Harper ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

The Disaffected Lib: I’ve Got an Idea to Rescue Justin From His Slump

Mar

8

2018

Unfair or not, Justin Trudeau has taken a hit in the public’s mind over his pretty clumsy trip to India. With JT et famille sporting an elaborate wardrobe of Bollywood’s best fashions, the Indian press took the piss out of him pretty relentlessly. The local scribblers piled on. Now Trudeau’s approval numbers have dropped to ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Trudeau plays to the home crowd.

Dec

15

2017

Surprise, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau played it safe the other day. He appointed Quebec’s Richard Wagner as chief justice of the Supreme Court. We Canadians have had little chance to hear from Wagner prior to this appointment. We have had no real chance to assess what his leadership might mean. We were left out while ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Longingly looking for liberalism.

Nov

24

2017

A correspondent from British Columbia recently asked “What is a Liberal party bereft of liberalism?” He was, of course, describing the situation today where the Conservative parties are moving farther and farther to the harshest right, Liberals are the new Conservative-Light and the New Democrats are lost in a confused and undetermined world of the ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Chuckles’ Canned Conservatism.

Nov

14

2017

In discussing the ebbing strength of the democracy of Canada’s Conservative parties yesterday, we never got to the major problem faced by the federal Conservatives. Their problem is one of leadership. If there ever was a good example of the mediocrity produced by preferential voting, the Conservative party faces that problem today in its leadership. ...

Ken Chapman: The Closed Nature of the UCP Kenney Party

Nov

13

2017

I’ve been doing some reading about values and mindsets and applying some of these learnings to political organizations and trends. In the previous post I spoke about Arrested, Closed and Open mindsets and related them to the Alberta NDP, UCP and Alberta Party respectively. I want to delve a bit deeper into the characteristics of ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Diminished democracy of Canada’s Conservatives.

Nov

13

2017

In looking at the major political parties in Canada in their headlong dash for irrelevancy, we might as well start with the Conservatives. Since the end of the 90s and the machinations of Stephen Harper to finally achieve the promise to ‘unite the right’ across Canada, the separated federal and provincial conservative parties have been ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: The Hair harasses NAFTA hopefuls.

Nov

6

2017

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is still on life support. The end of his first year in office and President Donald Trump has not yet ended the more than US$ one trillion in trade between the three countries. Maybe he was waiting for some help from critics of the Canadian Prime Minister to ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Book review: Social policy in Canada (second edition)

Sep

11

2017

Oxford University Press has recently released the second edition of Social Policy in Canada, co-authored by the father-daughter duo of Ernie Lightman and Naomi Lightman. I recommend this book as an excellent resource for students of social policy. It will be useful for classroom instruction, while also being a handy reference for researchers, persons who ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Hébert hails the Hair.

Sep

10

2017

It is unlikely that many of political commentator Chantal Hébert’s fans read her Toronto Star columns for the humour. It is only occasionally that she writes with her tongue firmly in cheek. If you missed her most recent column, you missed a gem. She actually wrote of how the Hair (Stephen Harper) saved Canada from ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Lottsa’ Luck Senator Duffy!

Aug

27

2017

Senator Mike Duffy already has his payoff. He is still being paid as a member of Canada’s parliament. The report that he wants to sue the Senate and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is an insult to both bodies. And the suggestion that Duffy’s case is anything like that of Omar Khadr is erroneous, disgusting ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: Diminishing Democracy.

Aug

9

2017

Around the world, from Venezuela to Poland, from Turkey to America, we are watching the destruction of democracy. Those who believe in democracy are routinely arrested, beaten, detained or killed on the streets of once-safe cities. It is a challenge everywhere. There is no safe haven. And Canada is no bastion of democracy. Former Prime ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: How would Harper have handled Trump?

Jun

11

2017

When listening to Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland give her very important speech on the new world order, there was one disturbing thought. It was a silly question as to how would our previous prime minister have handled the situation? The one thing for sure was that Stephen Harper would never have allowed his ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Income Inequality Surged Under Harper

May

27

2017

Just as Conservatives gathered to elect a new leader, Statistics Canada released income data for 2015. These allow us to look at trends under the full term of the Harper Government from 2006 to 2015. Average after tax income of economic families rose over this period – from $68,200 to $76,900 in inflation-adjusted dollars. But ...

