Mostly competent government
There’s so much competence in Ottawa these days, there’s no time to do real justice to it. Here’s a taste, with emphasis added: The closure of a visa office in…
pogge
Transparency for thee but not for me
It’s difficult to fathom how a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is supposed to fulfill its mission when the truth remains off limits. Indian residential school records on dead and missing…
Punching above our weight
We're number fifty-eight! Canada fell to 58th place out of 61 countries analyzed for their policies and action on climate change this year, trailed only by Kazakhstan, Iran, and Saudi…
Does the Harper government think we should repudiate the ICC?
One of the stated reasons for Canada's opposition to the elevation in status of Palestine is the concern that "the Palestinians will use their new status to file war crimes…
Friday night: Solo slide
We begin with Lincoln Durham performing on an Austin, Texas TV show a couple of years back. The song is Reckoning Lament and it's from an album called The Shovel…
Campaign Capers: It’s like pulling teeth
McGregor and Maher published another installment in their series covering the robocalls controversy a couple of days ago. They led with the news that Allan Mathews, the former RCMP investigator…
Conservative values are Canadian values
So I guess Canadians put a high value on allowing people to suffer and die needlessly. Conservatives do. The Conservative government has defeated an effort to reform Canada's Access to…
Friday night
I like opening with Kelly Joe Phelps. He makes me pay attention. This is Big Shaky....
Campaign Capers: Democracy Watch update
Democracy Watch has a published a new media release. Here's the first three paragraphs: OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch called on the federal Conservatives to introduce the bill to ban…
Campaign Capers: Crank calls?
In his report on the election tabled in August 2011, Mayrand made brief mention of the "crank calls" that incorrectly advised voters of changed polling locations but there was no…
Friday night
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 killed 246 people in seven states. At its height, the Mississippi River was 60 miles wide south of Memphis, Tennessee. This is Eric Bibb…
Campaign Capers: The perfect man for the job
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue has promised to do something very unusual this coming Tuesday. He's going to offer an explanation. My interest in Penashue was originally piqued by this…
Friday night blues blogging
This is what YouTube is for: Gatemouth Brown on stage with Canned Heat at Montreux in 1973....
Is Chair of SIRC an honorary position too?
Chuck Strahl's name finally popped up! Five months ago he was named as the new head of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the agency that's supposed to hold CSIS to…
Campaign Capers: The view from under the bus
This past week Michael Sona publicly declared his membership in a very large club: people who have grown impatient waiting for Elections Canada. Beyond that and his claim to be…
Friday night: Slide
We’ll ease into it. This is Kelly Joe Phelps with Down to the Praying Ground. David Jacobs-Strain gets a little help here from Bob Beach on harp. The song is…
Programming notes
Good day. The weekly Campaign Capers post probably won’t appear until tomorrow. The weekly music post should be up this evening on schedule. Next week has been cancelled due to…
Friday night oldies
Getting nostalgic again. Starting with Junior Walker and the Allstars performing on Hullabaloo. Remember Hullabaloo? Where the dancers worked at least as hard as the musicians. This is Shotgun. King…
Campaign Capers: The court has spoken
The post I put up yesterday to report on the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Etobicoke Centre has been updated a couple of times with links to media coverage. There’s lots…