On CBC’s The National last night, Rex Murphy weighed in on Quebec’s student protests; the transcript can be found here, and the three-minute video here. He calls the protests “short sighted,” points out that Quebec already has the lowest tuition fees in Canada, and suggests the students’ actions are “crude attempts
Continue readingTag: Poverty
bastard.logic: Etch-A-Mitt Shakes Things Up Again: Welfare Moms Better Off With “The Dignity of Work”
Via Ryan Grim (ICYMI): Apparently Ann Romney forgot to mention to Willard that moms who don’t work outside the home do THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN THE WORLD!!!1 and already have ample dignity, thankyouverymuchyousupersexistsoand… oh, wait — Mittens meant those moms — y’know, the ones who can’t afford dignity. Sorry. They gotsta
Continue readingArt Threat: Infographic Weekend: Where does US Food Aid go?
The United States is doing it’s best to feed the world … or at least that’s what they’d like you to believe. US Food Aid may be more effective as a subsidy to domestic producers, agribusiness and shipping companies than it is at alleviating hunger in the poorest parts of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Murtaza Hussain nicely sums up why we should be pushing for businesses and wealthy individuals to contribute their fair share through a progressive tax system rather than through self-aggrandizing charity: The private social safety net, provided by corporate donors as compensation for the
Continue readingAny one else see a trend here?
As with any budget there are winners and losers, with the true test of a budget at least in my mind being the determination of who wins and who loses. As the days pass and people have had time to scour the latest Conservative government budget a picture of who
Continue readingbastard.logic: David Banner on the Shooting of Trayvon Martin: “We Have to Get Some Type of Legislation Now.”
Gulf Coast hip hop impresario David Banner drops some straight knowledge re: Trayvon, race, and class in the US of A in this BlackEnterprise.com interview: “The fact [is] we have to get some type of legislation now. “What do we want to see implemented to make sure this doesn’t happen
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your day. – Boris sums up the Cons’ budget message to poor Canadians. David Macdonald assesses the Cons’ impact on jobs – with -70,000 not exactly looking like a positive number. Trish Hennessy frames the Cons’ plans as death by a thousand cuts, while Paul Wells
Continue readingcultural sn:afu: MoneySense magazine ranks Hawkesbury 150th out of 190 cities, people ask ‘what the fuck is MoneySense magazine?’
For a few years MoneySense, a Toronto-based magazine, has been ranking cities in Canada from best to worst. For the third year in a row they’ve decided Hawkesbury is one of the worst places to live in Canada, and the … Continue reading →
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-20 21:49:00
CANADIAN POLITICS: DEFEND OUR SOCIAL HOUSING: True to form our present federal Conservative government is quite content to see funding for “social housing” (co-op, non-profit and public housing) gradually wither away as the following article demonstrates. The Harperites must be particularily happy that this is a trend inherited from previous
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-13 21:09:00
CANADIAN POLITICS ONTARIO: DENOUNCE AND DEFEAT DRUMMAND’S DREADFUL DIRECTIONS: Always on the lookout to squeeze the poor even further the McGuinty government of Ontario has recently received a commission report of a plan to tighten the screws from former bank executive Don Drummond. It was all that could be expected.
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-10 00:16:00
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: KEEP THE SCHOOL HOUSE SHELTER OPEN: Here’s another callout from down Ontario way and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). This is an appeal and petition to keep a downtown homeless shelter open. Here’s the story: &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Hello everyone, The fight for the School House Shelter and
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-03-09 23:11:00
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: PRE-BUDGET RALLY AGAINST ONTARIO AUSTERITY: The following call-out is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). ()()()()()()()()()()() On March 16 FIGHT POVERTY AND DEMAND: A LIVING INCOME! HOUSING!QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES FOR ALL!Solidarity Against Austerity Friday, March 16, 2012Rally and March12noonMeet at College St and Bay St, Toronto
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: BC isn’t broke: putting teacher bargaining in perspective
Last Monday, BC teachers held a Day of Action in communities across the province to protest the BC government’s decision to legislate a contract and put an end to their collective bargaining process. I was invited to speak to teachers at the Surrey rally, where I had the opportunity to
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Sleeping on the Job – Conservative MP Rob Anders
The Conservative party claims to be the party looking out for Canadian Military Personnel and veterans but unfortunately the guy they appointed to the Veterans Affairs Committee has his eyes closed – literally. MP for Calgary West Rob Anders was caught sleeping during a presentation on… ..
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Revitalizing COPE Vancouver, Right Now.
Today is the first day of the rest of COPE Vancouver’s life. Today is the day where the new executive needs to make its first priority revitalizing the party by building unity around progressive principles and policies, and moving past pettiness. If it cannot get past the factionism, it simply
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Stapleton on Harper’s Proposed OAS/GIS Changes
John Stapleton has an opinion piece out on Prime Minister Harper’s proposed changes to Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). I find the following quote from Stapleton to be particularly troubling: By providing OAS and GIS at age 65, Canada has greatly reduced the incidence of poverty
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: December 12, 2011
Monday, December 12 saw two main topics of debate. But perhaps most striking was the introduction of the Cons’ newest tactic to dictate the terms of discussion in the House of Commons. The Big IssueMuch of the day’s discussion focused on the Cons’ copyright bill. And Paul Calandra started proceedings
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: December 9, 2011
Friday, December 9 saw the final day of debate at second reading on the Cons’ seat allocation bill. And as usual, plenty of valid questions went entirely unanswered. The Big Issue Marc-Andre Morin rightly questioned the Cons’ trumped-up sense of urgency in dealing with seat allocations while they do nothing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Heather Scoffield gives far too much credence to the Cons’ spin on what their focus group results mean. But her report offers what may be the most definitive indication yet that the Cons’ ideology bears absolutely no resemblance to what Canadians actually want:
Continue reading