Vancouver Sun Letter
I have a letter in today’s Vancouver Sun, not so much supporting proportional representation (although I do support proportional representation) as addressing what I consider to be baseless objections to…
Electoral Reform
Vancouver Sun Letter
I have a letter in today’s Vancouver Sun, not so much supporting proportional representation (although I do support proportional representation) as addressing what I consider to be baseless objections to…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – CBC News examines the state of consumer debt in Canada. Jake Johnson writes that despite the growing recognition of inequality as an…
New column day
Here, on British Columbia’s electoral reform referendum – and the need for a political system where voters have more say than simply a yes/no vote on an incumbent government. For…
Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Kate Aronoff interviews Mariana Mazzucato about The Value of Everything, including some important discussion about the relationship between governments and markets: Aronoff:…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Don Pittis writes that the disastrous results of the U.S.’ giveaways to corporations and wealthy individuals – including a ballooning deficit which…
THE FIFTH COLUMN 2018-10-13 19:17:00
On Democracy What a better way to restart The Fifth Column than by a treatise on how to make our democracy actually democratic. Hopefully this will be the first posting…
FPTP makes Canadians second class citizens
Voters in the province of British Columbia are faced with a dilemma: Does morality require them to vote for political reform because they owe their family, friends and neighbours a…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Evelyn Forget makes the case for a national basic income which would provide a more stable fiscal base for Canada’s provinces as well…
A vote for FPTP is a vote for legalized theft
Voters in BC are being given the chance to vote for a dramatic change in the way in which their representatives in the provincial government are chosen, as this article…
How to Frame the electoral reform referendum in BC, Canada
Mark Mitchell has a post in Facebook in which he writes: Apparently, those of us who support ProRep are wrong to use facts and logic in our argument, when the…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jim Stanford discusses how abusing precarious workers has become the primary job of big business. But Owen Jones notes that strikes against…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Oliver Milman reports on new indications that we’re far beyond any reasonable pace in trying to rein in climate change. – The Star’s…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jean Swanson writes about the success of Vancouver tenants in pushing to limit the rent increases which can be forced on them. But…
An Abuse of Power
Last Sunday an open letter signed by about 400 Ontario legal professionals was sent to Attorney General Caroline Mulroney asking that she not support the use of the Constitution’s notwithstanding…
Tuesday Evening Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Gary Mason discusses how politicians are fiddling while our planet burns. And Jonathan Watts reports on the strongest sea ice in the…
Friday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Moscrop makes the case for a long-overdue inheritance tax in Canada: Over time, if left unchecked, capitalism facilitates the pooling of wealth…
Saturday Evening Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Joel Achenbach and Angela Fritz discuss how climate change is amplifying all kinds of extreme weather (with severe heat as only the most…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Katie Dangerfield reports on new research showing that carbon pricing can be an economic benefit, while unrestrained climate change would be disastrous.…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Osmond Chui writes that Australia is no exception to the trend of modest economic growth being entirely hoarded by the wealthiest few, while…