I just got back from my Algonquin trip, so just a very brief post. In skimming today’s Star, there is a very interesting piece by Bob Hepburn on efforts at democratic renewal in Canada to combat the ongoing Harper attack on citizen engagement and voter participation. Small seeds can yield
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Politics and its Discontents: Registering My Disgust
Just a note for anyone looking to express their disgust at the award being given to Stephen Harper as World Statesman of the Year. I sent the following very brief note to Appeal of Conscience Foundation: I just want to register my disgust with your decision to bestow on Stephen
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why Harper’s Award as World Statesman of the Year Is An Insult to All of Us
I cannot help but think that it is the Harper regime’s unqualified and uncritical support for Israel that accounts for his being named World Statesman of the Year by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, founded by an American rabbi in 1965. The state of Israel, which trumpets itself as some
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Looking for Democracy
I am sure that like me, many despair over the state of democracy in Canada. Not only is it under continuous assault by a federal government that has repeatedly and consistently shown its contempt for the concept, but it also suffers from widespread citizen disengagement. Probably the two are inextricably
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: My Letter To My Tory M.P.
As mentioned in my previous post, the Harper Conservatives are starting to receive ‘blowback’ as a result of their heavy-handed and undemocratic push of Bill C-38, their budget omnibus bill. Now would seem to be a propitious time to express how we feel about M.P.s whose fealty to ‘Dear Leader’
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: It’s Time To Show Some National Self-Respect
When I was a child, I was afraid of many people: my teachers, who believed in strapping and slapping us as early as Grade One, school bullies who periodically picked on me, and some of the thuggish people residing in my working-class neighbourhood who enjoyed verbally assaulting those even more
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Independent M.P. Condemns Harper Omnibus Bill
I was just reading my weekly community paper, and my M.P., the disingenuous David Sweet, indulges in a debasement of language befitting Orwell’s 1984. For example, despite the tremendous havoc the Harper omnibus bill will wreak on environmental protection, Sweet says that under Bill C-38, “environmental initiatives will not be
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper Down On Democracy?
Well, this can’t be much of a surprise, can it? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Haunting Threats To Democracy
Being a rather fitful sleeper at the best of times, I often awake throughout the night, the sole advantage of this affliction being the ability to recall a large number of my dreams. Last night was one such night. In the dream, while I lived in an apparently normal environment,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Protesting The Harper Omnibus Budget Bill
I wrote a post the other day about a Leadnow.ca campaign promoting nation-wide demonstrations at the constituency offices of Conservative M.P.s to protest Bill C-38, the Harper government’s omnibus budget bill that changes over 70 laws, eroding further our democracy, our labour laws, and our environmental safeguards, to name but
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why Is Harper Inc. Targeting Only Environmental Charities?
Thanks to Dr. Dawg for the link to this petition to stop Harper attacks on charities who challenge his agenda. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Opportunity To Send Harper Inc. A Message
I received the following email message last evening from Leadnow.ca: Since the Harper Conservatives announced their Omnibus Budget, more and more Canadians are rallying against a bill that would put a black mark on our democracy. Now, we’re writing to invite you to join a national day of action at
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Lisa Raitt Promises To Get The Trains Running
And will she promise to get them running on time? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Do Bumper Stickers Reveal About Us? Part 2
I recently wrote a post entitled, What Do Bumper Stickers Reveal About Us? Part 1, in which I contemplated the implications of the one that reads: If You Don’t Stand Behind Our Troops, Feel Free To Stand In Front of Them. I ended that post by offering the opinion that
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: How The Harper Omnibus Bill Disrupted My Sunday
Yesterday started out pleasantly enough. After enjoying my wife’s home-made cereal, a piece of toast and some coffee, I decided the weather was so fine that it warranted my going out on my bicycle to be among nature’s delights. Returning home after about an hour-and-a-half, in an unusually serene frame
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