The other day I wrote a post about detecting patterns in political behaviour, opining that most media spend a disproportionate amount of their considerable resources covering trivia like celebrity gossip and acting as shallow and lazy supporters of government propaganda. The Toronto Star, I asserted, is one of the few
Continue readingTag: harper government misdeeds
Politics 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: 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
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: New Disgrace For Both Harper And Kent
Environment minister’s office urged bureaucrats to blame media for recycling controversy Nope, no surprises here in the depth of contempt both the P.M. And Peter Kent feel for the people they ‘serve’. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Death By Download?
Although a cliche, it is nonetheless true that knowledge is power, which probably explains why Canada is currently under the yoke of the most secretive and undemocratic federal government it has ever known. The latest restriction on access to information is reflected in the Harper termination of the National Roundtable
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Make That A Soya Burger For Me
If the Harper regime has its way, a rise in cholesterol levels may be the least of your worries when you make that next trip to Macdonalds. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: When Does An Assembly Become Unlawful?
Because we were rather busy yesterday preparing a small celebration marking my sister-in-law’s retirement at an enviably young age, I am just getting caught up on my Saturday newspaper reading. One of the issues that caught my attention is the private member’s bill making its way through Parliament as an
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: John Baird, A Friend Indeed
Want $1 million of taxpayers’ money for a project that fails to meet government criteria? If he is your ‘dear friend,’ call Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for intervention that hardly qualifies as ‘divine’. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Sad Saga Of Our Declining Democracy Continues
During the past year I have written many posts on the sad spectacle of a Canadian democracy in decline, citizen cynicism and apathy rather than vigorous engagement becoming the default position of more and more Canadians. I have also offered the opinion that this is in large part the result
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Freedom of Information: Turkey, Mexico and India, Yes – Canada, Not So Much
The Harper obsession with secrecy and control is well-known and the source of much international attention. However, it seems we now have new reason to be both embarrassed and outraged. According to the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), our country also lags behind other less developed nations in meeting
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Harper Perversion Of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program
In what looks like yet another invitation by the Harper regime to corporate thievery in Canada, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley last week announced that employers will now be able to pay temporary migrant workers less than would be paid to Canadians doing the same job. What is especially alarming
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Congratulations To The Harper Government
May the Prime Minister and his party enablers wear this award with distinction! P.S. Check out some of the readers’ comments on the site as well. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Short But Not So Sweet Letter
Here is a copy of the letter that I just fired off to my Conservative Member of Parliament, David Sweet: Dear Mr. Sweet, Although I am sure you are only too aware of the hypocrisy involved, it seems more than passing strange that your government should suddenly cancel the Katimavik
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Blather From Gerry Nichols: Your Mother Wears Army Boots
Earlier this week, Gerry Nichols, self-described on his website as One of Canada’s Top Five Political Minds, wrote an opinion piece in The Start entitled, In praise of negative political ads. In it, the former head of the National Citizens Coalition asserts that positive political ads are a far greater
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: PROOF of Tory Election Fraud
Today I received an email from The Council of Canadians which includes a link to a sworn affidavit by Annette Desagne, a former employee of Responsive Marketing Group, attesting to election fraud through the misdirection of voters to the wrong polling stations. When you read the actual affidavit, you will
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Cost of Political Disengagement
Thanks to LeDaro’s link, I was able to catch up on the At Issues panel that I missed on Thursday night. While the discussion revolved largely around the F-35 debacle, the point I found most discouraging was the statistic that only 30-35% of Canadians follow politics at all. It is
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Corruption and Political Disengagement
Last night I had a long telephone conversation with my good friend Dave, who lives in Winnipeg. Like me (and probably more so), Dave has a keenly developed sense of justice and fair play, and when those values are violated, he is outraged. Last evening, as he was telling me
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: How Concerned Is The Harper Regime About Your Safety?
If you are one of those people who regularly eats, apparently not too much. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Sad Tale of the Bumbling, Prevaricating Defense Minister Continues
I was feeling just a tad depressed today until I read this story. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?
The above question, first asked about Richard Nixon as he ran against John Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential race, was designed to underscore the seemingly untrustworthy nature of the candidate – his shifty, evasive gaze, heavy perspiration, and his 5 o’clock shadow all seemed to suggest a man hiding something.
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