Canada Post writes its own obituary
Headline news this week: Canada Post moves to end home delivery. End home delivery? For me, both as a writer, a lay historian, and growing up in an era where…
December 2013
How banks play Russian Roulette with our financial security
(Part 4 of a series)The next major threat to Canadian and international financial systems is very likely to come from reckless investors gambling with derivatives, the dangerous betting vehicles that…
testing!
This is a test
Crown must prove the offence particularized
R. v. Sadeghi-Jebelli, 2013 ONCA 747: When the Crown charges an accused with an offence, and particularizes the way the offence was committed, it must prove the offence as particularized…
They Call That Accountability
Last week, the Harper government announced that it was going to tighten the rules on the transportation of petroleum by rail. But, for this government, the proclamation of the rules…
Sunday morning
The view in our living room.
Pension Reform
More of the white stuff has fallen, and I can ignore the importunate call of the snow shovel no longer, so I will make this brief with two reading recommendations…
A Brief Note: Winter Storm, December 2013
Passed what must have been one of the city yards where they keep their snow-plow fleet early Friday morning before it all started. With the plows testing their engines and…
Santa is Canadian & Harper is an idiot?
We know that our Government scientists and bureaucrats are not able to make any public statements without being ‘approved’ by the Harper regimes spin machine in the PMO so we…
Stephen Harper and the Scandal that Won’t Disappear
He's gone to ground. He can't be found. He's hiding from the media. Even his Twitter feed has gone silent. He's trying to make the sordid Senate scandal disappear by…
Let It Snow, Let It Snow
I know that many of my progressive friends are dealing with a lot of snow these days. Here’s my Christmas gift to you. It’s a vastly better way to help…
Band of the Month: Dusted
December’s Band of the Month is Toronto duo, Dusted. With sweet, soaring lo-fi, elevated by lonely but hopeful vocal and synth melodies, Dusted is able to combine restful patience and…
Balance beam
Balance beam. As the family photographer it fell to me to attend Mallory’s last gymnastics class. She had an ear to ear grin on during the entire class. Except when…
Mr. Coyne’s Flaccid Critique
Andrew Coyne’s latest column starts off with a clear enough statement of how the Harper Government has engaged in tactics which prevent the engines of parliament from holding those in…
In Sunday’s Sun: your election loss is in the mail
The Evil Empire. Yes, that’s what we called it. Back before the dawn of time, you see, I was chief of staff to a federal cabinet minister. The minister had…
The Most Deadly Line in the World?
BBC News online has posted the original Sykes-Picot map of the Middle East delineating how Britain and France would share the territory as spoils of WWI. Part A was to…
Shh, Don’t Tell Harper. He Might Get Ideas.
Only in Britain. It turns out you can draw a life sentence under a law that forbids anyone from advocating the abolition of the monarchy. It’s right there in the…
2015.
You care passionately about your city, your community, and about Canada. And you’re thinking about running to be on Justin’s team in 2015. With the open nominations (read: anyone can…