The problem we have is not a lack of options and opportunities to sort out the government finances ourselves. The problem facing Newfoundland and Labrador is that the leading people of the province, not just the politicians but all the leading people, don’t have the stomach for making the kinds
Continue readingTag: responsible government
Alberta Politics: ‘Has Trudeau committed treason?’ The answer is no and the question is completely bonkers!
Donna Kennedy-Glans, by all accounts an intelligent and accomplished Alberta Conservative, recently posted and pinned a Tweet asking, “Has Trudeau committed treason?” If her intention was to grab the attention of Alberta’s chattering classes, she succeeded. If she was out for attention, though, I’m not sure she really wanted the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: THE FIFTH COLUMN 2018-10-13 19:17:00
On Democracy What a better way to restart The Fifth Column than by a treatise on how to make our democracy actually democratic. Hopefully this will be the first posting in a newly regenerated Fifth Column. I write this at a time when there are so many examples of democracy
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The era of Notwithstanding Clause restraint is over … get used to it!
The era of Notwithstanding Clause restraint is over. Get used to it. To borrow someone else’s felicitous metaphor, Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was always an unexploded bomb lurking in the rubble of our country’s constitutional history like a decaying munition under the modern-day pavements
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: RAFE: ‘Responsible Government’ and how it blocks democracy – Pt.1
Rafe is revealing what some will be surprised to learn. Jaded blogger types and other seasoned politicos have understood the party control aspect for years but somehow it still flies under the radar. Not Read more…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Responsibility #nlpoli
In the middle of all the screaming as the government unveiled its budget on Thursday, the editor of a regional business magazine asked, apparently in all seriousness, “Biggest question of #Budget2016, How did NO ONE know that pre…
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer: A Disgruntled Democrat?
In reaction to a government bill that would prevent Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, from speaking publicly about the quality of Canada’s Electoral System, he went on record to state: “I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy” and that “my
Continue readingAlberta Diary: How will we get back to the 19th Century without Stephen Harper? Why he should go, and won’t
A forlorn Richard Nixon waves goodbye to Washington for the last time from the steps of the presidential helicopter on Aug. 9, 1974. Don’t count on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do the same thing any time soon, even if it destroys his party. Below: Stephen Harper looking appropriately gloomy
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Dunderfarce 2 #nlpoli
As if the week hasn’t been going badly enough for her, Premier Kathy Dunderdale decided to make it all the worse on Thursday with her scrum about her Twitter account. Here’s what we have learned: (Read more…) Neither the Premier nor anyone else in her office understands how social media
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