“I worked for (Mulroney-era environment minister) Tom McMillan, who was a very red Tory. I wrote speeches for him. We never checked his speeches with the PMO. He’d get up to answer in Question Period. He didn’t have a script for how to answer. Brian Mulroney was not telling his
Continue readingTag: stephen harper
350 or bust: Canadian Democracy in Disarray
* There is mounting alarm and opposition across Canada, even among many conservatives, about the Harper government’s omnibus budget bill, Bill C-38. Yesterday Parlliamentary Speaker Andrew Scheer (a Conservative MP from Saskatchewan) denied Elizabeth May’s well argued Point of Order re: allowing Omnibus Budget Bill C-38 as a legitimate omnibus
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Canada’s “Refugee Exclusion Act” Clears Commons
What a sad day for Canadian politics! All day today, millions of us were entranced by the epic beginning of the struggle against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s draconian Budget Bill C-38. In the meantime, the Conservatives used their majority advantage in the House of Commons to pass Immigration minister Jason
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Bill That Couldn’t Happen Here
Back when I worked for the House of Commons, every time an Omnibus Bill was proposed (and the usual discussions and negotiations around splitting it were occurring) we would joke about the ultimate Omnibus Bill – An Act for the Government of Canada, with everything a government wanted to do
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Bill C-38: Joyce has a choice! Let her hear your voice!
June 9, 2012: Citizens opposed to Bill C-38 pause for a moment outside of Conservative MP Joyce Bateman’s Winnipeg South Centre office before continuing to distribute literature in the constituency. Photo: Paul S. Graham Stephen Harper’s Bill C-38 continues to generate controversy and opposition across Canada. In Winnipeg, a group
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Drowning My Sorrows in Harperland: A Cautionary Tale
Oh boy. It was such a beautiful day. I went for a long bike ride, and this evening from a distance Toronto never looked so pretty. At least the parts I could see through the thick haze. Because there was a smog alert eh? But then I remembered I live
Continue readingAlberta Diary: It’s not necessarily the European economy running out of runway, it’s neo-Cons like Stephen Harper
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warns his countrymen about the fate awaiting Europe if it doesn’t crush unions and eliminate defined-benefit pension plans. Canadian Conservatives may not appear exactly as illustrated, but pretty close. Below: Francoise Hollande, John Maynard Keynes and Thomas Mulcair. With the anticipated triumph of France’s Socialists
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: It’s not necessarily the European economy running out of runway, it’s neo-Cons like Stephen Harper
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warns his countrymen about the fate awaiting Europe if it doesn’t crush unions and eliminate defined-benefit pension plans. Canadian Conservatives may not appear exactly as illustrated, but pretty close. Below: Francoise Hollande, John Maynard Keynes and Thomas Mulcair. With the anticipated triumph of France’s Socialists
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Conservatives Opening A Door To The Spreading of Hatred In Canada
Bill C-304: Hate Speech Clause’s Repeal Gives White Supremacists Rare Moment Of Glee White Supremacists might be happy about this, but the purpose of removing this clause was to allow the Christian Right to further spread hatred against the the gay community, same sex marriage and a woman’s right to
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper v. Canada: Understanding Stephen Harper’s War Against Canada
Welcome to Harper v. Canada, a new column that digs deep to understand Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s current war against our democratic institutions, freedoms and dissent. The column uses two approaches to unravel Harper’s phony commitment to making Canada “the best country in the world: a) exhaustive excavation of Harper’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your Saturday. – Susan Delacourt’s mention of “likeonomics” as a branding strategy offers an interesting reference point for Canadian politics (particularly since our political scene has been radically reshaped by one obvious example of it in the 2011 election). But I’m not sure there’s much new
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Erika Shaker points out how Quebec’s student protests are a natural and justified reaction to the policy choice to saddle young workers with debt: (T)he effects of student debt are not exactly “character building”. Postponement of owning a home or starting a family.
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Budget Bill C-38: A Conservative Insurgency Against Harper?
Earlier this week, the NDP and other Federal opposition parties released the findings of their Canada-wide public consultations on Stephen Harper’s Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-38. Yesterday, the parties submitted 1,300 amendments to the behemoth omnibus bill. Now a new opposition front, straight out of Harper’s Conservative world, is gathering
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Harper Conservative response to NDP seems delusional – and apparently ineffective
The Conservative Party’s Parliamentary brain trust figures out how to respond to Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair during Question Period. Below: Nik Nanos. No one should be particularly shocked that yelps of protest by western premiers and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives in Ottawa have failed to dent support for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Friday reading. – Michael Harris neatly sums up the Harper Cons’ legacy: In many ways, the Harper legacy will come down to this: how much can he get away with? Incumbency furnishes a speedy getaway car. From a legislative perspective, Harper might as well be King
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Silent Coup
I've been writing about Stephen Harper for a long time, and every year the picture on the screen gets darker and more sinister. Just as I always knew it would. For his lust for power knows no limit. And his ideological depravity know no bottom. But so dark is the
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Come 2015, don’t expect the Harper Tories to do aught but rag on our Maple Leaf Flag
Canada’s Maple Leaf Flag. Below: Lester B. Pearson, the prime minister whose vision gave us the flag; Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the father of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Harper Conservatives wrap themselves in the Maple Leaf Flag, but don’t expect them to be waving it on Feb. 15,
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Pride Festival’s political participants a positive sign of the times
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith is imagined being welcomed to Saturday’s Edmonton Pride Festival as Premier Alison Redford and Deputy Premier Tom Lukaszuk, at left, look on. In the event, Alberta political leaders may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: former politician Doug Elniski, cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead and so-con MP
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Obert Madondo: Today I End My Canada Crime Bill C-10 Hunger Strike
After 85 days on a hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new “Safe Streets and Communities Act” (crime Bill C10), it’s with great pleasure, gratitude and emotion that I announce the end of the protest. I’ll end the protest at 11.59pm today. I made the decision to end the
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Harper Phenomenon is explained to Perfesser Dave
Perfesser Dave, left, with W. L. “Willy” Mackenzie King, centre, and Pat, right. Some Canadian prime ministers are exactly as illustrated. Below: Several shots of Willy and Pat. Some stories are just too complicated for ordinary bloggers to explain. That’s when we turn to the expert knowledge offered by Perfesser
Continue reading