China’s Wind Turbine Industry Booming
For years China has been trying to improve its sustainable energy production but to do so Chinese companies had to rely on patents and techniques from the rest of the…
January 2014
Michigan Judge Dismisses Charges Against Activist Who Protested Inside Enbridge’s 6B Pipeline
When Kalamazoo activist Chris Wahmhoff walked up to the fourth floor of the Calhoun County Circuit Court on Monday and checked the docket, he found his case sandwiched between three…
Jan. 15: Well, we don’t have to think about it anymore…..
…..because the Harper government isn’t going to do anything about oil tankers on our railways. We’re not going to hear any more about the police raid on Irving offices. The…
Wilful blindness requires subjective suspicions
R. v. Stanton, 2014 ONCA 29: The authorities are clear that wilful blindness requires subjective suspicions. The trial judge seems to have adopted a statement from defence counsel’s closing submissions…
Are We Just Going to Turn Our Backs on This?
It came out yesterday that reports submitted by the Harper government to the United Nations show that Canada won’t be cutting our greenhouse gas emissions anytime soon. Instead the government…
A major test for both Hudak and Wynne; Byelections called
This wasn’t unexpected, but here is the official news: Premier Kathleen Wynne has called byelections for Feb. 13 in Thornhill and Niagara Falls…The riding of Niagara Falls became vacant after…
Your Daily Digital Digest for Wednesday, January 15th, 2014
Your news links for today: ISPs Push For Two-Tier Internet Based on Data Caps (Michael Geist) Harper and wireless: Is it Lost or Breaking Bad? (WordsByNowak) Videotron reportedly signs NDA…
Where Did It All Go?
Welcome to 21st century Canada. I fear it will someday be known as a century that got off to a bad start with the election of our first neo-conservative government…
The Odd Conversion of Mainstream Economists to the Virtues of Depreciation
The long-overdue depreciation of Canada’s currency is gathering steam. The dollar lost 8 cents against its U.S. counterpart, in fits and starts, over 2013. It’s lost another 2 cents since…
Toronto needs a mayor: I must be missing something
Like, how in the name of God is this in any way news? It would be news if Wynne, Hudak et al. were agreeing to meet with Mayor Crackhead, wouldn’t…
Cal Wenzel Hasn’t Got A Leg To Stand On
I didn’t think much of Wenzel’s allegations when he filed his lawsuit. After reading the statement of defence filed by Naheed Nenshi today, I don’t think Wenzel has much to…
Punitive Damages in Ontario Employment Law – Pate Estate v. Galway-Cavendish and Harvey (Township)
American courtroom dramas and John Grisham novels tend to skew Canadian views on what punitive damages are and how they are awarded. The Ontario Court of Appeal’s November 2013 decision…
140 Law – Legal Headline for Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Wednesday, January 15, 2014: Ice storm 2013: Rob Ford’s request for an urgent meeting rejected by Kathleen Wynne…
Top Ten Albums of 2013
Scott never writes anymore. Every year, I get too busy around the holidays, and I don’t get around to my Top Ten Records of the Year list. And, every year,…
Crucible of Resistance: class struggle to exit the crisis
Many commentators make Greece and other peripheral EU members responsible for the sovereign debt crisis. People in these countries would have lived above their means and it was only right…
Mandela Was More Radical Than Most Know
Well, I miss Mandela. The post-Mandela world is sadly less colourful. While all sorts of people, including reprobate politicians in Canada laud him for this and that, it’s important to…
Can Loyalty Oaths Be Far Behind?
In yet another development in the dangerous drift toward autocratic rule, the Harper cabal, under the guise of a private member’s bill introduced by Mark Adler, the Conservative MP for…
Do LHINs need boards at all if they are simply to be the arm of the Ministry?
Tom Closson calls it the Goldilocks principle. What is the point where governance within our health system is “just right?” Writing in Healthy Debate, the former CEO of the Ontario…
Ask General Kang: Do you ever suffer from Twitter regret?
Foolish human! You can’t, as the appropriately ordered phrase has it, have your cake and eat it too. (Most of you lower primates get that backwards.) If you are going…
At Issue: Does Fort Mc Smell?
We’re in about day three of the backlash over singer/songwriter Neil Young’s comments re the tar sands. Particularly contentious was this bit: “(I) drove around the tarsands in my electric…