Austeria
Mad scientist selling his utopian project to the master of Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) “Austeria”. An informal talk to OMSSA’s 2013 Learning Symposium, held in Ottawa, Ontario from June 16…
himelfarb
Why we have no time for politics
Samara recently published yet another study showing that Canadians, especially young Canadians, are profoundly disengaged from formal politics. Not only are citizens voting less and participating less in political parties,…
Why we have no time for politics
Edward Hicks, c. 1824, “Peaceable Kingdom”, National Gallery of Art, Wikipedia Commons. Samara recently published yet another study showing that Canadians, especially young Canadians, are profoundly disengaged from formal politics.…
Celebrating Public Service
Public servants celebrating the enrolment of 5 million citizens in the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (1959, Archives of Ontario) Notes for talk at Public Policy Forum Dinner, April 11, 2013…
Celebrating Public Service
Public servants celebrating the enrolment of 5 million citizens in the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (1959, Archives of Ontario) Notes for talk at Public Policy Forum Dinner, April 11, 2013…
The Trouble With Austerity: Economics as Ideology
A somewhat abridged version of this post first appeared in The Toronto Star here Governments here and elsewhere are increasingly preoccupied with cutting even as evidence piles up of its…
The Trouble With Austerity: Economics as Ideology
A somewhat abridged version of this post first appeared in The Toronto Star here Governments here and elsewhere are increasingly preoccupied with cutting even as evidence piles up of its…
The Age of Austerity
Notes: Keynote talk, CCPA Post-Austerity session, Toronto, January 9, 2013 We are living in the “Age of Austerity” or at least so says David Cameron, the UK’s Prime Minister. He…
The Age of Austerity
Notes: Keynote talk, CCPA Post-Austerity session, Toronto, January 9, 2013 We are living in the “Age of Austerity” or at least so says David Cameron, the UK’s Prime Minister. He…
The mean test: how we measure success
Chief Theresa Spence (by Regina Southwind, Rabble, December 17) As we enter 2013, how is Canada doing? How do we stack up against other rich countries? Emerging from the year…
The mean test: how we measure success
Chief Theresa Spence (by Regina Southwind, Rabble, December 17) As we enter 2013, how is Canada doing? How do we stack up against other rich countries? Emerging from the year…
Bargain Basement Citizenship and the Decline of Democracy
We ought to be outraged. Just about every day our media provides a new account of the decline of our democracy: the inadequacies of our electoral system and allegations of…
Taking Back Our Democracy: Bridging the Generational Divide
These are tough days for Canada’s parliamentary democracy. Having endured years of steady erosion, it is now under frontal attack. Journalists and public leaders, across the political spectrum, have begun…
Going, Going, Gone: Dismantling the Progressive State
“An Auction”. William Pyne and William Combe (1808). Now that some time has passed since the federal budget it might be useful to step back and assess what it says…
The Price Of Austerity
Austerity, we have been told repeatedly by pundits and political leaders, is the defining issue in these uncertain times, the solution to our economic challenges. We have been given fair…
A Bad Day: What Now?
C10, the omnibus crime bill, passed third reading and is now over to the Senate for what is supposed to be sober second thought. The vote could only have been…
The Consequences of Tax Cuts
Here is the video of a recent talk I gave on taxes as a good thing. The talk was hosted by the Literary Review and TVO and sponsored by The…