When conservative politicians run out of meaningful things to say about Alberta’s NDP government they whip out the “ideology” card and last week’s debate featuring candidates vying for the seat left vacant by Jim “all-or-nothing” Prentice was no exception. The Wildrose candidate, Prasad Panda, accused the NDP of carrying out
Continue readingTag: Margaret Thatcher
BigCityLib Strikes Back: Not A Communist: Tom & Maggie
Actually this doesn’t look bad on him. Equivalent to finding out that Harper once played drums in a Hendrix cover band (he didn’t). Not sure there was any reason for the campaign to even formally address a clip that old unless they figured it worked in their favor. And it
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Craig B. Chandler: He’s baaaack (in Ontario)! And he’s gonna get Linda McQuaig … elected!
PHOTOS: A screen grab of Craig B. Chandler telling immigrants to Alberta to vote Conservative or get lost back in 2007. Below: NDP Toronto Centre candidate Linda McQuaig. Brace yourselves, Toronto! Craig B. Chandler’s heading your way to campaign against Linda McQuaig, the NDP’s candidate in the Toronto Centre riding,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Parson’ Manning, in the pulpit, preaches a formula of failure to Alberta’s New Democrats
PHOTOS: Preston Manning, Godfather of the Canadian right. Below: Alberta Premier Designate Rachel Notley, Liberal prime minister Wilfrid Laurier, Social Credit premier E.C. Manning and United Farmers of Alberta leader Henry Wise Wood. Preaching from the highest pulpit in the land, the opinion pages of the mighty Globe and Mail,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Beat of the Fascist Drum
He couldn't have had a better excuse to miss the return of Parliament, and dodge all those questions about his catastrophic economic record.For there he was at the funeral of a dead Mountie.Looking suitable sorrowful, and posing as a Great Crime Busting Leader.Which like everything he did today was choreographed
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Jim Prentice revealed as Hayek ‘disciple’; Heather Forsyth to lead Wildrose rump; Preston Manning says he’s sorry … and more!
A crowd of typical Albertans reacts to the news Danielle Smith and most of her caucus have gone and joined Premier Jim Prentice’s PCs. Below: Mr. Prentice; neoliberal saint Friedrich Hayek; Preston Manning, who is really, really sorry he didn’t counsel a vote or something; interim Wildrose Leader Heather Forsyth;
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A political oddity hits the big time – but what do we really know about Michael Cooper?
Michael Cooper turned up door knocking on your blogger’s doorstep in St. Albert last summer. A photo was required! Below: Independent St. Albert Member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber, former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day and journalist Paul Wells. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Every few years, Michael Cooper seems to pop onto
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s big problem is the same as Russia’s – so what’s Stephen Harper doing about it?
Keep those wells a-pumpin! Keep those oil prices low! Squeeze those Russkies! Uh … just a minute. … isn’t that bad for Alberta’s many varieties of Conservative? Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mr. Harper’s hero, Margaret Thatcher. The Globe and Mail, tireless cheerleader for
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Don’t Blame Stephen Harper, Blame Edmund Burke
“If a sociology professor applies a day before a medical doctor, the professor’s application gets processed first … I mean, we don’t really need a sociology professor. “. Jason Kenney Stephen Harper’s recent refusal to call a public inquiry into missing and exploited Aboriginal women, should not come as a
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Madness of the Con Regime
In his fragile mental state it must have seemed like a natural transition. The beast within him must have howled.For three days he'd play Mother Theresa or Mother Harper at the Maternal Health Summit.The friend of cute starving children, and the butcher of women who need a safe abortion.But last
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Missing: Any discussion of what drove the Hancock Government’s Bill 10 attack on legally enforceable contracts
A system of contracts that can be enforced and adjudicated by an independent and disinterested court like this one is one of the key features of civilized society. This is a picture of the court used by a significant number Canadian law firms to illustrate their web pages. Actually, it’s
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Margaret Thatcher and the Con War on Unions
I know why they called her the Iron Lady. May she rust in peace. I know why she's the patron saint of Stephen Harper's Con regime.I know why she waged war on the miners of BritainSo she could smash the unions and Thatcherize her country, like the Cons would Harperize this
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Stephen Harper to Canada: ‘It’s not my fault! Now shut up and vote for me’
Trying to change the channel: Unfortunately for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the remote seems to have disappeared under a pillow and the movie stuck on the TV screen stars Mike Duffy, shown above moving toward the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary Friday night. Actual Canadian Senators may not appear exactly
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Thatcherism: A grand, failed economic experiment
By: Andrew Jackson | Broadbent Institute Admirers and detractors of Margaret Thatcher can agree that she will be remembered as one of the key political architects of our times. Along with her soulmate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, she broke decisively with the post-war Keynesian welfare state and ushered in the still-enduring age
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Stephen Harper takes partisan politics abroad
Harper’s government reacts with overwrought rage when other Canadian politicians express opinions outside Canada. So which way is it? By: Tim Harper | Toronto Star, Published on Fri Apr 19 2013: OTTAWA — Stephen Harper was representing Canada at the funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in London this week. Was
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Billy Bragg on why he became a socialist
One of the main reasons Billy Bragg became a socialist was Margaret Thatcher. She inspired many to take up the fight against the policies that have been wrecking Britain. Billy Bragg was a front line activist during the Thatcher years. In 1985 he formed Red Wedge – a musician’s alliance
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Advice for Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau: Hammer Stephen Harper on the economy
The neoliberal Harper economy at work: a Toronto street scene, last week. Below: Thomas Mulcair, Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper and Margaret Thatcher. Here’s some free advice for a couple of would-be Canadian prime ministers who are both in the news these days, the NDP’s Tom Mulcair and the Liberals’ Justin
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Ding Dong the People’s Song and the Progressive Hero
Well it didn't make it to the number one position on this week's music charts. Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead has failed to reach the number one spot in the music charts. The Wizard of Oz song, which has been at the centre of an online campaign by opponents of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Appeasement at the BBC
Whenever I travel, especially when a Canadian television station is not available, I tend to tune into the BBC, which generally practises the kind of hard-hitting journalism that the CBC was once known for, before embarking upon a policy of trying to appease the right-wing. Sadly, that virus of appeasement
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