Who can forget that time in December 2008 when Conservatives in the House of Commons recoiled in horror at the thought of a Liberal-NDP coalition government surviving thanks to a written pledge of support from the Bloc Québécois? Former federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). With a
Continue readingTag: separatism
Views from the Beltline: Queen Danielle and the separatist coup
When Danielle Smith first proposed her sovereignty act, I assumed, naively, that she meant the sovereignty of Alberta. Now, after the act has been presented and has seen the light of day, I realize the sovereignty refers to Danielle. The legislation proposed in the legislature on Tuesday, now amusingly called
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On set identities
While there’s been some attention paid to Environics’ polling on provincial identity politics, little of it seems to have noted just how little public interest there is in a highly concerted effort to build up a Saskatchewan sovereigntist movement. After all, Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party has gone far out of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Awkward! What can Erin O’Toole do now that Conservative Party delegates have ignored his plea to acknowledge climate change?
Question: What is Erin O’Toole supposed to do now that we all know 54 per cent of the delegates to his online Conservative Party of Canada policy convention have formally refused to acknowledge climate change is an actual thing? Answer: Pretend it never happened, of course. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Joseph Stiglitz writes about the dangers of measuring economic and social progress solely in terms of GDP: It is clear that something is fundamentally wrong with the way we assess economic performance and social progress. Even worse, our metrics frequently give the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Chris Hedges writes about the damage oligarchs are doing to humanity and the planet. And Dominic Rushe points out how whiny the people who have rigged the economy toward their own concentration of obscene wealth become when they face the slightest hint
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Scott Moe has been left alone and isolated by the supposed “resistance”. (Though I’ll admit I underestimated his willingness to declare his unthinking support for anything suggested by Jason Kenney.) For further reading…– Jacques Poitras reported that Blaine Higgs’ sensible response to the federal election has been
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – David Jones writes about the important benefits enjoyed by workers as the result of the efforts of the labour movement. And Arindrajit Dube studies the international effects of minimum wage increases, finding that they consistently improve lower-end wages while having little effect on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Michael Spence discusses how a wealth tax can work, while noting that the worst possible response to growing inequality is to refuse to do anything. And the Centre for Labour and Social Studies summarizes the current class disparity in the UK, as well
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee discuss the utter failure of corporate-driven “market” incentives to produce fair outcomes: If it is not financial incentives, what else might people care about? The answer is something we know in our guts: status, dignity, social connections. Chief
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Quebec Election Shows Hypocrisy On Clarity Act
Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, and Andrew Coyne, among others, are wrong to suggest separatism was recently defeated by Quebec voters. Well they aren’t just wrong, they’re hypocritical. Since the close defeat of separatism in the 1995 referendum, federalists have demanded a clear question for any public decision on Quebec sovereignty.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Quebec Election Shows Hypocrisy On Clarity Act
Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, and Andrew Coyne, among others, are wrong to suggest separatism was recently defeated by Quebec voters. Well they aren’t just wrong, they’re hypocritical.Since the close defeat of separatism in the 1995 referendum, feder…
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Quebec Election Shows Hypocrisy On Clarity Act
Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, and Andrew Coyne, among others, are wrong to suggest separatism was recently defeated by Quebec voters. Well they aren’t just wrong, they’re hypocritical. Since the close defeat of separatism in the 1995 referendum, federalists have demanded a clear question for any public decision on Quebec sovereignty.
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Quebec, Referendums, and Formulas for Secession
National unity is back in the news after the NDP tabled a private member’s bill yesterday, a bill that would repeal the Clarity Act and set the bar for Quebec sovereignty negotiations at a mere 50 percent plus one in a clearly worded referendum. We all know what that means.
Continue readingTrashy's World: Did Quebec separate overnight?
Nope. Just looked out the bus window and the Gatineau Hills are still there. I guess Marois’ scheme to pry her province from the RoC using bars and pulleys didn’t succeed. Anyone in O Dot feel the quake last night? Happened around midnight and was centred around Montreal. (6) Trashy,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Quebec’s Election: Endorsements and Analyses
Quebec politics are unique in North America because of the two distinct dimensions along which political battles are fought. In addition to the standard left-right dimension, there is the sovereignty-federalism one. For whatever reason, sovereigntists in the province have, as a general rule, tended to align themselves with the left,
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Canada Can Be Civil Or It Can Stand With Child Pornographers
The long-gun registry is endorsed by Hitler, Liberals should help Quebec separate to get rid of Harper, and Canadians are either Conservative or child pornographers. With a few recent cases of individual politicians lowering civil discourse in Canada, one could say they’re just isolated incidences, but in looking at their
Continue readingPample the Moose: Canada at the breaking point? Justin Trudeau, Le Devoir and Me
Just a quick post this weekend to link to a story in Le Devoir today by Guillaume Bourgault-Côté, occasioned by Justin Trudeau’s recent remarks about how the possibility of living in a Canada whose identity actually did correspond to the refashioning that PM Harper has undertaken could make him contemplate
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: Canada, we have a problem!
Canada, we have a problem! We have a problem and its name is the Conservative Party of Canada. Sovereignty not the boogeyman it once was. Really, it’s not. If you think it is, then you don’t understand what happened during the last election and why Québec voted the way it
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