Layton Announcement Roundup
Not much to add on this end to the news that Jack Layton is taking a temporary leave of absence to deal with a new form of cancer. But let's…
Greg Fingas
First things first
Meanwhile, for those wondering what the NDP has been up to in its first summer as Official Opposition, the Hill Times has part of the answer:(W)ith so many new and…
Compare and contrast
One party's response to a limited amount of Parliamentary resources:“New Democrat MPs were responsible for 56 per cent of all private members’ motions, and 59 per cent of all private…
Sunday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your weekend.- Nick Falvo discusses the unfortunate theory that any talk of improving standards of living for the neediest Canadians is either fruitless or extreme politically:In…
On primary purposes
Yes, it's striking enough that multiple parties' MPs went out of their way to destroy information about constituent requests to make it harder for new NDP MPs to do their…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- David Olive chimes in on the toxic effects of inequality:Many of us did not engage in “excess,” yet are struggling to make ends meet.…
The debate begins
Earlier this week, Gary Mason asked whether there would be any serious debate over the CETA. In case there were any doubt, Robert Chisholm provides the answer:These deals can create…
On revocability
Dr. Dawg has a post worth reading on the Cons' purification strategy. But let's take a closer look at part of that plan which I've only dealt with in snark…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. - Jeffrey Simpson laments the Cons' evidence-averse crime policies. But it's worth noting that Simpson is off base on one point: much as he…
Deep thought
If there's any good news in the report that it's apparently impossible to keep corporate sponsorship off even the most political of public functions, it's that it should be highly…
Musical interlude
Massive Attack - Dissolved Girl
Same old story, slash-and-burn edition
So can Canadian progressives agree that eliminating environmental regulators is generally a short-sighted move which prioritizes a foolish focus on slashing government gratuitously over a society's long-term well-being?Of course, I…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- As quickly as the Fraser Institute churns out corporate propaganda, Sixth Estate responds - this time nicely debunking a report encouraging yet more giveaways…
Deep thought
An environmental monitoring plan explicitly designed to improve the reputation of the industry involved is a thoroughly useless environmental monitoring plan.
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Henry Farrell points out why supposedly progressive ideas which don't do anything to counter corporate power are doomed to failure:Neo-liberals tend to favor…
New column day
Here, on how the TILMA's regressive trade rules are spreading across Canada in other forms. For further reading...- I've posted several times before about just some of the problems with…
Frequently-quoted answers to simple questions
Pogge asks:Is (Brad) Wall so uninformed that he doesn't know about (federal subsidies for the oil sands)?It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends…
Unclear on the concept
Quick, try to make sense of this passage from Postmedia's coverage of the Cons' plans to reintroduce gun registry legislation this fall:In October 2010, the bill was killed by an…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Jeffrey Simpson has a bit of trouble recognizing that inequality applies at all rungs of the income ladder, not merely as a matter of…
Deep thought
I know I can't think of a higher priority for Canada at the moment than to declare war on citizenship.