Some (more) suggestions on income taxes
Maybe it’s me but the whole concept of “boutique” tax credits has become something of a joke. Some items such as making public transit passes tax deductible makes sense as…
Canada Politics
Who’ll clean up Hamilton Airport now?
Just when we thought that it couldn’t get much worse for public health in Hamilton, indeed across the country — yup, it’s gotten worse. In December of last year, I…
Guest Post: New Progressive Narrative
Today, I’m please to allow fellow progressive Jared Milne write a guest post about how the progressive movement should change the course of the debate between progressives and the right…
Blast Furnace Canada Blog 2012-04-04 14:56:00
The decision this week by the ruling Conservatives to abolish the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development — also known by the shorthand “Rights and Democracy” — isn’t…
Ontario Court of Appeal says prostitution laws unconstitutional: Thumbs up (kind of)
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision and ruled that several laws that make it all but impossible for “street workers” to ply their trade, is…
Bad cases make for bad laws …
… and in the current trial about the murder of Tori Stafford, there are a lot of hot tempers. Some have even called for the reinstatement of the death penalty…
Sledgehammer against refugees
In recent days Jason Kenney, the federal immigration minister, has proposed tightening some of the rules regarding refugee claims. I have these thoughts. First, it is true that there are…
Towards a "living wage" in Canada
A number of years ago, Canada’s statistics agency got rid of the concept of “the poverty line.” Instead they came up with what is called the “low income cut off”…
Another massacre in Afghanistan
If this is how one “wins the hearts and minds” of a people, this past weekend’s massacre of 16 civilians by a US soldier has only succeeded in creating even…
"Robogate"? Special prosecutor
Canada’s relative proximity to the United States is beneficial in many ways — not the least of which include that we get access to their markets relatively easily and we…
It’s called ministerial responsibility, Toews!
“Sit down, my son. We don’t read most of the bills. Do you really know what that would entail — if we were to read every bill that we passed?…
Prop 8 struck down again
I have only had enough time to skim through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in California’s Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban. As we all know, the appeals…
Where is the politically independent bureacracy? Going, going …
There’s still quite a bit of fallout from last week’s rather surprising admission that employees on the federal government’s payroll, the permanent civil service, were recruited to take part in…
Guilty verdicts in Kingston — a turning point in the war against women?
The struggle for equal rights never ends and must never end. Recent events in two parts of the world, seemingly disconnected but linked by the common element of who the…
Harper: Right about Iran, but on the tar sands and "outsiders" …
This week, the Prime Minister expressed aloud concerns many of us Canadian of all stripes have had either openly or privately – that Iran is a ticking time bomb with…
Foot in mouth syndrome: What is Harper’s real position on gay marriage?
Towards the end of last week, news emerged that the Harper Government was taking the position that thousands of same sex marriages in Canada may have never taken place because…
Lahey sentenced — fire the bastard
We learned today that the disgraced Roman Catholic bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Raymond Lahey, was sentenced to time served for possession of child pornography on his laptop which he…
Perry doesn’t know how to shut his big mouth
Less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses. And Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) has chosen to fan the flames. First, by associating with the most unscrupulous of televangelists…
North Korea: Moving the doomsday clock closer to midnight
It’s been a little over thirty six hours since North Korea revealed that Kim Jong Il died from an apparent heart attack on Saturday. It was well known that Kim…
What’s in YOUR drinking water? In Hamilton it could be Scotchgard ™
Several months ago, back in the spring of this year, Radio Canada ran an investigative report regarding the run-off of chemicals from John Munro International Airport at Mount Hope, the…