New Song: The Wild Rose of Alberta
Whooee! Well, friends an’ foes, I reckon I’ll have a few more foes after the Wildrose backers have a look at this one.
Canadian Politics
New Song: The Wild Rose of Alberta
Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, I reckon I'll have a few more foes after the Wildrose backers have a look at this one.
Oliver’s Twist: So Long Federal Environmental Oversight
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver — yes, the one who labelled environmentalists foreign-backed radicals — announced a major overhaul today in how environmental assessments will be conducted in Canada. Not…
Vigilantes and Mercenaries: The Harper Government and the Abdication of Responsibility
With the revelation that Minister Peter MacKay failed to ask many of the obvious/necessary questions when working on the F-35 procurement, the subject of basic ministerial/government responsibility has been weighing…
Happy 30th Anniversary, Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms
According to Louise Arbour, Canada’s internationally renowned & universally lauded Charter of Rights & Freedoms (HBD, eh?) “has transformed a country obsessed with the federal-provincial division of powers and enabled…
A very lame Harper excuse on the Charter
I’m surprised Harper commented at all on this, but I suppose he felt he had to, given the attention to his government’s notable silence on the issue of why they…
5 Questions: Parker Mackay
I first met Parker shortly after the 2011 federal election (specifically on May 17th when we attended the “Liberal Renewal Dinner” in Toronto hosted by the Edward Blake Society.) Parker…
Your major reason(s) for Conservatives not celebrating the Charter
Much has been made over the fact that the Conservative government is willing to throw major money at celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, while not doing…
A stolen cellphones database?
An interesting proposal the Toronto Star was advocating for yesterday: Washington’s Federal Communications Commission and the four biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. announced this week that they are creating…
Supreme Court fires a volley across Bill C-30 (& Harper’s) bow.
Think this decision ruffled a few feathers in the Conservative government today? The Supreme Court of Canada struck down Friday warrantless wiretap powers that police have in cases of emergency.…
On That Zombie Suzuki Resignation Story
The Globe: Canada’s most famous environmentalist, David Suzuki, says he left the board of his charitable foundation to avoid being a lightning rod for criticism and government attacks that would…
The Youth’s Rejection of Politics
I have always known that generally, Canadians do not share my interest in Canadian politics. Since 1963, when voter turnout stood at 79.2%, Canadians have been increasingly willing to stay…
Dueling Ledes (Compare & Contrast), Redux
AP video, Feb 15, 2011: A recent government report states the terrorist threat from Canada is greater than from Mexico, and that only 50 kilometres of the border is adequately…
My Country?
Inspired by images of Tahltan women blockading Shell in defense of the Sacred Headwaters in northern British Columbia, Rachelle Van Zanten wrote ‘My Country’. She was invited to perform it…
Dueling Ledes (Compare & Contrast)
TorStar, March 20th: Schools, hospitals and popular burger restaurants such as Hero’s and Lick’s are part of a suddenly massive beef recall over fears of E. coli contamination. The G&M,…
Canadians will pay higher taxes if shown its benefiting them.
Hard-right conservatives will not like the findings of this poll: Fully 64 per cent, including a majority of Conservatives and wealthy people, say they are willing to shell out a…
Here’s a prediction: A Canadian F-35 will be shot down by a drone in 2035
One of the problems with living in a country like Canada is that certain people become the default person on certain issues. It’s a small place and the opportunity for…
‘Accounting Difference’ – your latest F-35 defence by Pete MacKay
Apparently, a 10 billion $ discrepancy in what the F-35 was estimated to cost is now trying to be sold as no big deal – just a minor thing, according…
Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government: A Review
The other day the Canadian Government published its Action Plan on Open Government, a high level document that both lays out the Government’s goals on this file as well as…