Why Trudeau’s decision on pro-choice candidates is a good one
Justin Trudeau: Decisive Ever since Justin Trudeau’s team came out with the announcement that anti-abortion supporters need not bother to run as candidates for the nomination of Liberal MPs in the coming election, the right wing has had a field day trying to make hay out of this single straw.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Glenn Ashton's political blog: Is our Democracy save in the hands of Stephen Harper?
Safe? Andrew Coyne is yet one more person to wonder about the danger posed for Canada’s democratic institutions by the majority government of Stephen Harper: As I say, we’ve never seen anything quite like this, not even from this prime minister. Which raises the question: At what point do Conservatives
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Russia advances its creeping-federalization agenda
Ukraine: Doors open for Putin Today, much to the surprise of some, a public agreement was announced by the US, Russia, EU and current Ukraine government, dealing with concrete steps to move the matter forward. The following is the full text of that agreement, with the most important part (in
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Our housing problems: Should we charge an Inflation Tax on absentee home owners?
Charlie Smith: Thought-Provoker We all agree with the principle that Polluters should pay for the impact of their pollution. So why not make those responsible for the inflated prices of homes in our cities pay a tax – the Inflators should pay principle? Consider this question posed by a London
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Some Commensense on Dealing with Russia
Putin’s Push: Reality versus Rhetoric Congratulations to Thomas Graham, a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute, who was the senior director for Russia on the US National Security Council staff 2004-2007. He has shrewdly analyzed the Russian push under Putin, in its historical context, and outlined the steps that the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: The Solution is at hand
Foreign Minister Lavrov – the man with the answer Within a week or so the outlines of a solution to the Ukraine predicament will become clear to all. As I expected (and hoped), wiser heads have come up with a workable formula. The Russians are leading the way, with Obama
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Quebec election: 20 days and 5%
Premier Marois’ Lobster Strategy What a difference a campaign can make! Just four weeks ago, it seemed the Marois-led PQ juggernaut was a shoo-in for a majority government in the province of Quebec, and now it seems the wheels have fallen off the machine, as pollster Three Hundred Eight illustrates.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Quebec: Premier Marois’ Walk into Darkness
Premier Marois The first debate in this unexpectedly interesting provincial election has yet again proved that the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. The Premier and her advisors had carefully planned a year long campaign designed to drive a wedge between the voters in preparation for
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty: Evil fruit from Secret talks
It is worth reading the article by Joseph Stiglitz on the problems posed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty. Our government is one of those negotiating in confidence a treaty that will substantially effect the livelihood of all Canadians. Stiglitz highlights the problems posed for democracies by the one-sided secrecy
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine needs help to overcome the Iron Law of Oligarchy
Daron Acemoglu’s articleon the Ukraine in today’s Globe & Mail is a must read for all who are concerned about the mammoth task facing Ukraine right now. Unlike so many writers who skate across the thin ice of ignorance in their commentary on what is really happening in that blighted
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Quebec: Help the PQ set their Lobster Trap
Reaction to the PQ Lobster Strategy? Battles for votes rise or fall on framing: the ballot question, your opponent, your own side, the issues. Framing happens, with you or without you; sometimes best with you. Ms Marois and the PQ have recoiled in horror from any discussions of the independence
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Quebec election: The real ballot box question
PQ lobster trap for unwitting Quebecers Try as they might, the PQ cannot direct the definition of the ballot question in the upcoming provincial election into fields of their choosing. They would rather talk about their Charter of Values, which has given them a good crack at Francophone votes to
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Election 2015: The Crossing of the Curves
Andre Turcotte – the Curves Tracker Sometimes a picture is really worth a thousand words, much to the consternation of the conservatives huddled in Ottawa for the annual Manning Centre rightwing navel-gazing gathering. Pollster Turcotte presented a series of graphs showing what a poll of a thousand Canadians today think
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Stephen Harper’s Achilles heel: Trust
The latest Angus Reid poll highlights the Achilles heel of Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Most Canadians do not trust him to protect our elections, as Susan Delacourt points out. This is a stark finding of the Angus Reid poll: The views of an increasingly larger number of Canadians have hardened
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Canada: A Simple Election Law (“SEL”)
At the Montreal convention, the Liberal Party overwhelmingly agreed to Priority Resolution 31, Restoring Trust in Canada’s Democracy. An important part of that resolution is this: AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT immediately after the next election, an all-Party process be instituted, involving expert assistance and citizen participation, to report
Continue readingCuriosityCat: First Nations and the Development of our Energy Resources: Some Principles
New Principles for Energy Industry This post touches on the duty to consult, the impact of recent court decisions on the cumulative effect of energy resource development on claims of First Nations, the linkage of First Nations claims under our Constitution to the harm that might happen to their rights
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau’s Culture Code for Canadians: Keeping it, with Fun
Dr. Clotiere Rapaille Within 18 months of so Canadians will elect a new prime minister and a new government. Of the three contenders for the top job – Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau – which one offers Canadians a leader best in tune with what Canadians really, really
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Deperately seeking Toronto’s Nenshi
Purple reign Is it time for Canada’s largest city to have its very own purple rain? The Editorial Board of the Globe & Mail seem to think so. They frame the issue this way: Toronto needs to be rethought from its suburbs inward, not from its centre outwards. And its
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why Stephen Harper will call an early election in spring 2014
George S. Patton I expect the Throne Speech in late January 2014 to be the timing for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to dissolve Parliament and call for an election in the spring of 2014, rather than wait for the legislated October 2015 date. The Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau are
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