It’s About Quality, Not Just Numbers
As each month comes to an end, we wait with baited breath to discover how many new jobs were created in the last thirty days. But Yogendra Shakya and Axelle…
Owen Gray
It’s In The Hands Of The Young
Frank Graves has been tracking public opinion for a long time. In his most recent survey, he asked Canadians four broad questions: 1) Do you favour more or less immigration?…
The Speech You’ll Never Hear
The evidence keeps piling up. When Hurricane Sandy tore up the Jersey Shore and flooded New York City, Americans started talking about climate change. But when Calgary was inundated last…
The Wisdom Of Direct Investment
One of the Right’s favourite shibboleths is that, when government invests directly in people, it encourages sloth. Far better to offer citizens tax credits. Government shouldn’t invest, they say. It…
Milton Friedman And Edward Snowden
Murray Dobbin writes that both men are connected, despite the years. Friedman was famous for coining the phrase “Free To Choose.” He sold right wing ideologues on the notion that…
Canadian Custer
After the cabinet shuffles last week, commentators began to speculate about whether Stephen Harper was opening the door to his successor. The truth is, no one knows what Harper is…
Mr. Harper’s Balloon
Michael Harris writes that the Harper government has a new emblem — a “two and a half storey hot air balloon floating high in the parliamentary sky over the Ottawa…
Pulling Apart
For those who view economics as a morality play, Detroit’s bankruptcy is another example of an economic sinner in the hands of an angry god. For those who view economics…
They’re Wearing Off And Wearing Thin
Perhaps the public is finally catching on. The Canadian Press reports that a recent Harris-Decima survey — required under federal advertising rules — found that: Slick television ads this year…
Monstrous
It was General Philip Sheridan who said, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” In Canada, we like to think that our history is not as savage as that…
The Rise Of The Spectacularly Incompetent
Amid all the talk this week of Stephen Harper’s enemies list, a lot of us missed what is surely another example of how corrupt the Harper government has become —…
The Longer He Stays, The More Damage He Does
Lawrence Martin has admitted that the title for his latest book was inspired by Rick Pearlstein’s examination of the Nixon administration. However, Martin writes, Harperland is not Nixonland — at…
Inequality Keeps Them In Power
Everyone complains about public apathy. We know that democracy in Canada is in trouble. But nothing seems to change. Alex Himelfarb suggests that the reason things don’t change is because…
Paranoia, Not Public Safety
Stephen Harper likes to say that public safety is one of his government’s main priorities. After all, that’s what that new tough on crime legislation and those new prisons were…
Taking Aim At His Enemies
Stephen Harper shuffled his deck chairs yesterday. And Mike De Souza reports, in The National Post, that incoming ministers received a package which included a list of Harper’s enemies: Prime…
Making Matters Worse
Perhaps it results from reading too many balance sheets. But Edward Burkhardt clearly suffers from EDD — Emotional Deficit Disorder. The head of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway walked…
They Do It Without Blushing
On May 2nd, the Harper government staged a ceremony to commemorate the Canadarm and Canada’s contribution to space exploration. Curiously, Marc Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut — who was later made…
Ignorance Rules The Roost
Vic Toews is gone. Peter Kent thinks he’s gone. And, Alex Himelfarb writes, Gary Goodyear should be gone: Goodyear, the minister of state for science and technology, has presided over…
The End Of Kent?
Peter Kent signaled this week that he expects to be demoted or dismissed by Stephen Harper. Rick Smith, the Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute, suggests that Kent’s tenure as…
Back To The 19th Century
This week Stephen Harper indicated once again that he wants to return this country and its citizens to the19th century. Bob Hepburn writes in the Toronto Star: The latest slap…