How to reduce income inequality
The last time there was such severe income inequality in Canada and the US was the 1920’s. Political pundits of all stripes lament this fact, and point to the heady…
January 2012
The fast and the furious – Coming changes to environmental laws speed up process for industry and are an accident waiting to happen for the public and our environment
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 The federal government seems set on further gutting theCanadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), and is expected to introduce “sweeping” regulatory changes to CEAA and related legislation…
I’ll Get On To That Right Away
A UN report examining population increase concludes that, by 2030, just 18 years from now, we’ll need 50% more food, 45% more energy and 30% more water to meet humanity’s…
Mr. Gendron Regrets
MONTREAL — Faced with growing outrage over anti-Israel statements that the Jewish community and others regard as antisemitic, TV host Stéphane Gendron made an on-air statement of regret Jan. 27.…
Who Lobbies the Canadian Government
I’ve been watching the Canadian lobbyist registry for about a month now, as part of my ongoing Lobbyist Tracker project. So far, I’ve highlighted the hypocrisy of the Harper regime…
Whose Province Is It Anyway?
AllTheLandminesThatFit PostGordoVille Man. I dig it when Justine Hunter, uhhhh…. Digs: B.C. government bureaucrats were urging their political masters last spring to take a position on the Enbridge Northern Gateway…
I haven’t been that interested in the "shit —- say" meme, but…
This one made me giggle. 🙂 if what you’re reading here grips you, holds you, fascinates you, provokes you, emboldens you, pushes you, galvanizes you, discomfits you, tickles you, enrages…
The technological singularity: possible outcomes
I think I would enjoy the (bad) technological singularity a bit more if it went down like this. It’s almost sweet, a giant robot in a sundress, destroying a suburb…
The Silo Strategy –Part 1
How did the for-profit labs become the sole providers of laboratory services for all non-hospital patients in Ontario? These patients, often called community patients, usually need a lab test that…
Do churches influence your vote?
According to a new paper in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, where you vote may influence how you vote. The suggestion is that visual cues of churches…
Disturbing Conservative Viewpoints on Education
Interesting how social conservatives in both Canada and the United States are blaming universities for their being “too much edumacation”. On his Facebook profile, former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, found…
What Keeps the F-35 From Crashing?
It’s mainly this: Lockheed has mastered the game of spreading around a government’s money to see to it that government has to keep sending it more money. Not socialism exactly,…
Buying Winter Boots Today: The Drama of Someone Who Hates to Shop
Have I mentioned recently how I hate to shop? Probably not, because I avoid thinking about it as much as I can. (Food, garden and book shopping, being the exceptions.)…
When is an amendment to a claim a new cause of action?
Dee Ferraro Limited v. Pellizzari, 2012 ONCA 55 deals with when an amendment to a claim pleads a new cause of action. Basically if the necessary facts are already before…
When Is America Truly #1? When It Screws Up.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot save America from its own stupidity. There are many examples of American hubris but one that stands out is the…
Help Save the South March Highlands by Voting it One of Canada’s Great Places
The Fifth Column has written many times about the most biodiverse natural area in Ottawa adjacent to urban Kanata and threatened by urban sprawl and development. Now is your chance…
Saskatoon Star Phoenix Editorial Board Acts As Flunky For Stephen Harper’s Pension Slashing Agenda!
“Without any changes, Canada will be hard-pressed to provide any social or institutional programs beyond seniors’ income supplements and health care. In this light, opposition parties’ efforts to panic Canadians…
Trans Canadians Accidentally Barred From Flying
New airport screening rules introduced by the Harper Conservatives appears to have the side-effect of banning trans Canadians from flying entirely. Section 5.2(1)C of the Aeronautics Act now states that…
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“Babe Ruth changed baseball; Jackie Robinson changed America.” The man who broke the colour barrier in professional sports and was a civil rights pioneer, Jackie Robinson, was born this day…
Chris Hedges: What Happened to Canada?
What happened to Canada? It used to be the country we would flee to if life in the United States became unpalatable. No nuclear weapons. No huge military-industrial complex. Universal…