Parliament in Review: December 14, 2011
Wednesday, December 14 saw another day of debate devoted to free trade issues, this time addressing a proposed treaty with Jordan. But first… The Utterly Unprecedented, Stunning Development Which Shook…
infrastructure
Madrid Turned a Highway into a Park
Madrid made a very wise urban planning decision and buried a highway to make room for people and nature. Thanks to a lack of foresight, the Rio Manzanares was surrounded…
Over 50% of Germany’s Renewable Energy Production Owned by People
Consumer-ready renewable energy can destabilize the traditional energy utility structure in a similar way to how the internet destabilized a lot of other old school industries. This is a good…
Leadership 2012 – Policy Roundup
As the NDP’s leadership race moves into the limelight, the candidates are starting to unveil some of their policy priorities. As I’ve mentioned it’s an open question as to how…
Parliament In Review: October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 27 saw the House of Commons discuss the gun registry – and if the Cons’ choices to not just dismantle the federal long gun registry but also shred…
Wednesday drive-by blogging
1. Google has published its Transparency Report which includes the User Data Requests from governments around the world. A helpful comparative tool. Canada made 50 user data requests, reported there…
When conservatives build bridges
This Gunter item (yes, I know, I really shouldn't) was extremely annoying this week. Why should Canada build Montreal a new bridge, he asked. "Why is that Canadians’ responsibility? Why…
Paul Martin on the Economy
Some sober reflections on the present state of the global economy by the former Prime Minister. Not a lot of insight beyond the obvious, but Martin does provide some sound…
China’s (Vacant) City of the Future
Launched several years ago as a massive public works project near Ordos, a wealthy coal-mining town in Inner Mongolia, today, China’s “City of the Future” remains mostly empty despite being…
Following up on Quebec’s infrastructure debacle…
… is this article in The Star on how these problems should serve as warning signs for the rest of the country. The city’s roadway problems are perhaps the most…
Tax value
This piece in the Globe today by a Toronto architect, Jack Diamond is worth a read because it's the kind of case that's not often made these days for what's…
Dumping Shit in The Ottawa River
This blog post contains graphic language because there is no way to pretty up dumping shit in the city's drinking water source.If I were to walk into the Ottawa River…
Ottawa: Proud of It’s Municipal Water Supply and It’s Pathways – The Disconnect
Ottawa is very proud of the quality of it's municipal drinking water supply and goes to great lengths to assure people they do not need to buy bottled water.Ottawa is…
Quebec or Bosnia : who has safer public infrastructure?
Honestly, after reading this, I think I’d take Bosnia over one of the Montreal bridges, overpasses or tunnels… What a shame. And disgrace. But look y’all, before we in the…
The bridge silliness
I think Patrick Lagacé has it right on the comedy of errors we saw play out this week in respect of Montreal's Champlain bridge, its decrepit state and the oh-so-secret…
On devolution
It remains to be seen exactly how much discussion of social policy will move from the federal level to the provincial one as Canadian civil society adjusts to a Harper…
A bridge to know-nothingness
Shorter Denis Lebel:Ignorance is bliss. And we're hard at work making sure Canadians are nothing less than euphoric.
Core Services Review: Rob Ford is a hazard to Toronto’s public health | #TOpoli
I’m sorry, I had to give my head a shake. Fluoridation? Look, we’ve all seen the passage in Dr. Strangelove where General Ripper talks about what an insidious Communist plot…
Core Services Review: Rob Ford is a hazard to Toronto’s public health / #TOpoli
I'm sorry, I had to give my head a shake.Fluoridation?Look, we've all seen the passage in Dr. Strangelove where General Ripper talks about what an insidious Communist plot it is,…
Core Services Review: Rob Ford is a hazard to Toronto’s public health / #TOpoli
I'm sorry, I had to give my head a shake.Fluoridation?Look, we've all seen the passage in Dr. Strangelove where General Ripper talks about what an insidious Communist plot it is,…