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Nathan Cullen’s Electoral Reform tour stop in Regina

May

26

2017

@gtlem @pau1234la @Erin_Weir @nathancullen Here's the good one he took, and got @Carla4Lakeview in the background. pic.twitter.com/o9q29JLDA4 — Saskboy (@saskboy) May 26, 2017 Room filling up at Knox-Met for @nathancullen #ERRE #KeepYourPromise tour#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/tM3a5IWgBa — Saskboy (@saskboy) May 26, 2017

The Progressive Economics Forum: The introduction and evolution of child benefits in Canada

Apr

30

2017

Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits can reduce both poverty and homelessness. -When child benefits began in Canada after World War II, one major motivating factor for the federal government was ...

My journey with AIDS…and more!: Connecting with ‘The War To End All Wars’ – Pte. Thomas Butler

Mar

9

2017

Originally posted on My journey with AIDS…and more!: There is tragic irony with the news that Canada has suffered our greatest single-day loss of troops in Afghanistan with the deaths of six soldiers in a roadside bombing. A seventh Canadian suffered serious injuries. Regardless of our views on Canada’s role in this conflict our…

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Up Is Down, Left Is Right, Idiots in Government

Mar

9

2017

These are examples of why the US and Canada cannot have nice things. We’ve idiots in government. Who put them there? Was it voters, or people with even more direct influence like Donald Trump and Stephen Harper? Like having a Surgeon-General who says smoking is not a primary cause of lung cancer. Shocking! https://t.co/eJTQMZl0aM — ...

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: For a Decade It was Harper Horror

Jan

9

2017

Now, it may be Trump’s turn to make everything worse. I’m not planning on blogging about Trump very much, however. The man gets far too much attention, and that’s one of the things that brought him to power in the United States. While Harper was wrecking Canada, I couldn’t help but write about his lying, ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: In the steps of the Hair or of Trump?

Dec

6

2016

There could be as many as 14 contenders for the upcoming Conservative leadership contest on-stage in Moncton tonight. Which candidates will take their cue from the Hair (Stephen Harper) and who will want to try the President-Elect Donald Trump style is the question? The Moncton event is our first chance to hear from some of ...

The Disaffected Lib: How Nigel Wright Got a Pass

Nov

12

2016

It’s an interesting story but hardly convincing. When the RCMP went after senator Mike Duffy for supposed bribery it left people shaking their heads. How could Duffy have committed the crime of bribery for receiving Nigel Wright’s $90-thousand without Wright being criminally responsible for giving the bribe? It became known as the “immaculate bribe.” Newly ...

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: A Tax on Everything Is Coming

Oct

5

2016

Run for the hills! .@CNN #PriceOnCarbon article: "because we've been so slow to act on this crisis, bold action is now required" https://t.co/PvV1Y1oFdM — Pembina Institute (@Pembina) October 5, 2016 I realize several people who I’m friends with, think Premier Wall is great for Saskatchewan. I’ve never held a high opinion of the man, I ...

Left Over: Green Party ReGrowth?

Aug

13

2016

Elizabeth May could quit as Green Party leader this month ‘Broken-hearted’ May says boycott Israel policy has her on verge of stepping down as leader By David Cochrane, CBC News Posted: Aug 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 12, 2016 5:00 AM ET Is the Green Party ready for life after Elizabeth May? Popular ...

Left Over: Just another E-Mail from the Real World…

Jul

25

2016

A friend sent me this article, and I am adding my answer…I don’t have permission to print out the article in its entirety, but you can look for it at FP..it’s short and succinct… WORTHY OF THEIR ANGER Our leaders’ unpunished failures have led to furious voters Stephen Walt For Foreign Policy magazine Dear K…. ...

Left Over: Gordon Campbell..back in the Soup…

Jul

19

2016

Ottawa announces diplomatic shakeup with 26 new appointments Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion removes high-profile Harper-era appointees By John Paul Tasker, CBC News Posted: Jul 19, 2016 11:27 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 19, 2016 3:02 PM ET It’s about time, by any standards of political heel-dragging, that the Harper appointees go gently into that good ...

Babel-on-the-Bay: What’s Jason Kenney doing? And who cares?

Jun

26

2016

Yes, the Conservative Party of Canada is having a convention in a year or so to pick a new leader. After all, the party could hardly allow temporary leader Rona Ambrose time to get comfortable at Stornoway. So far, it is a very thin field of applicants. Though what would you expect when the leader ...