How Many Times Must I Say This: It Wasn’t Just Guelph, People
The media is developing a disturbingly schizophrenic mentality about last year’s election fraud. On the one hand, there are a score of new reports every day of ridings where people…
Democracy and Politics
Anatomy of a Vote Suppression Operation
I will be out of touch for most of the day, and if I’m lucky, by the time I get back to my computer this evening, the culprits will have…
Applications for Canada’s Next Elections Commissioner Due This Friday
As one commenter noted in my previous thread, the timing of this is unfortunate, to say the least. I assume it is only because Corbett is reaching 65 or some…
New Information: Conservatives Also Misdirected Voters with Live Calls…
… in addition to the robocalled ones. I’m going to need a bigger list. I’m hardly the first to link to this story. My excuse is that I’m in Lotus…
The Next Week Will Be Critical
The next week will determine whether the Conservative robocall scheme becomes the moment at which a critical mass of Canadians become aware of this government’s repeated blatant illegalities, or whether…
Hoax Phone Calls Reported in 37 Ridings During 2011 Election
It’s become increasingly clear that there was not one effort to suppress votes during the 2011 election: there were several, some with robocalls, some with live callers, some with just…
Elections Canada Still Investigating Election Day Fraud Calls
And I thought they’d buried the case. Countdown to the second Conservative election fraud case: 10… 9… 8… Tweet
Tom Flanagan, Founder-Worship, and the Canadian States’ Rights Movement
Tom Flanagan has published what apparently passes for a wise think-piece from a tenured professor, celebrating the dismantling of the Canadian healthcare system on the grounds that it gets us…
Senator Discloses New Information on How Conservative Patronage Works
The South Asian Focus has printed an in-depth interview with Conservative candidate-turned Senator Salma Attaullahjan, and I have to say, she sounds like a complete dunce: Most of the time…
If We Don’t Pay Our MPs, Someone Else Will
Of course, the Harper regime is being more than a little hypocritical when it launches an attack on public-sector pensions while continuing to collect its own gold-plated pensions, currently at…
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Advice: Harper Regime “Streamlines” its Own Policy Advice Office
Hill Times is reporting that the Prime Minister’s Office has “streamlined” by merging its two main previously separate branches, the policy analysis unit and the public relations and lobbying unit…
Conservative Lawyer: Harper’s Parliament is Above the Law
A lawyer, brandishing impeccable credentials as a former chair of the Canadian Bar Association Constitutional and International Law Section, explains in the Globe & Mail that the actions of a…
The Slow and Steady Growth of Dictatorship
A few years ago, anti-globalization activist Naomi Klein hit upon a very profitable argument about how technocratic dictatorships are born: they rush through, overnight or very close to it, a…
What to Expect from Sixth Estate in 2012
I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions, but since this blog has now been online for about a year, and for those readers arriving from my citation by…
Christmas Message 2011: We Are At Their Mercy
One of the most pervasive myths of the modern age is that democracy is something that requires very little effort. Our democracy and our freedoms will survive whether we are…
Harper Regime Budget Cuts Should Begin at Home
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending my few free moments putting together a master list of the Conservative Party’s political appointees. This is separate from my Patronage List…
Ten Reasons Why Richard Gwyn is an Idiot
This sort of nihilist screed is something I’ve heard from plenty of people before, but not usually from journalists: There’s no longer any need to pretend that our emperor isn’t…
Open Letter to Sue-Happy Peter MacKay: I am Spartacus
This has got to be the most patently absurd thing I’ve read all week: Defence Minister Peter MacKay is considering legal action against MPs who suggested he lied about a…
The Iron Law of Authoritarianism and the Future of Canadian Politics
This is Part 2 of a series of posts on the future of Canadian politics. Part 1 is available here. As with many of his kind, Paul Wells of Maclean‘s…
Where They Are Now: Harper Ex-Cabinet Ministers And Their New Jobs
A few days ago I pointed out that one of Harper’s former Cabinet ministers, despite losing his seat in May, was back on the public dole anyways, as ambassador to…