Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Ian Lovett reports on the use of “capital appreciation bonds” in California to ensure that future generations pay an inflated price to private-sector developers for infrastructure today. – Justin Ling’s review of Joyce Murray’s message about electoral non-competition pacts is well worth a
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The Canadian Progressive: Canada has a $145 billion infrastructure underfunding crisis: study
by Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives | Jan. 24, 2013: OTTAWA— Underinvestment in infrastructure is not a crisis but a chronic problem in Canada, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The study, by economist and CCPA Research Associate Hugh Mackenzie, reveals the extent of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Friday reading. – In addition to providing my latest tagline, Alex Himelfarb takes aim at the austerians who seem happy to attack social well-being and economic development alike in the name of government-slashing: (A)usterity had never been driven by fiscal policy or economics or evidence. It
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Privatization Via Blackmail
If you want to see why there isn’t much of a real left wing in the USA, this graph of those seeking the White House in 2008 pretty much covers it. 2008 US presidential candidates show little actual left wing juice. If you want proof of how the neoliberal US
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Greener Asphalt
Roads are often overlooked when it comes to the impact of cars on the environment, but we can’t ignore the roads have on the environment when discussing the practicality of cars. Asphalt is used to make roads and the process of creating asphalt is very energy intensive. In Vancouver, they are looking into ways to […]
Continue readingThings Are Good: Fight Fat with Urban Design
People in urban centres walk more and are generally more active than those who live in the suburbs, which is great for urbanites but not so great for the health of suburban dwellers. Years of poor urban planning in the suburbs have had a negative effect on the health of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jim Stanford reviews the effect of NAFTA (and associated corporatist policy choices) on Canada’s economy: Quantity of exports: In the mid-1980s, before Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan inked their deal, Canada’s exports to the United States accounted for 19 per cent of Canadian
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – The CCPA’s Christopher Schenk offers up a detailed response to the Sask Party’s attacks on workers, featuring this conclusion: In a period of widening inequality restrictive labour laws are blatantly unnecessary and regressive. Indeed, their consideration is shocking when one considers that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On single issues
Apparently today is Stadium Cheerleading Day in the Leader-Post. But in correctly noting that this fall’s election will be decisive in determining whether a stadium goes ahead, Bruce Johnstone seems to me to give away the real choice voters face: Of course, this doesn’t mean that the stadium is the
Continue readingImpolitical: Parks Canada cuts and the Rideau Canal
A late summerish item this morning. This is a great local paper report on the Rideau Canal and the challenges being faced by users, small businesses that depend on it, local residents, cottagers, etc. Parks Canada’s budget has been cut by about $30 million and the impact on the Canal’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: December 14, 2011
Wednesday, December 14 saw another day of debate devoted to free trade issues, this time addressing a proposed treaty with Jordan. But first… The Utterly Unprecedented, Stunning Development Which Shook The Very Foundations Of Canada’s System Of Government As Administered By Stephen Harper Helene Laverdiere asked a simple question to
Continue readingThings Are Good: Madrid Turned a Highway into a Park
Madrid made a very wise urban planning decision and buried a highway to make room for people and nature. Thanks to a lack of foresight, the Rio Manzanares was surrounded by concrete and industrial spaces that made for depressing scene. The smart people in Madrid decided to change that and
Continue readingThings Are Good: Over 50% of Germany’s Renewable Energy Production Owned by People
Consumer-ready renewable energy can destabilize the traditional energy utility structure in a similar way to how the internet destabilized a lot of other old school industries. This is a good thing because it makes the production of resources (be it knowledge or energy or physical goods) more democratic and resilient
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Policy Roundup
As the NDP’s leadership race moves into the limelight, the candidates are starting to unveil some of their policy priorities. As I’ve mentioned it’s an open question as to how much members will want to change from a set of ideas that’s worked rather well for a few election cycles
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 27 saw the House of Commons discuss the gun registry – and if the Cons’ choices to not just dismantle the federal long gun registry but also shred the evidence weren’t problematic enough, the debate also featured the Cons’ closure motion. The Big Issue Once again, that motion
Continue readingImpolitical: Wednesday drive-by blogging
1. Google has published its Transparency Report which includes the User Data Requests from governments around the world. A helpful comparative tool. Canada made 50 user data requests, reported there to be part of criminal investigations, with a complia…
Continue readingImpolitical: When conservatives build bridges
This Gunter item (yes, I know, I really shouldn’t) was extremely annoying this week. Why should Canada build Montreal a new bridge, he asked. “Why is that Canadians’ responsibility? Why do taxpayers in Kitimat or Antigonish have to pay? Why does the …
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Paul Martin on the Economy
Some sober reflections on the present state of the global economy by the former Prime Minister. Not a lot of insight beyond the obvious, but Martin does provide some sound advice regarding the current sovereign debt crisis in Europe (that … Continue reading →
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: China’s (Vacant) City of the Future
Launched several years ago as a massive public works project near Ordos, a wealthy coal-mining town in Inner Mongolia, today, China’s “City of the Future” remains mostly empty despite being originally designed to house, support and entertain a population the … Continue reading →
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