Assorted content to end your week. – George Monbiot discusses the importance of recognizing our social connections in making our political choices, rather than treating the world as merely a collection of unconnected individuals: It is not hard to see what the evolutionary reasons for social pain might be. Survival
Continue readingTag: NAFTA
The Canadian Progressive: Canada-EU trade deal CETA a major threat food safety: Report
A new report warns that the Canada-EU trade deal CETA could threaten food safety and the greater public interest. Meanwhile, a group of Germany NGOs have launched a massive constitutional lawsuit against the deal.
The post Canada-EU trade deal CETA a m…
Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Chris Hamby’s brilliant series on the effects of investor-state dispute settlement continues with articles on the shift in power from governments to corporations, as well as the developing market in settlement …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Chris Hamby’s brilliant series on the effects of investor-state dispute settlement continues with articles on the shift in power from governments to corporations, as well as the developing market in settlement …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- Aditya Chakrabortty sums up George Osborne’s legacy – and give or take a Brexit vote, it looks awfully familiar for corporatist governments in general:The multi-million-pound spending spree wasn’t justifiable, …
Continue readingWednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Glenn Greenwald interviews Alex Cuadros about his new book on how Brazil has been warped politically and economically by the whims of its billionaire class. And PressProgress takes a look at the impact…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s bizarre ‘Brexit’ broadsides: the explanation is in the dog-whistle
ILLUSTRATION: Press Progress’s take on Jason Kenney’s “Brexit” broadsides Thursday night and yesterday morning (Press Progress image). Below: The Acme Professional Dog Whistle, now commanding attention all over the world. It is made in U.K. You…
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Let’s Make Alberta Great Again: Elect Donald Trump!
Donald Trump’s scary lead in the Republican nominee race led Ms Soapbox to wonder whether The Donald’s promise to Make America Great Again! with a mishmash of protectionist, racist ideas grafted to a fiscally conservative and socially conservative platform would … Continue reading →
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: TransCanada’s NAFTA claims are based on the old normal
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Earlier this month TransCanada announced that it would be claiming comp…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Joseph Stiglitz comments on how the Trans-Pacific Partnership looks to make democracy subordinate to corporate interests:The US concluded secret negotiations on what may turn out to be the worst trade agree…
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: 350.org Responds to TransCanada’s NAFTA Lawsuit over Keystone XL
TransCanada’s lawsuit against the US over President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline reminds us how many of our rights free trade agreements give away, says 350.org.
The post 350.org Responds to TransCanada’s NAFTA Lawsuit over Keystone…
The Progressive Economics Forum: Some missing elements from the Canadian TPP debate
With an agreement reached on the Trans Pacific Partnership, the 12-member trade and investment treaty, opinions began swirling about what the deal means for the future of Canada. Plenty of facts have been bandied about in an effort to clarify the TPP’s significance: 12 Pacific Rim countries, 800 million people,
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: It is likely the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau will like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Don Maroc It is likely the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau will like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) almost as much as the Conservatives under What’s His Name. So it’s probably a waste Read more…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: An Escape Hatch for the NDP?
In an earlier post, I sought to explain (not necessarily defend) the Mulcair team’s decision to run balanced budgets as an election campaign tactic to counter being branded by the Conservatives (and potentially the Liberals)as a profligate manager of the public purse. Whether or not this tactic is successful will
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Free Trade, CETA, TPP, and the US and Canadian Federal Elections: Some Critical Perspective
The following is critical to understand – for the people of Canada, the US, Europe and the world: “free trade” deals such those already signed (NAFTA), and those being pushed through with great secrecy now (CETA, TTIP and TPP), are agreements which grant supra-national powers to transnational corporations, powers over
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jim Stanford discusses how the Trans-Pacific Partnership is renegotiating NAFTA – and taking away what little Canada salvaged in that deal. And Jared Bernstein highlights the TPP’s impact on prescription drug costs. – Rick Smith rightly challenges the effort some people have
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: TPP: Renegotiating NAFTA, By the Back Door
For years, trade and justice activists have proposed renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement to address some of the deal’s most damaging features: for example, by removing the anti-democratic investor-state dispute settlement provisions of Chapter 11, linking trade benefits to genuine protections for human and labour rights (all the
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Our Addiction to Balanced Budgets May Need an Intervention
“There is always a storm. There is always rain. Some experience it. Some live through it. And others are made from it.” Author Shannon L. Alder Recently NDP candidate and former Saskatchewan finance minister, Andrew Thomson, stated on Power and Politics, that cuts were inevitable, in order to balance the
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Our Addiction to Balanced Budgets May Need an Intervention
“There is always a storm. There is always rain. Some experience it. Some live through it. And others are made from it.” Author Shannon L. Alder Recently NDP candidate and former Saskatchewan finance minister, Andrew Thomson, stated on Power and Politics, that cuts were inevitable, in order to balance the
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Our Addiction to Balanced Budgets May Need an Intervention
A closer look at the country’s finances, however, raises a simple question: why all the fuss? The budget is a thin slice of the Canadian economic pie, and interest costs on our debt are shrinking to near-giveaway size. Ottawa is just one of three government levels, and taken as a whole our government spending is very much under control.
That suggests that it’s Mr. Trudeau whose position is in sync with the majority’s mood. The Liberal Leader has refused to rule out running a deficit, arguing he’ll have to see the extent of the “mess” the Conservatives have left in the public finances.
It is the NDP, traditionally to the left of the Liberals, who have launched the most blistering attacks on Mr. Trudeau for opening the door to running a deficit. Under Mr. Mulcair, the New Democrats have sought to allay concerns about their economic policies by insisting they will balance the books, despite the slowdown in the economy.
I’m glad that Trudeau is bringing the Liberal Party back to its roots, that put Canadians first. Now the NDP have to find their way back to the days of Tommy Douglas.
Or maybe I’m just a Diefenbaker, with a dollop of Pearson and a splash of Pierre Trudeau.
Not such a bad thing to be.