It’s not like it comes as a big surprise that the Harper Government is nasty. But the extent of their vileness continues expand. First, the Harper Government seems to have decided to shut down basic literacy programs across Canada. The claims of the Harperites on this matter are the usual
Continue readingTag: Harper government
The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Health Insurance Is Becoming A Scam
I have long been suspicious of health insurance plans of any sort. Even short term health insurance for travel seems to be written in such a way that it is weighted quite firmly in favour of the insurer than the insured. Recently, three cases in Canada came to light that
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Next Step In Harper’s Police State
So, Harper wants to connect the CRA with the RCMP. Chantal Bernier, Canada’s interim privacy commissioner, says she is concerned by the government’s proposal to allow Canada Revenue Agency officials to voluntarily hand over taxpayer information to police if they have reason to believe such information is evidence of a
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Where’s the beef? Ottawa and the fast-food lobby are serving nothing but baloney about the need for Temporary Foreign Workers
Whatever it says on the menu, fast food restaurant owners, other employers of temporary foreign workers and their pals in the Harper Government are serving baloney. Below: Dominique M. Gross of Simon Fraser University; Charles Decatur “C.D.” Howe. Advocates of the Harper Government’s so-called Temporary Foreign Workers Program are using
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: TFWP: Yet Another Reason To Shut It Down
The consequences of the Harper Government’s widening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program over the last several years keeps going from bad to worse. At first it was employers choosing to hire TFWs over Canadians. Then we started finding out that not only were the companies forcing them to living
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: The Harper Cons have announced they are naming the new Finance…
The Harper Cons have announced they are naming the new Finance Canada building after the worst finance minister in Canadian (and Ontario) history, “Deficit Jim” Flaherty. To reflect Flaherty’s disastrous political record and mean-spirited personality, it will: Be small and useless Go billions of dollars over budget and have a
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Explaining the screams for easy-to-exploit Temporary Foreign Workers: Canadians are just too uppity for many low-wage employers
Chinese workers building Canadian railways – another sordid story of “temporary foreign workers.” Below: B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark rose in that province’s Legislative Building in Victoria yesterday and apologized for a stream of racist laws and policies
Continue readingMaple-Flavoured Politics: Knee-Jerk Government Secrecy: The Cameron Visit to Ottawa
How bizarre is this? According to a CBC news story, the Privy Council Office took two years to respond to a CBC Access to Information request asking for “documents pertaining to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s official visit to Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2011.” When the response finally arrived, it included
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23 Passed, Stinkers Included
Whatever amendments were made to Bill C-23, they didn’t address much of anything that I raised as problematic in my earlier analysis of the first draft tabled in the House of Commons. Full text here. Never before have I seen a piece of legislation so clearly designed to “stack the
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: CPC Lied To Elections Canada On RoboCalls?
The corruption that is the CPC’s actions in the 2011 election continues to fester. The most recent instalment comes to us via Stephen Maher’s latest column. In an email May 1, party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told Elections Canada that Conservative call centre workers were not advising voters that Elections Canada
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper’s Attempt To Politicize The Judiciary
More so than any Prime Minister in Canada’s history, Harper is hell-bent on imposing his political agenda on Canada’s courts. But there’s another way to look at it, based on a view shared by Stephen Harper and others in his inner circle, that judges on Quebec’s senior courts are too
Continue readingMaple-Flavoured Politics: The Harper Government: Doesn’t Play Well With Others
Is it me or do you get the sense that if a primary school teacher were grading the “Harper Government,” as it like to call itself, the phrase “doesn’t play well with others” would figure prominently on the report card? Of course, the opposition is the opposition so you would
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Just Shut It Down Already
As if we hadn’t already heard enough about the vileness that is the TFWP, we have two major revelations today which more than justify shutting the whole thing down immediately. First up is the “advice” that a company which recruits TFWs gave to an employer: According to the email, which
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Has Gotta Hurt
Expect the Harper attack machine to ramp up its game: Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Decision Making and Pregnancy
Think that the Harper Government doesn't have an anti-woman agenda? Think again. From LifeSite: Conservative MP Kyle Seeback openly admits that he was once “fairly comfortable” with the viewpoint that a pregnant woman should have the option to abort in the case of rape. He also says that even though
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Strike 4: Harper Cannot Unilaterally Reform The Senate
The Supreme Court issued their ruling on the Senate Reform Consultation questions that Harper put before them last year. In a unanimous decision released Friday, eight judges of the top court concluded that implementing fixed terms for senators or provincial elections for Senate candidates would require the consent of
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: "I can’t even get my friends to like me." Mark this date:…
“I can’t even get my friends to like me.” Mark this date: April 16, 2014. Disgraced Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper tells the truth for the first time in his political career, as he campaigns at the state funeral of former finance minister Jim Flaherty. The rest of Harper’s speech
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: The Senate Takes A Swing
Okay, now the Senate is talking about wanting to see some amendments to the Harper Government’s bill to undermine Canada’s democracy. The interim report recommends: — Removing a provision which would allow political parties to exempt from their election expenses any money spent to raise donations from anyone who has
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Canadians will forever be indebted because of Jim…
Canadians will forever be indebted because of Jim Flaherty. Regardless of what one thinks of the recently deceased man on a personal level, if one uses objective, non-emotional criteria, it is clear that he was probably the worst finance minister in Canadian history. Unfortunately for us, his replacement, Joe Oliver,
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Time To Get Your Eye Back On The Ball, Tom
Apparently NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair hasn’t figured out what the ball is in Canadian politics today. He also took shots at both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Trudeau.Trudeau, in particular, bore the brunt of Mulcair’s attack.The Liberals under Trudeau have been trying to court middle-class voters in the run-up to the next
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