Are you a member of a family that has one or more children under 18 and two parents, only one of whom is working? Is that one working parent in the top income tax bracket? Woohoo! The government has a great deal for you! In what the Conservatives are calling
Continue readingTag: Harper government
The Cracked Crystal Ball II: ISIS, IS or ISIL … Whatever It’s Called This Week
It comes as no surprise that Harper is in a great hurry to commit Canada to a shooting war in Iraq/Afghanistan/Syria. Make no mistake, “military advisors” is a euphemism. Harper is committing troops to a shooting war that frankly we have no business involving ourselves in. I remember saying back
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Voice From The Past
The always mellifluous Brian Mulroney offers some less than sweet-sounding words for the Harper government. As reported in The Globe and Mail, in an interview with Don Martin on CTV’s Power Play, the former prime minister is quite critical of aspects of of the current, and warns that the electoral
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Confusing Freedom With Imposition
Canada’s “Association For Reformed Political Action” came to my attention this past week. Just from the name, you can tell that this is one of the groups that is seeking to turn Canada into a theocracy much like the far right is currently doing in the United States. I decided
Continue readingAlberta Diary: You could drive one of those tar sands heavy haulers through the gaping holes in the latest Fraser Institute ‘study’ of Alberta’s finances
A worker in Fort McMurray prepares to drive this truck through the holes in the Fraser Institute’s “report,” which claims Alberta’s finances are in worse shape than those of places like Texas, North Dakota and Louisiana. Below: The Norwegian oil port of Stavanger, which, according to the Fraser Institute, doesn’t
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Canada’s anti-union lobby is at the heart of the deceptive campaign for more Temporary Foreign Workers – why’s that, d’ya think?
Canadians need not apply? Actual Canadian store displays may not appear exactly as illustrated. But the intent of the AstroTurf TFW lobby is to bust unions and weaken the bargaining power of Canadian workers. Below: Employment Minister and former Canadian Taxpayers Federation operative Jason Kenney; former Canadian Federation of Independent
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper Tries To Foment A Crisis
Harper has taken a surprising number of losing cases to the Supreme Court of Canada. Most, if not all, were obviously places where the government’s position is one that is in direct contradiction with the Constitution of Canada. Even a relative neophyte in Constitutional law in Canada can spot that,
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Reference Cases Are Not The Problem
Over at iPolitics, James Matkin and Clive Cocking are busy moaning about how the Supreme Court “kills innovative legislation” in the form of “reference cases”. The basic thesis of their argument is that we need to take away from the Supreme Court of Canada the ability to hear “reference cases”.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Whatever the ‘Canadian Taxpayers Federation’ is, it’s certainly not a ‘tax watchdog’ – let’s stop calling it one!
“Canadian Taxpayers Federation” Alberta Communications Director Derek Fildebrandt dressed up for a typical CTF stunt, which the media falls for every time. Below: Mr. Fildebrandt back in the days he was part of the Reagan-Goldwater Society at Carleton University; CTF board members Karen Selick, Adam Daifallah and John Mortimer. (Thumbnail
Continue readingAlberta Diary: CTF bullying and misinformation: just what’s ‘wacky’ about rape prevention research?
Canadian Taxpayers Association Federal Director Gregory Thomas dressed up as a professor, with a man dressed as a pig, at a CTF news conference trashing government support for academic research. A cameraman can be seen at left obligingly filming. Below: Dr. Melanie Beres, unfairly ridiculed by the CTF for her
Continue readingAlberta Diary: The boss has gone crazy! He’s giving away new uniforms! And at only $4.5 million, they’re practically free!
Canadian soldiers will once again be clad in uniforms like these. If that doesn’t scare the hell out of Vladimir Putin, the guy’s got ice in his veins! Below: A typical naval officer in his cool new brass loops, armed with a naval thingy; what he’d be wearing if he
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Three reasons why Ottawa’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program ‘reforms’ likely mean little
There’s always been a worldwide pool of skilled and unskilled employees like these fellows for jobs in North America – immigration. Below: Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. Canadians are within their rights to be highly skeptical of the long list of changes to the Harper Government’s
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: Northern Gateway Pipeline: First Nations “Disgusted” With Harper’s Approval [VIDEO]
WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND: Enbridge’s vice president lies about winning over local First Nations [VIDEO] First Nations vow to fight Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project Elizabeth May Questions Harper on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline [VIDEO] Enbridge Inc Rebuked: “This is not an Enbridge animation” (VIDEO) Five strategies to stop Enbridge’s Northern Gateway
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: First Nations vow to fight Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project
“We are prepared to go to unprecedented lengths to conserve and protect our territories and waters from heavy oil” – First Nations Leadership Council by: First Nations Leadership Council | Press Release | June 17, 2014 Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC) – On December 19, 2013 the Joint Review Process released its report on
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: Harper Government Rejects Supreme Court Privacy Decision: Claims Ruling Has No Effect on Privacy Reform
by: by: MICHAEL GEIST | June 17, 2014 Having had the benefit of a few days to consider the implications of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Spencer, the Senate last night proceeded to ignore the court and pass Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, unchanged. The bill extends the ability to disclose subscriber
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: An All Out Assault
The last couple of weeks of legislative activity in Ottawa have been distressing to say the least. To call it an all out assault on Canada and Canadians is an understatement. The Harper Government has been ramming through a series of legislation that comprise the single most overt attack on
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: F-35 Fighter Jet Too Dangerous For Canadian Air Force, Says Report
by: Obert Madondo | June 9, 2014 A new report released Monday is urging the Harper Government to shelve its plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fleet. The report, entitled “One Dead Pilot: Single-Engine F-35s a Bad Choice,” was released by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-36: Analysis In Detail – Part I
The biggest pieces of Bill C-36 are well described elsewhere in the media, and there isn’t any real surprise to it. The Harper Government has more or less just resurrected the old environment. As with all such things the devil is in the details. The odd little lines where
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Apparently MacKay Missed The Point …
When the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s prostitution laws last year, it did so on the basis that the existing laws placed sex workers in unreasonably dangerous situations. Quite appropriately, the Supreme Court gave the government a year to table new legislation. Today, Justice Minister Peter MacKay
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper: A Decade In And He Still Doesn’t Get It
Stephen Harper has been in power for the high side of a decade. That’s a long time. Most Prime Ministers by this point in their careers have figured out that the foreign affairs portfolio is a tricky one. When you are a smallish nation like Canada, you get much better
Continue reading