Any Canadian citizen or resident who cares about gender-based violence, equality and women’s rights should condemn “An Officer and a Murderer”. The new TV movie dramatizing the real-life horror of the crimes of the former commander of CFB Trenton airs on the U.S. network Lifetime on July 21. I never
Continue readingTag: opinion.
BetterParks for Vancouver: Just because we can build a seawall extension doesn’t mean we should
July 12, 2012. 4:00 pm • Section: OpinionThe Province, Vancouver BC There has been some discussion at Vancouver city council about an extension of the seawall. A motion is coming to the parks board on the feasibility of extending the seawall from Kitsilano Beach to Jericho Beach. This is on
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canadians Mourn The Untimely “Death of Evidence”
“The Harper government is the most environmentally hostile one we have ever had in Canada.” – Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians About 1,500 scientists, lawyers, students and activists from across Canada gathered on Parliament Hill yesterday and held a mock funeral to mourn the death of Canadian
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canadians OK with office romance: Survey
A survey by the Randstad’s Global Workmonitor found that seven out of ten employees (59%) indicate a romantic relationships between co-worker are common in Canada. And two thirds (66%) approve. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Where else to turn to for love and comfort than someone you already know? After all, an office or company
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: The Economist Insulted Progressive Canadians’ Intelligence
Earlier, I gloated over the influential right-leaning British magazine’s criticism of Harper’s burgeoning elected dictatorship. I’ve a second sober take on the issue. See, I failed to read between the lines: The Economist actually ridiculed progressive Canadians’ collective intelligence. First, the magazine tells its readers: “Polls show that voters still consider
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Conservatives use the sex trade industry to legislate morality
In Calgary today, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced new rules that effectively bar the sex trade industry from hiring foreign workers. We’re told that the measures seek to stop the abuse and exploitation of foreign sex workers “who come to Canada to work and wind up being exploited.” Nonsense. First,
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Indisputable Proof of Climate Change
The Harper government is muzzling government scientists to stop them from interpreting extreme weather phenomena like record-shattering heatwaves, freak storms, drought and wildfires. Luckily, in this modern age of the Internet and global connectedness, Canadians can still access scientific information and knowledge. Still, the climate change-denying corporate media is another
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Bev Oda’s Sweet Double Resignation
GOOD RIDDANCE! The minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has resigned from both Stephen Harper’s cabinet and her elected position as Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Durham. The controversy-plagued Oda announced her resignation this morning without giving a clear explanation. No doubt, the resignation is a
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: In Quebec City, A Protester Confronts Stephen Harper
The CBC News reports that a lone protester interrupted a speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he addressed an international conference on the French language in Quebec City today. The protester “began shouting and approaching the stage” before he was “grabbed by two security guards and hustled out of
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Anderson Cooper: “The Fact Is, I’m Gay”
A couple of years ago, a friend swore to me that the CNN’s Anderson Cooper was gay. And that it was a matter of time before he came out. I argued that Cooper would be gay only after he’d publicly confirmed that he was gay. The essence of the conversation
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Irish Fans Win Euro 2012
We all love the Irish. Don’t we? Well, now we should all love them. Or love them some more. So says the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The European football’s governing body has decided to give Irish fans a special award for good behavior during the Euro 2012 soccer tournament. UEFA
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canada’s Worst Senator Patrick Brazeau Disappears From Twitter
No comment yet from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appointed Brazeau to the Senate in 2008. On Wednesday, I blogged about the Conservative Senator, who called Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn a “bitch” on Twitter. Senator Brazeau was mad that the reporter had highlighted his poor performance record in Canada’s appointed
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canada’s Worst Government Body: Board of Internal Economy
The governing body of the House of Commons continues to fail Canadians on the important questions of transparency and oversight. In his recent report, Michael Ferguson, the Auditor General of Canada, called for more transparency. But board has “further limited public transparency over its secret meetings and decisions.” It meets in camera. Parliamentary
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper Government Must Set Canadian Scientists Free
Nature, one of the biggest and most-read scientific journals in the world, made this call in a February 29th editorial. The journal lamented the Harper Government’s undisguised hostility to openness, expert opinion and publicly-funded scientific expertise. Rightly so. At some point, the government’s stated communication policy, posted on a federal website and
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Worst Canadian in The World: Senator Patrick Brazeau
Meet Patrick Brazeau (pictured), the sexist Canadian senator who called Ottawa-based reporter, Jennifer Ditchburn, a bitch yesterday. Her crime: she’d done her job by highlighting his poor attendance record in Canada’s appointed upper house of Parliament. He immediately issued a “reluctant” apology. Why did Brazeau call the reporter a bitch?
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canadian Political Satire: Obert Report Episode 1: Harper’s NDP Hitler Comment
Welcome to Episode 1 of the Obert Report, a future online talk show program in the making. The episode is a satirical commentary on a recent outrageous comment made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who recently said during a debate in Parliament: “The leader of the NDP, in 1939,
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Jason Kenney’s Tell-Tale Conservative Apology
Apparently, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has apologized for labeling Thomas Lukaszuk, the deputy premier of Alberta, “a complete and utter a-hole.” And Lukaszuk’s boss, premier Alison Redford wants us to believe that Kenney’s insult amounts to: “there are people who have personalities that do and don’t get along.” And that “there
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Nuked: Robocalls Scandal Investigation And Elections Canada
Make it two surprises in one. William Corbett, the Commissioner of Canada Elections, the man who has thus handled the ongoing investigation into the robocalls scandal, resigned today. He’s been replaced by Yves Côté, a “low-key” bureaucrat. But that’s only a partial description of the individual now assuming the behemoth responsibility of
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Google Exposes Harper Government’s Growing Internet Censorship Appetites
In a report released late Sunday, Google tells us Canada has joined the ranks of countries aggressively stepping up efforts to censor online political dissent through “censorship requests” to the giant search engine. Passport Canada authorities asked Google to block public access to “a YouTube video of a Canadian citizen
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper’s Canada “Making Up Terror Identities”
In Stephen Harper’s Canada, we’re all potential terror threats. Until proven otherwise. So suggests a recent study by Queens University’s Jeffrey Monaghan and Kevin Walby, published in the journal Policing and Society. Welcome to Multi Issue Extremism (MIE), Canada’s new classification of so-called domestic terror threats. We saw it coming.
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