While the Harper cabal proceeds full-tilt with its tarsands advertising campaign, the details of which Canadians are being denied, a game of inconvenient truth versus consequences is being played out in Peace River, Alberta. According to a report in The Edmonton Journal, Peace River may be making people sick. The
Continue readingTag: harper contempt for transparency
Politics and its Discontents: Some Things Never Change
Although the following Rick Mercer rant was made early in 2013, most, I think, would agree that nothing has changed in the interim: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Cowardly Stealth
It has been said that at their core, bullies are cowards. Usually they set their sights on weaker targets, and when the time is propitious, unleash their fury. Stealth is often the preferred tactic, given their reluctance to have their deeds exposed for what they are. It is hardly earth-shattering
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Who Do You Trust?
Two seeming unrelated stories, both connected by one pernicious element: unwarranted government secrecy. In this morning’s Hamilton Spectator is the sad tale of Marit McKenzie, an 18-year-old Calgarian who died after taking an anti-acne drug known as Diane-35. Often prescribed off-label as a birth-control pill, the drug’s side effects can
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Wading Back Into The Fray
Having spent yesterday recovering from the temporal vicissitudes imposed by trans-Atlantic travel, my first post back will be brief and on one of my favorite subjects, The Man Who Would Be King, a.k.a. Dear Leader, the ersatz head of a country whose government, thanks to his contemptuous and heavy-hand ministrations,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Scientist Speaks Out
By now, the plight of government scientists is reasonably well-known. Despite the Harper propaganda machine’s vehement campaign to deny the practice, more and more Canadians have become aware that the regime has been systematically muzzling its scientists, whose research and hard data frequently contradict and expose as lies the ideology
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Please Sign This Petition
While many of us know that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is being conducted in unprecedented secrecy (except, of course, in the case of the corporate sector that has full access to the discussions), it is difficult to rally opposition to it with few facts. I received a petition request today
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Anti-Harper
I’d like to make it clear at the start of this post that I have by no means been converted to the belief that Justin Trudeau would be an appropriate choice to lead the country, for reasons that I will conclude the post with. However, I simply want to make
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Ad the CBC Refuses To Air
Are they right or wrong? You decide. You can read the full story here. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Are You Psychologically Fit To Be The Next Parliamentary Budget Officer?*
The Globe and Mail reports that those vying to replace Kevin Page, the man who so distinguished himself as our last Parliamentary Budget Officer, are being asked to undergo psychological testing. I understand there is also an asterisked portion at the bottom of the application. * Those with integrity need
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A New Transparency For Harper?
Sometimes the truth can be ugly indeed. H/t Canadians Rallying To Unseat Harper Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Remembrances Of Things Past (A.K.A. Harper’s Empty Promises, A.K.A Lies)
I trust these pictorial efforts speak for themselves: H/t Piper McKinnon – Canadians Rallying To Unseat Stephen Harper H/t The Toronto Star Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s ‘Accountability’
This raw video from this morning’s efforts at damage control says all there needs to be said about Harper and accountability: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Praise for Kevin Page
Readers of this blog will know that I have a deep and abiding respect for people of real integrity, those capable of moving beyond narrow self-interest to embrace ethics and principles in the conduct of their lives. Kevin Page, of whom I have written several times, is one such individual
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Just Trust Us
We all remember the abortive attempts by Kevin Page, Parliamentary Budget Officer, to find out specifically how federal budget cuts were going to affect programs. The Harper regime was of the view that such detailed information wasn’t to be shared, despite the pesky expectations that a putative open democracy tends
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Inspiration From Kevin Page
There is an excellent piece in this morning’s Star by outgoing Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page. In it, he talks about how his son’s death was the catalyst for his abandoning a natural desire for job security and his subsequent pursuit of the job which has incurred so much Harper
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More On Harper’s Censorship of Science
The other day I wrote a post about the Harper regime’s ongoing efforts and measures designed to thwart government transparency; the Prime Minister’s abuse of power is most flagrant in his suppression of the voice of science, thereby effectively denying information vital if citizens are to have any hope of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Quasi-Police State In Our Midst
He who controls the media controls the minds of the public. – Noam Chomsky In some ways, it is very much reminiscent of what occurred during the time of the Soviet Union, when athletic or cultural figures would visit the West, always accompanied by ‘escorts’ whose ostensible purpose was to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Harper Contempt for Transparency and Democracy
This story about Kevin Page’s relentless and noble ongoing attempts to extract information about the public service impact of government budget cuts from the secrecy-obsessed Harper regime appeared in today’s Star. Consequently, I couldn’t resist the impulse to send the story link to the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, the body
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