A green NAFTA? Is it possible?
It isn't much but it's promising. Last Friday, Canada, the United States and Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding that could lead to a North American accord on climate change…
Canada
Turning a Fail into a Win…
Mulcair takes responsibility for failed election campaign in letter to NDP supporters Mulcair wants to remain NDP leader promising not to repeat mistakes of 2015 election By Kristy Kirkup, The…
Ban Microbeads Now
Send an email to: ec.produits-products.ec@canada.ca Dear Minister McKenna: There is no need to give pollution a chance to overwhelm our water and enter our food chain. Plastic microbeads are considered…
Microwaste, Big Problem
I phoned Johnson & Johnson about why they continue to sell products with microbeads after Parliament started to vote last year toward creating a law to ban their sale. The…
Podcast: Where is Quebec going after the strikes, where is Canada’s economy going after the oil crash?
I have two Canadian updates this week. The first is from Nora Loreto on what’s happening in Quebec after the fall’s anti-austerity strikes. Nora is a Quebec City-based journalist…
Rafe: Old “Left” vs. “Right” divide no longer applies to environment
The old divide between "left" and "right" no longer applies to the environment, says Rafe Mair, as even traditionally conservative voters are now paying attention to things like climate and…
Conservatives Failed to Protect Privacy
The Liberals record? Not much better. “I can’t answer the question about the former government, what their reasons were,” said Sajjan, also noting he does not believe any of the…
Modest proposals for our defence policy
The federal government has promised to develop a new defence strategy for the country and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has confirmed the public will be asked to participate. I thought,…
A First Step For Government, a Semi-Giant Leap for Labor
Liberal government moves to repeal controversial union laws Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk meets reporters on Parliament Hill at 10:15 a.m. ET CBC News Posted: Jan 28, 2016 10:08 AM ET…
Laying Down A Deadly Bluff
For ages now Canadians have been conditioned to accept that we “need” more pipelines to move more oil. Otherwise we’ll continue to exhaust train crews and have bombtrains in every…
Boosting the economy for the rest of us
Elites and the talking heads in the media are arguing about how to respond to Canada’s soured economic outlook. Who should try to boost the economy, the federal government via…
Rona Ambrose – Smoke From The Ears
Anyone else smell pants burning? Maybe it’s something else. Hold on, you’re about to get whiplash. I guess having an empty head is a biological advantage since your brain doesn’t…
Reductio ad absurdum: Why we environmentalists are missing the boat with sham hearings, technical arguments
Technical arguments and sham hearings on the merits and risks of pipelines and tankers miss the point, argues Rafe Mair.The post Reductio ad absurdum: Why we environmentalists are missing the…
Elites debate boosting the economy, but for whom?
Elites and the talking heads in the media are arguing about how to respond to Canada’s soured economic outlook. Who should try to boost the economy, the federal government via…
William Shatner’s Inaugural Address
(After Winning the First Post-Two-Party Presidential Election) Friends, Americans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears. I come to bury our two-party system, not praise it. I stand before you today, not…
Three Card Monte in LaLaLand
Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media in $2.65B deal Acquisition ‘redefines Corus and Canada’s media landscape,’ president/CEO says The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 13, 2016 7:20 AM ET Same…
Short-term jobs and profits notwithstanding, Canada’s interests are not served by Saudi armoured vehicle sale
PHOTOS: A Canadian LAV III similar to the armoured vehicles to be sold by General Dynamics Land Systems (Canada) of London, Ont., to the Saudi National Guard. Below: Prime Minister…
From Participatory Budgeting to Co-operative Tenant Control: An Alternative Policy Recommendation For Toronto Community Housing
Toronto Community Housing (TCH) is a huge organization with a crucial mandate. Located in Canada’s most-populous city and the capital of the Province of Ontario, TCH provides housing for 164,000…
…Then They Came for Me…
Online comments on news stories: a problem for everyone Syrian refugee stories on news sites are prompting some backlash in the comments section of some websites By Bal Brach, CBC…