February 2012
Is The OAS/GIS Program Unaffordable?
No. Of course not. Even if the government waves around scary large increases in nominal dollar terms. As has been widely reported, the most recent OAS actuarial report shows that…
Job Market Continues to Weaken
Canada’s job market continued to weaken in January as employment rose by a meagre 2,300 jobs, much less than the growth in the number of workers in the labour force.…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Yes, the fraudulent collaboration between the Harper Cons and Sun TV should offer nothing but reason for suspicion about both portions of the…
Gruending On CIDA: Canada’s New Foreign Policy = Helping Canuck Mining Companies
Another fine piece from the author of Pulpit and Politics: CIDA will soon abandon a number of its long-standing development partners among Canadian NGOs, including a number of church-based organizations.…
Get politics out of fishery: report #nlpoli
A strange as it may seem after years of evidence that political interference in fisheries management has caused nothing but grief, there are still people – all politicians – who…
Fake Ministerial Accountability
SunTV has been caught staging a fake citizenship oath-retaking ceremony using mostly bureaucrats from Citizenship and Immigration as their oath-takers. Seriously. Because they’re totally not the official media arm of…
Talking tough with empty words and an empty head
Is there anything more laughable than a politician trained in nothing providing direction to executives of the province’s $14-billion dollar monopoly insurer. Speaking to ICBC, British Columbia’s chief law officer…
Requests for Endorsements: My Application to Attend The Open Government Partnership
Dear friends, Below (first in english then in a rough french translation – my spoken is much better than my written so I’ve relied on Google translate) is my application…
Jason Kenney and the Fox News North Gang
Sometimes you have to focus on the big picture. Sometimes you have to see the forest for the trees. Or just smell the manure. But here are the facts as…
Truth, Tories and the Sun Network: ‘Let’s do it. We can fake the Oath!’
New Canadians rounded up by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s office get ready to reaffirm their citizenship oath. Actual new Canadians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Kenney; Paraguayan-born…
Demanding Leadership on Democratic Reform
I’ve been offline and travelling for a while if you’ve been wondering about the radio silence (I know, unlikely). But I’m back now, living for the next two years in…
Demanding Leadership on Democratic Reform
I’ve been offline and travelling for a while if you’ve been wondering about the radio silence (I know, unlikely). But I’m back now, living for the next two years in…
RailGate Insiders: Why Didn’t They Say Anything To The ‘Fairness Advisors’?
Sub-JudiceThis! GoFOIYourselfVille To my mind, the central issue of the entire RailGate affair has never been resolved unequivocally. And that unresolved issue is whether or not the fix was in…
Don’t miss The Real Story
Ian Reid poses questions about the sale of BC Rail, among them is BC Rail: who knew what, when? Don’t miss Ian’s series. Like many other deals constructed by the…
Susan G. Walther-Komen loves guns. Women’s rights not so much.
It's OK. It's pink! I felt a little bad feeling so much animosity towards a person, but Nancy Brinker’s reaction to her disengagement from Planned Parenthood has quickly become the…
The perfect blend of politics and poetry
Phil Rockstroh gives us this piece of beauty and politics and reality. A Journey to the end of Empire: It is Always Darkest Right Before it Goes Completely Black. P’n’P…
Twitter Wars: Ditchburn vs Levant
Pictured: Ditchburn (left) and Levant (right) Who knew Canadian Media Twitter Wars could be fun? Who knew that was even a thing?! Well it is. And it’s spectacular! Let me…
The Personal gets Political
Nearly two dozen US Senators have signed onto a letter urging the Susan G Komen Foundation to reverse its despicable and sleazy Planned Parenthood decision: The pressure on the Susan…