Day One, Post-Mandela
Today is the first day of our world after the Nelson Mandela era. We don’t need to canonize him or consider any messiah characteristics, but we should stop today and…
democracy
If you’re a democrat, instruct your MP to support Chong’s Bill
An opportunity to strike a blow for parliamentary democracy has suddenly arisen and all democrats should take advantage of it. On Thursday, Michael Chong, MP for Wellington-Halton Hills, will introduce…
Harper’s new $1.2B CSEC spy complex “a waste of money”: ShitHarperDid
This is what ShitHarperDid activists had to say Wednesday during a peaceful protest against Harper’s $1.2B CSEC complex in Ottawa: “I SPY A WASTE OF MONEY” The post Harper’s new…
The Ford Nation, Perils of Populism and Public Choice
Watching Rob Ford in the recent weeks reminds me of what John Ralston Saul once wrote of Benito Mussolini and his contemporary reincarnation in Silvio Berlusconi: “He was the nascent…
How Harper can avoid turning a Budget Implementation Bill into a Duffy budget bill
On November 25th, I made the following submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance regarding Bill C-4, Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, on behalf of…
More CBC Privatization
The private sector is grinning at the stealth privatization of Hockey Night in Canada. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hockey Night in Canada, privatization version! Yes, the CBC is now…
A Scandal in Two Institutions: The Senate Half
What has become known as the Senate Scandal is really a scandal in two institutions: the Senate, of course, but also the PMO. The PMO half of this scandal was…
National Post Could Use a Better Headline Writer #cdnpoli #PMO
Andrew Coyne: Stephen Harper’s story — and reputation — still hanging on by a thread Look, it’s still possible for the MSM to cling to the narrative that the PM…
ConCalls: Witnesses to #RoboCon Scrutinized
Andrew Prescott got instructions from Jenni Byrne to avoid Elections Canada until she could consult a lawyer. Prescott’s work on the Guelph Conservative campaign in 2011 earned him notoriety for…
What If
….everything you thought you knew about our democracy was an illusion? The following video, made before the last U.S. election and directed toward an American audience, will doubtlessly resonate with…
New studies show babies have basically decent impulses and are strongly driven by moral imperatives
More research shows once again that compassion, empathy and mutual aid, and an instinct toward cooperation, are innate in human beings, confirming what the great Russian biologist and anarchist philosopher…
ConCalls: Conservatives Caught in Contradiction #RoboCon #cdnpoli
If some Conservatives were lying about when they supposedly spoke to Michael Sona about a robocall scheme, how dependable are similar stories from other Conservatives egged on by the party’s…
The Perils of Passivity
Almost a year ago, Paul Krugman wrote a blog post entitled “Inaction is the Greatest Risk.” He was addressing American monetary policy, but the same theme applies to Saskatchewan politics.…
NAFTA, “Free Trade” and the TPP: Fast-Track To Full Corporate Rule
“Twenty years ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law. At the time, advocates painted a rosy picture of booming U.S. exports creating hundreds of thousands…
Conservatives Win Friends and Improve Policy…
…Or that might be what the usually compliant and forgiving media would say if they hadn’t been pissed off about being locked out of policy meetings at the Conservative Convention…
Democracy at Putney Church, continued
This post continues from my previous post about on the Putney Debates; a debate that took place between Cromwell and the Army Grandees on the one hand, and the representatives…
Democracy at Putney Church
On October 28, 1647, an extraordinary debate occurred at Putney Church in London. Representatives of the New Model Army rank and file – Agitators – met with members of the…
Canadian Support For Abolishing The Senate Is Gaining Ground
As Canadians have become more aware of the Senate through exposure to the Senate Scandal, they are, more and more, realizing that there is no place in a modern democracy…
Canadian Support For Abolishing The Senate Is Gaining Ground – UPDATED
UPDATE I just got the EKOS poll results from Oct. 29, 2013These poll results show an even stronger support for Senate abolition53.8% of Canadians support abolishing the Senate. Regional supportProvinces…