A Vote For Plutocracy
In a split decision, the Supreme Court today upheld Ted Opitz’ win in Etobicoke Centre. The court reinstated 59 of the 79 votes that Justice Thomas Lederer threw out, reasoning…
2012
So, Alberta, You Think BC’s Gonna Dance?
Oil companies going unpunished for thousands of North Sea spills I am including a link to this article in the Guardian online of Oct 25, 2012, because it is absolutely…
Premiers Must Block Harper’s Sellout Of Our Sovereignty
Richard ‘Hub’ Hughes – Political Blogger Never has a greater threat to our sovereignty faced Canadians than that which we face in PM Steve Harper’s secret China Investment Treaty. All…
The Name Game – Part Deux
Don’t believe every piece of quantitative evidence ever produced! Quebecers HATE this man! I’ve read a dozen opinion pieces by Quebec columnists over the past few months like this one…
Privacy breaches can cost $214 per record — Cavoukian
The audience laughed when Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian said she got called on a weekend over a major privacy breach. “I don’t know how they got…
The Impoverishing States of America
Hard times for the working man, indeed. We’re familiar with statistics showing working class wages have stagnated, even declined somewhat, since Reagan waved his wand across the U.S. but it…
Sun News Internet policy
From the ever-resourceful Steve Ladurantaye, who got me to subscribe to the Globe again: here.
Colin Powell Endorses Obama
Former Bush secretary of state and former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Colin Powell, is endorsing Barack Obama for a second term as president. Powell said Obama…
On positive precedents
Naturally, there’s plenty of discussion today about the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on Boris Wrzesnewskyj’s challenge to the 2011 federal election results in Etobicoke Centre. But I’ll take a…
Perfect Youth
Sam Sutherland’s much-anticipated book about Canadian punk rock, which I stayed up reading way too late last night, is crucially important. And not just because I was part of the…
Fight Fat with Urban Design
People in urban centres walk more and are generally more active than those who live in the suburbs, which is great for urbanites but not so great for the health…
Summary of majority decision in Opitz v. Wrzesnewskyj, 2012 SCC
Per Deschamps, Abella, Rothstein and MoldaverJJ.: W asks this Court to disqualify the votes of several Canadian citizens on account of administrative mistakes, notwithstanding evidence that those citizens were entitled…
Campaign Capers: Split decision
Supreme Court upholds Conservative win in Toronto riding Conservative MP Ted Opitz will keep his Etobicoke Centre seat, as Canada’s top court today upheld his narrow 2011 election victory despite…
Judges, judged
I know judges. I have worked for and with judges. I have appeared before judges. Judges don’t like supplant the peoples’ judgement with their own. Even when the facts and…
New column day
Here, on the increasing attempts of executive government at all levels to declare democracy irrelevant – and how strong grassroots party structures may be the key to reversing the tide.…
Fat Katz
“I’m sorry little boy. This is an Oilers-only campaign.” It appears Daryl Katz has a thing for crumbling dynasties: Billionaire Oilers owner Katz gave $430,000 to Alberta PCs Billionaire entrepreneur…
On Language and its Organic Use. . . . . .
Listening to a professor of “language” on CBC this morning complain about the “gradual extinction” of French, I was struck by a number of things. First of all I was…
Mock Democracy
Budget Implementation Bill To Be Studied By 9 Committees: via HuffPost http://huff.to/QGcI1W Big f.. .king deal. As if this sham process makes one damn bit of difference, but, hey, all…
From wonderment to bereavement #nlpoli
The decline in the quality of public life in our province over the past decade is matched by a decline in other places across Canada and in Ottawa. For those…