So, did you get a 3% raise last year? The average Canadian did. See the first chart below. If not, you’re behind the average Canadian. And even with a small offset of increased hours worked going up by only 1% for the 12 months ending last June, at worst, the
Continue readingTag: Neoliberal Economics
Politics, Re-Spun: Imagine if the Olympics Really Benefited the People of the Host City
The London Olympics games closed with the words of “Imagine” by John Lennon and “Freedom” by George Michael. John Lennon sang “Imagine all the people living life in peace.” And then Eric Idle sang “Always look at the Bright Side of Life.” But what did the Olympic Games really bring
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Let’s Watch Where Quebec Leads Us All
Less than 12 after being elected to a minority government in Quebec, the PQ has announced it will cancel the socially and economically regressive tuition fee hikes and repeal the flagrantly unconstitutional Bill 78, which trampled on expression and assembly rights. Quebec, long one of the most progressive socially and
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Blaming the People
Whenever social and economic crises develop, those in power always try to blame somebody else. For example, what caused the recession in the U.S. in 2008? Simple, it was the selfish poor who had the gall to think that they could afford to own their own homes. (And don’t pay
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How Dare You Drones Resist?!
It is truly stunning to see how the elites react when people dare speak out against “austerity” – that is, to squeeze even more profits out of workers, students, and citizens in general. Almost as appalling is the way that the corporate media (and often the CBC) follow the party
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: We Must Force the Politicians to Go Post-Carbon
We need to leave the tarsands oil in the ground. We need an increasing carbon tax. We need to stop subsidizing carbon energy producers. We need public money invested in post-carbon energy. We need to do it now. I say all this, as does this NASA physicist: The science of
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How To Resolve The Transit Fare Evasion Problem
Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom is bringing in new legislation to crack down on fare evaders, allowing collection agencies to go after people who don’t buy tickets. If Lekstrom really wants to deal with fare evasion, then he needs to realize why people don’t pay the transit fares. If people can’t afford to buy a transit
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Quebec Students and a Maple Spring
What do you think about the student strike in Quebec? What do you think of the Manifesto for a Maple Spring? Some of the Politics, Re-Spun crew explore it from each of our perspectives: 1. Are people naive to expect the Quebec tuition protesters to be the leaders of a
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: More Worker Bashing in BC, with Squishy Numbers
Below is a recent tweet from a new worker/NDP/union attack Twitter i.d. talking about how awful unionized workers are. Read it, then let’s de-spin it for sanity: Average salary in BC $44k, average teacher salary $70k bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/ #Underpaid #Overworked #Lies #BCPoli #BCNDP #BCTF via Twitter / @NotBCNDP: Average salary in
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: On this F35 v. Buying A Car Analogy Spin
The F-35 is in the news again, or at least the Harper regime’s complete bungling of the acquisition and the subsequent complete misleading of Parliament on the costs of the jets and guns. The Conservatives have a line of spin that’s been sticking – and that really frustrates me. Laurie
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Deconstructing the Wildrose Effect
So what happened in Alberta’s election yesterday, other than people telling pollsters that they want change, then chickening out when it came time to mark an X. The Politics, Re-spun crew deconstructs the Wildrose effect here: Are you surprised that the Wildrose Party did not win? No. Discontent polls well,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Vic Toews’ Prison Shock Doctrine Recipe
Closing prisons from the 19th century is surely a good idea, but I have no faith that the Conservative Party cares to replace them with anything progressive based on research from any time since the 19th century. So here’s a Canadian prison Shock Doctrine perfect storm: The Conservatives [Reform Party]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Why I’m Voting for Nathan Cullen
Nathan Cullen has my vote. Let me begin by saying that we are at an historical moment in Canadian history. We are being besieged by an increasingly draconian corporatist, neo-conservative and neoliberal Conservative Party government which is far worse than Mulroney’s free trade corporatist “Progressive” Conservatives from a generation ago. This government is an
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Politics, Re-Spun on The Rational on Co-op Radio, March 12 Lineup
Politics, Re-Spun is on The Rational on Coop Radio on Monday, March 12, 2012 from 6pm to 7pm with an intriguing lineup! Listen live online or at 102.7fm in the Vancouver area. Here’s the lineup: 1. Dylan Penner will talk with Stephen Elliott-Buckley about the Canadian Boat for Gaza: why,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Undermining Solidarity in the Balkans: Reviewing Boris Malagursky’s “The Weight of Chains”
Reviewed by Konstantin Kilibarda Independent Vancouver-based filmmaker Boris Malagursky’s The Weight of Chains is the latest in a long line of misguided attempts to give an ‘alternative’ account to the wars in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. This review seeks to directly address some of the more flawed accounts
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper Spends $90k of Our Money/Day to Spin Us on His Cuts
The Harper government is paying consultant Deloitte Inc. almost $90,000 a day for advice on how to manage the cuts. via Harper personally approved $22,000 tab for visiting bureaucrats – The Globe and Mail. I am flabbergasted to read this entire article about money Harper personally signed off on to
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Liveblogging Today’s NDP Leaders Debate
Today’s NDP leadership debate lands in Quebec. I’m using 14 criteria to evaluate who I’ll be voting for. Let me know if you have suggestions for improved criteria. 2012.02.12 NDP Leaders Debate February 2, 2012 — NDP Leaders, By the Numbers and the Intangibles (0) August 27, 2011 — Liveblog
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Day Three of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby All panelist biographies are here. Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions. Friday: The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here. Saturday: My notes are here. Sunday: Opening Panel Radical Squares: Reflections on
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Day Two of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby All panelist biographies are here: Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions. Friday: The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here. Saturday: Opening Panel A Global Tradition: History of the Commons Silvia Federici
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Opening Panel from the Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
This weekend I attended Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons community gathering in Vancouver and Burnaby, sponsored by these groups and people. The basic premise is not so much that capitalism is broken, and we just need to fix it, but that neoliberal market fundamentalism is inherently broken
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