Today in Contaminated Beef
Costco steaks linked to four Edmonton E. coli poisonings The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a health alert over some beef steaks sold at the Costco store in northeast Edmonton…
pogge
Lesson not learned
Over the last few days, in the course of curating the news for the onpoli.ca project, I had noticed a series of stories about beef products being recalled due to…
The power would be used sparingly. So why does he need it?
I’ve commented repeatedly on the tendency for legislation proposed by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to contain measures that grant unaccountable authority to the minister. Why should the latest…
Way past normal
Back in February, the Globe and Mail reported on a memo from the Treasury Board to “all federal departments and agencies” instructing them to omit details of spending cuts from…
Mostly competent government
U.S. officials accuse Tories of leaking Omar Khadr documents United States administration officials accuse the federal Conservative government of leaking classified documents about Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, saying they…
Friday night Clapton covers Johnson blogging
That would be Eric Clapton covering the songs of Robert Johnson, in case that wasn’t obvious. I stayed away from Crossroad Blues because that would be too obvious. This is…
Campaign Capers: Slim pickings
The Council of Canadians and the seven ridings There was a hearing on Tuesday to consider a motion by the Conservatives that would compel the applicants to put up more…
Mostly competent government
The party of fiscal responsibility, ladies and gentlemen: More than 40 Conservative political staffers or ministers have racked up thousands of dollars in delinquent fees on their government-issued credit cards,…
Campaign Capers: Show us the money
The challenge to the election results in seven ridings that’s being underwritten by the Council of Canadians (COC) is back in court today for pre-trial motions. The CBC takes the…
Unscheduled musical interlude: Big Country
You’re welcome.
Friday night Sonny Boy Williamson blogging
Technically it’s Sonny Boy Williamson II but the “II” tends to get dropped in the YouTube listings. There was a Sonny Boy Williamson I but he passed in 1948 and…
Campaign Capers: It’s not much but it’s all I’ve got
I wonder if it ever occurs to Conservatives that when their luck changes and they find themselves on the outside looking in, they might be subject to a little payback.…
In which Mulcair muddies the waters
This was NDP leader Tom Mulcair yesterday on the Harper government’s decision to cut off diplomatic relations with Iran: …it’s … becoming increasingly clear that there were serious concerns, we…
Expect a lot of noise? Very well put!
The headline on John Ivison’s column in the National Post today is almost perfect. Expect a lot of noise about union dues disclosure bill Noise, indeed. …Mr. Hiebert’s financial transparency…
Oh look. Security certificates are in the news again.
I wonder if the Harper government has really thought this one through. A security certificate issued against Hassan Almrei was thrown out by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley in December…
Understatement
As I wrote about last night, former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day testified before a Federal Court on Thursday to explain why, in 2008, he renewed five security certificates, including…
It seemed like a good idea at the time
In February of 2008, then Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day renewed the security certificates on five men that CSIS deemed to be threats to national security. A Supreme Court decision…
Friday night
Here’s an interesting combination of performers. Someone will have to let me know if it works. To begin, Doc Watson will explain the origins of this first song, which is…
Campaign Capers: Elections Canada’s budget isn’t the problem
If you can get behind the paywall at the Ottawa Citizen you’ll find confirmation that Elections Canada’s budget really hasn’t posed a problem in their investigation into Robocon. Over and…
From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion
Dear readers: I’m sorry to have to inform you that I’ve been unfaithful to you. For more than a year now much of my “blogging time” has been invested in…