Canada rules on polygamy, polyamory and religious freedom.
B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman ruled Wednesday that Canadian laws which limit religious freedom can be upheld if it is felt by the court that the harms in…
Canadian Politics
Standing On Guard For The Tar Sands: Canada Wins Two Fossil Awards on Day 1 of Climate Talks
Today’s guest blogger is Ani, a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation representing Manitoba at the Durban climate conference. Ani works as a Public Education and Outreach Coordinator for Climate…
COP 17 in Durban – Day 1
Today is the first day of the U.N. climate talks in Durban South Africa. As I wrote earlier, many people’s expectations (including mine) for a meaningful and binding international climate…
It’s tough to be an environmentally conscious Canadian right now.
This is highlighted by a couple of decisions/news items that just cam out over the weekend. First, you have CTV News reporting that the Conservative government will formally pull out…
polygamy ruling: why are the courts still trying to protect marriage?
The recent BC Supreme Court decision upholding Canadian laws criminalizing polygamy is disappointing and dangerous. The much-quoted summary paragraph of Chief Justice Robert Bauman’s decision contained a surprising clause: the…
Liberal Party of Canada Presidential Candidates’ Debate Report Card – Nov. 22/23
On November 22nd and 23rd I listened to/attended two debates of the four candidates currently running to be President of the Liberal Party of Canada. The first was a phone…
Poet For the Planet, Drew Dellinger, At Occupy Oakland
“It’s time to rock the nation, rock this occupation! Our communities need us. We are all leaders. How could we ask for anything less than the future?“ A powerful video…
Canada’s Environment Minister Doesn’t Know What Ozone Is, But Approves Cuts To Ozone Monitoring
Unfortunately, this is the fellow in charge of preserving Canada’s water, air, and climate for future generations. The video below shows Environment Minister Peter Kent can’t respond to Justin Trudeau’s…
Solving The Big Environmental Calamities Requires Measuring, Research, Monitoring
Today’s guest blogger is Graham Saunders. Graham’s weather and climate background includes work with the Australian Weather Bureau, the Atmospheric Environment Service of Canada and forest fire weather prediction for…
You guys have a majority.. why hide behind a Private Members Bill?
That’s my only real question of this particular reversal/manoeuvre on Section 13 regarding hate speech and the Human Rights Tribunal. I’m not at all surprised they’re doing this, even if…
The New Government of Canada Open Data License: The OGL by another name
Last week the Minister Clement issued a press release announcing some of the progress the government has made on its Open Government Initiatives. Three things caught my eye. First, it…
Douglas Coupland on Hockey and the Canadian Identity
“Canadian winters are long. Life is hard and so is ice. Canadian teams playing within the NHL are, in effect, a microcosm of Canada’s ongoing process of trying to remain…
NGDP targeting: wither monetarism?
Monetarism is like a Zombie: it can be found theoretically wanting, empirically false and technically infeasible but in one form or another it just soldiers on. In some ways the…
RPPE going ORG
We will be transitioning to our own domain name and hosting services over the next couple of weeks thanks to some outside donations. We should have done this earlier. Thanks…
cindy blackstock, another victim of harper’s "speak against us and we will hurt you" govt
Our tax dollars at work. The head of an agency that provides services to First Nations children and families accuses the government of discrminating against that community. The agency head…
The new enemy of Canada as the Harper government sees it; anyone who questions them
One of the trends this Conservative government has shown since it came to power is the need to demonize their opponents and to paint anyone who oppose them as being…
Quebec and Israel’s changing political narrative
When there is a single issue which dominates the politics of a jurisdiction for decades, it is often the case that progress on other issues is inhibited by the myopic…
Stimulative austerity bearing fruit in Britain? Not. Nor globally
George Osborne was quick out of the gates with the austerity as stimulus gambit. Which as everybody from myself to Paul Krugman predicted was going to be a flop. Osborne…
Statistics Canada Data to become OpenData – Background, Winners and Next Steps
As some of you learned last night, Embassy Magazine broke the story that all of Statistics Canada’s online data will not only be made free, but released under the Government…