Canada’s Lone East Coast Submarine Back in Dry Dock
If a boat is just a hole in the water into which you pour money, a submarine is a cavernous tube into which you sink fortunes. At least that’s the…
February 2014
Tom Steyer to Secretary of State Kerry: New Review Necessary of "Defective" Keystone XL Environmental Assessment
With the State Department’s release of the final Keystone XL environmental review, attention is being refocused on apparent conflicts of interest within both the State Department itself and the consultancy…
Canada’s Veterans Need Protection from Conservatives, Part 3 ( #cdnpoli #cpc )
If you had told me I’d need to draw your attention to this government’s continued disdain for Canada’s veterans again, I’d have said that even Conservatives could not stoop that…
Questions for robots
Eighty years ago, Keynes famously predicted that within a century people would need to work no more than three hours per day. High living standards aided by technological breakthroughs would…
Bill C-23: The Theft Of Canada’s Democracy Part II
I have not by any means finished my analysis of this bill and what it is setting up. However, a lot of other smart writers have been going over the…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Donovan Vincent reports on the Institute for Social Research’s study showing Canadians are highly concerned about income inequality: “People think the income…
Why Nancy Leblanc will beat Cheri DeNovo in Parkdale-High Park
My friend Nancy LeBlanc (you may also know her as Impolitical) is running for the Ontario Liberal nomination in Parkdale-High Park, and I think she’s going to beat the NDP’s…
The IMF and Canadian Fiscal Policy
This is quite interesting. If you read the short section from the recent IMF Staff Report on Canada under point 16, it is quite clear that the IMF Staff think…
In Pavillion, Wyoming Water Contamination Case, Questions Continue To Swirl About Oil and Gas Industry’s Role
A funny thing happened when Idaho Dept. of Lands Oil and Gas Program Manager Robert Johnson stepped to the microphone at a public hearing this past fall. He said something…
Sam Zell ‘The 1 Percent Work Harder’
When the going gets tough, the rich dudes stick together. Or at least rich dude Sam Zell did in an interview with Bloomberg TV Wednesday. The billionaire chairman of Equity…
A Critical Distinction – Denialism Isn’t Skepticism
Climate change denialists are not skepticists no matter how much they try to make that claim. If they were skepticists they would probably be scientists, not denialists. Scientists are skepticists.…
Canada’s Growing Income Gap Between the 99% and the 1%
The rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer, and the gap between them is growing. This is the test of whether we can be content in our complacency.…
New column day
Here, taking a closer look at the City of Regina’s 2014 budget – which offers a clear demonstration that the perpetual promise of growth doesn’t do anything to fund the…
Absent an explanation an unlawful search is unconstitutional
R. v. Mandziak, 2014 BCCA 41: The fact that there was no evidence or a paucity of evidence to support the Crown’s attempt to justify the unlawful seizure was not…
No support here for Royal Victoria Hospital.
They must be Babel’s most successful thieves. They are the parking meters and parking lot gate machines at our local hospital. The amount hospital visitors have to pay to park…
Solar Power Rising in the Gulf
2013 saw great things happen on the Arabian Peninsula in relation to energy production. The region has invested heavily in installing solar power plants and reducing their own reliance on…
Andrea’s Dilemma: Whither Blowest The Wind?
Were I a gifted artist (or any kind of artist, for that matter) I would draw Andrea Horwath in a two-panel caricature. In the first panel, index finger raised, she…
Fear of labour
This is what happens when you let Randy Hiller write your labour policy, Mr. Hudak. Full disclosure: I practiced labour law, union side. I’ve represented plenty of unions over the…
140 Law – Legal Headlines for Thursday, February 6, 2014
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Thursday, February 6, 2014: Michael Dunn says Jordan Davis’ death followed loud music spat In Appreciation… Montreal law…