Like other commentators, in the past few weeks I’ve paid a lot of attention to the United Conservative Party’s so-called RStar scheme to forgive multibillion dollar oil corporations at least $100 million of their royalty payments to clean up oil and gas wells they’re already legally and financially obligated to
Continue readingTag: Guest post
Alberta Politics: Guest post by Steve Bradshaw: Is a regional transit system really a good deal for Edmonton?
By Steve Bradshaw Edmonton City Council is being asked to upload our Edmonton Transit Service into a regional system responsible for public transit throughout the entire Edmonton metropolitan area. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 President Steve Bradshaw (Photo: Steve Bradshaw). City councillors will have to decide this month whether Edmonton
Continue readingPolitical Potshots: Guest Post By The Girl Who Waited: I Am Not Mad As Hell, I Am Just Tired Of Your Bullshit (Redux)
I am finished. I am done. I try to stay rational, but cannot stay quiet any longer. I know some will try to dismiss me as yet another angry leftist woman – and if so? None of what I write further will matter to you, so hit the back button
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Guest Post: A Response To Be Careful What You Wish For
As I indicated in my last post, I have been having problems with readers’ comments. I have not been receiving them. I have found a workaround the situation; although I am still not being notified of them, I went into the dashboard and looked under Comments Awaiting Moderation, where I
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Grand Plan of Obfuscation: A Guest Post
In response to Saturday’s post about the increasing momentum of the neoliberal creep evident in the Trudeau government, frequent commentator BM offered his detailed take on this sorry situation: It’s all part of the Grand Plan of Obfuscation. Put in a haphazard system of Pharmacare, so that no citizen knows
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Corporate Crocodile Tears: A Guest Post
In response to my post yesterday about CBC bias in its reporting on Ontario’s minimum wage increase, the Mound wrote a detailed commentary that I am featuring today as a guest post. Following his piece I reproduce a letter from a Star reader pillorying corporate hypocrisy. “Government should function on
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Responding To "Suppressing Dissent" – A Guest Post
This morning I received a comprehensive commentary from BM, who was responding to my post Suppressing Dissent, which expressed criticism of the visit by Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ visit to the Donald Trump White House. If you missed it, you may wish to read it before enjoying BM’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: Fiscal hawks’ formulas for cutting spending don’t really fly in the face of reality
PHOTOS: The Alberta Government’s Dash-8, used and abused by Premier Ralph Klein so that he could smoke while in transit between Calgary and Edmonton (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). It’s not just what you spend, but what you spend it on, says Guest Post Author Bob Raynard, below. Below him: former Conservative
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Guest Post: A Provocative And Fascinating Thesis
I recently published a guest post by BM entitled, The Creep Of Corporatism. In a followup, he has written something that I think many will find both fascinating and thought-provoking: Thank you for featuring my comment as a blog post. In line with your other recent post on Canadian sovereignty,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Trump Never Had A Chance
Guest Post by Chris Henderson Seemingly every day, someone tells me that they’re worried Donald Trump will win the election. Aside from the natural anxiety that comes with a possibility potentially catastrophic (yet still remote), I really don’t believe Trump… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta Politics: Guest Post: How the Alberta government can reform Payday Loan rules
There are differing opinions on payday loans and the government of Alberta wants to hear yours. One thing is certain though, they are extremely expensive and targeted at Albertans living in poverty. For many Albertans who need quick cash a… Continue Reading →
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Advice for the next Premier of Alberta: Be Bold by being Boring
TweetSo you’re a new Premier, looking for a way to make a splash – to make the public forget about the previous regime. You could do something simple like reduce Cabinet to 20, which is essentially the size of Cabinet (Associate Ministers are not actually Cabinet ministers). But that’s not
Continue readingThe Equivocator: The Liberal Party: A Substantial Heritage, a Future of Substance (Co-written with Theresa Lubowitz)
Theresa Lubowitz on the Death of Substantive Policy Canada is teetering dangerously close to the death of substantive policy as we know it, with the rise of a populist Conservative Government, a populist NDP Official Opposition, and a struggling Liberal Party so afraid of irrelevancy it has spent the last
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Zach Armstrong: Step Up, Step Aside
I recently attended the Ontario Liberal Party’s Provincial Council in Sudbury. It was great to see so many dedicated Liberals working together in Northern Ontario, but one moment was particularly inspiring. During a session about youth in politics, Kathleen Wynne (Minister of Municipal & Aboriginal Affairs) provided some insights from
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Micah Goldberg: Trudeau Leadership Needs Big Ideas
Politics is more about timing than it is skill. Being the right person in the right place at the right time is more conducive to political success than being the wisest, best-educated or most prudent individual in the world. With Bob Rae’s decision to respect his oath not to seek
Continue readingThose Emergency Blues: Guest Post: How We Can Fix the Malaise in the Nursing Profession
Nurse Practitioner (Photo credit: ekea7) by Amanda Trujillo If the newer generations of nurses out there are more confused than ever about their roles in healthcare — they should be. I’m one of the newer generations of nurses and I — AM — CONFUSED. Seriously. Think about it. We are taught
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Why the Barrie Young Liberals Are Walking to Fight MS
Late last year, one of the parents of a Barrie Young Liberal developed multiple sclerosis. After suffering from two seizures, doctors performed extensive testing on her brain to discover the cause. She was diagnosed with MS. Multiple sclerosis is a frightening and degenerating disease. It impairs the ability of the
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Micah Goldberg: Pennywise Mr. Harper
The end of the penny has caused many important cuts in Steven Harper’s first majority budget to have been buried. CBC funding was cut to the amount of $115 million dollars, $56 million was cut from the Canadian Food Inspections Agency, the Katimavik program was scrapped altogether, the list goes
Continue readingThe Equivocator: The NDP Leadership Foreign Policy Awards – 2012
The evening of the Academy Awards a good friend and I were reviewing the foreign policy platforms of three NDP leadership candidates, Tom Mulcair, Brian Topp and Peggy Nash. Here are some awards we created for each of the three candidates’ policies: Most impressive foreign policy recommendation: Peggy Nash –
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Micah Goldberg: How bad was this week for the Conservative Government?
It was bad. It was really bad. It was the worst week the Conservatives have had since they became a Majority Government. Bill C-30, the “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act” allows the Government and Canadian authorities to track the digital footprint of Canadian citizens without a warrant in situations
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