A Defence of Regularized Public Policy Referendum
I think Governments should consult with the people. The amount of public involvement with our federal democracy is essentially voting in a general election once every four years. We call…
Canadian Politics
Global Warming: Most Of Us Say Catastrophe, Big Oil Says Opportunity
I’m back from a short canoe trip on a small lake just an hour’s drive from our house. The weather was warm & dry, the conversation lively, the food delicious…
Why Omar Khadr’s psychology does not matter
This post is a quick update to my previous post ‘Why Omar Khadr still matters‘ in response to a CBC article that contrasts the views of two psychologists who studied…
It’s semi-official… the Enbridge Northern Gateway project is kaput!
Enbridge Inc., as seen and described by the U.S. National Transportation Board. Below: Federal Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, Alberta Opposition Leader Danielle Smith and B.C. Opposition Leader Christie Clark. No!…
Rick Salutin on Democracy, Parties, and Electoral Reform
“Democracy,” as Winston Churchill famously stated, “is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Somewhat less famously, he also…
Memo to Vic Toews
The gun violence in Toronto at a party that tragically ended up with 2 people being dead and being possibly gang-related did not occur because gang members saw that judges…
Yes Minister MacKay! Perfesser Dave explains the French role in the War of 1812
One of our heroic French allies, armed with a bassoon, holds off a Russian soldier near Niagara on the Lake some time during the War of 1812 with the Russians…
Preston Manning is no saint, as secretive Carleton University scheme illustrates
Preston Manning and his then-protégé Stephen Harper back in the day. Below: Mr. Manning as he now appears (United Church Observer photo): Alberta premier E.C. Manning, Preston Manning’s father; Mr.…
No shock here on the Conservative foot-dragging on Omar Khadr
A column in the Star today about how the Canadian government has been doing nothing to live up to its agreement it made with the US and Omar Khadr’s lawyers…
Why Omar Khadr still matters
A decade after a wounded Omar Khadr, a then fifteen year old Canadian citizen, decided to lob a fatal grenade in the middle of a firefight in Afghanistan, Ottawa is…
Does Bizarre Bethune brouhaha signal ideological rift within Harper Conservatives?
Communist physician Norman Bethune, left, and a comrade from the Red Chinese Army speak with Canadian Treasury Board President Tony Clement, right, in a vignette as imagined by Sun News…
The Liberal Party: A Substantial Heritage, a Future of Substance (Co-written with Theresa Lubowitz)
Theresa Lubowitz on the Death of Substantive Policy Canada is teetering dangerously close to the death of substantive policy as we know it, with the rise of a populist Conservative…
Toronto Pride with the Queer Liberals
“There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” – Pierre Trudeau While at university I made appoint of watching the Toronto Pride Parade a a…
In Defense of “Second Tier” Candidates
On July 4th Bob Hepburn wrote this silly article: “Warning to Liberals: Beware delusional no-hope leadership candidates.” I would like to defend these so-called “no-hope” candidates. The next Liberal leader…
and the jason kenney award goes to… jason kenney
Have you all seen this petition? The Honourable Jason Kenney asks us to sign a petition thanking none other than Jason Kenney. Macleans found it amusing, and the National Post…
Baird Announces Intention to Open Canadian Embassy in Burma
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced Canada’s plans to open an embassy in Burma. The announcement was made during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum and…
‘It won’t happen here’ is the likely Conservative defence for Northern Gateway pipeline
The Conservative government can’t be liking this US preliminary report too much on the Enbridge oil spill in Michigan: Enbridge “employees performed like Keystone Kops” in addressing the spill, demonstrating…
What kind of Canadian signs Jason Kenney’s petition for Jason Kenney? (Answer below)
“Gotta do something about those infernal refugees!” Some of Hon. Jason Kenney, PC, MP’s supporters get together for an evening of poker and political talk. Below: Riley Climenhaga. I recently…
Unsuccessful at the polls, Alberta market fundamentalists want the courts to impose two-tier health care
What heath care for the rest of us will look like if the market fundamentalist right’s battle for insurance companies’ “rights” ever succeeds. Below: Private health-care advocate John Carpay; Alberta…
The perfect time for Canada to invest in itself is now
Despite stubbornly high unemployment, tepid economic growth, and a large current account deficit, Canada enjoys one macroeconomic indicator that many crisis hit European governments would dearly love: insanely low borrowing…