Don’t Look Away
We’re on the cusp of the election and many moderate conservatives still don’t know who they’ll support. Will they ignore the allegations of vote tampering in the UCP leadership race…
Education
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Donald Gutstein examines the crucial difference between advancing toward a zero-carbon economy, and incentivizing further fossil fuel development through misleading terms such…
The Day Jason Kenney Edited the UCP Policy Document…
The UCP policy document opens with a letter from Jason Kenney which cribs Ronald Reagan’s well known question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Kenney’s…
The Mike Harris Sequel No One Wanted
“We will be there to support you one 1000%. What I can tell you one thing… I promise you… you won’t have to be protesting on the front of Queen’s…
Candidates in Airdrie-Cochrane on the Canadian Monarchy
Airdrie-Cochrane is just north of Calgary Perhaps it is because I lived in Alberta a number of years ago or maybe it is because I still have family living there…
GSAs…Here we go again
Last Thursday Mr and Ms Soapbox joined hundreds of Calgarians protesting Mr Kenney’s plan to out kids who join gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in schools. The question on everyone’s mind was…
Alberta’s Freedom Conservatives and the Canadian Monarchy
As regular readers of this blog already know I often survey political parties and their candidates to discovery their views on our monarchy. The focus has often been on the…
Canada has had a Female Head of State for One Hundred and One Years of its One Hundred and Fifty-two Year History
I am told that today is International Women’s Day. So it isfitting I post a photo of an international woman. Oh, and so far We’ve had a female prime minister…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses the importance of pushing toward universal child care in order to relieve avoidable stress on families. – Allison Jones…
That Time Economists Apologized to the Queen for the 2008 Financial Crisis
In November of 2008 Her Majesty wasvisiting the London School of Economics.The financial crisis was well underway andthe Queen took the opportunity to posea question about the scale of the…
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
It is Valentines Day and as such I thought I’d write about aromantic gesture from a very long time ago. The HangingGardens of Babylon was one of the Wonders of…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Iglika Ivanova discusses how British Columbia can move toward eliminating poverty in its next budget. – Patrick Maze points out the need…
Where Hereditary Chiefs Still Rule In Canada
While most hereditary chiefs among Canada’s FirstNations don’t have a formal role in governance there are atleast two places where they do. They are the Buffalo PointFirst Nation and the…
WTF is wrong with people these days?
Into everyone’s life comes the realization that we are not young and in between the time when we were, the world has changed. Not always for the better, either. In…
Stub History
I’ve been getting rid of some accumulated paper. I found a receipt for a full year of university tuition in 1978-79: $740. I also found a paystub for my minimum…
2019 PEF Student Essay Contest is Open
The 2019 PEF Student Essay Contest is now open! Calling all Canadian students anywhere in the world and all post-secondary students in Canada who are working on papers taking a…
The Declaration of Dependence
Photo Credit: Journal of the American Revolution Faded cursive writing on a wrinkled, water-damaged sheet ofpaper is all that remains of an important counter-point to theDeclaration of Independence. The document…
Donner Canadian Foundation, prominent funder of right-wing groups, helps bankroll new ‘think tank’ closely connected to CTF
A new “think tank” with close connections to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation received $50,000 last year from the Donner Canadian Foundation, a prominent funder of right-wing ideological organizations in Canada.…
Politics in the Age of Bewilderment
The historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari says we’re living in the Age of Bewilderment, the old stories have collapsed and the new stories have not yet been written. Ms…