Each “section” below lists the newest articles most recent first (and, if applicable, within each day alphabetically). This page contains articles posted and/or updated within the last three weeks.
Canada
☝ Top ☞ Next ☟ BottomLiberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear.
Prorogation
- Canada’s Sudden Democracy Movement Hits a Nerve Perhaps this cynical prorogation was the straw that broke the camel’s back. ⇒ By Murray Dobbin writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
- We Need More than Rallies to Object to Prorogation Prorogation hands to the opposition parties on a silver platter a two-fold opportunity to redeem citizen respect for MPs. ⇒ By Henry McCandless writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
- Tories Seek Parliamentary Extension Facing an outpouring of anger and criticism over prorogation, the Conservatives are cancelling March break on Parliament Hill and one other off week scheduled for mid-April. ⇒ By Jane Taber writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Wed 03-Feb-2010.
In the continuing saga of the soap-opera display of pettiness and partisanship that is the der Harper CONservative government, he picks the most innocuous and insubstantial gauntlet to throw at the opposition. I sincerely hope he doesn’t think that cancelling March break will sufficiently make up for the vacation — from government accountability and transparency — he took. Of course, his party faithful are probably rejoicing in the
brilliance
that der Harper — akadear Leader
— evinced by this latest brainstorm he and his marketing (err, propaganda) klatsch cooked up. Alas, he clearly misses the very crux of the matter.UPDATE: Lesson Learned Stephen Harper’s elimination of spring break won’t undo the damage, but it is tacit admission that outrage expressed by Canadians has resonated in Ottawa ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Fri 05-Feb-2010.
Of course, we have to expect the CONservatives to spin this somehow — somehow it’ll be quaint watching them squirm whilst maintaining the arrogant air they have about them!
- Parliament Does Matter Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson raised a good point in one of his columns last week when he stated the painfully obvious. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “prorogation was about control of the public agenda.” Period. Prime Minister Harper didn’t shut down Parliament for two months to allow the government to “recalibrate.” He shut it down to “deprive the other parties of a chance to do what they do best, make a racket.” It’s simple, but true. ⇒ By the Editors of The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
- The Two Faces of Stephen Harper Taking control works well when dealing with disaster, but not so well with democracy ⇒ By Jeffrey Simpson writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 26-Jan-2010.
- Disaster Puts PM’s Prorogation Reckoning on Hold Haiti’s earthquake has changed the channel in Canadian politics to an extent the Conservatives never could ⇒ By Steven Chase and Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 25-Jan-2010.
- Parliament Didn’t Need to be Shut down for Pre-budget Consultations, Say Experts Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Tory MPs consult and do politics on next federal budget. ⇒ By Cynthia Münster writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 25-Jan-2010.
- Silent Parliament, Forgotten Roots Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament is an abrogation of the principles he and his party arose to defend. ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 25-Jan-2010.
In 1988, der Harper wrote:
“Many of our most serious problems as a country can be traced to the apathy and non-involvement of Canadians in public affairs, and to decisions that too frequently ignore the popular will…. We believe in accountability of elected representatives to the people who elect them, and that the duty of elected members to their constituents should supersede their obligations to their political parties.”
One other fascinating thing — apart from the obvious hypocrisy — is how easily CONservatives will appeal to the “populist” elements amongst themselves but act like the unaccountable “elite” that they truly are once in power.
- Harper’s ‘Change’ Not for the Better Despite being constrained by a minority Parliament during the whole of his four years in office, Harper has certainly delivered change. But has it been change for the better? ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Sat 23-Jan-2010.
Related: After Four Years, It’s Canada that Has Changed Harper Out of political necessity, the minority government prime minister has strayed from his fiscal conservative background ⇒ By Steven Chase writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sun 24-Jan-2010.
- Time to Stand up for Parliament The problem is excessive prime ministerial power — and the solution is legislative restraint on prorogation ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Sun 24-Jan-2010.
- The Incredible Decline of Parliament The weakness and decline of Parliament is due to institutional design and the opportunism of Prime Ministers. ⇒ By B. Thomas Hall and W. T. Stanbury writing for The Hill Times; posted Tue 19-Jan-2010.
- Let’s Not Forget Harper’s Long Term Agenda In March, Harper will present his first “austerity” budget. It could prove to be more damaging than the proroguing of Parliament. PM Stephen Harper has gotten away with so much — and the opposition is so weak that any indication of genuine public disgust at his continuing demonstration of contempt for democracy is a welcome sign. ⇒ By Murray Dobbin writing for The Hill Times; posted Tue 19-Jan-2010.
What's even more important is to realize and remember that der Harper not only wants to dismantle what he hates most — the Canadian “welfare state” — but that he actually has repeatedly denounced Canada as a whole (yes, even our culture) in speeches and writings before he became PM! The CPC’s and the PMO’s usual defense that those were done a long time ago and that der Harper has changed doesn’t really wash. Remember that
People don’t change, they just become more like themselves!
This is an even more timely and relevant aphorism in this age of the supremacy and deification of the shallow — i.e., marketing!!! - PM’s Use of Parliamentary Prorogation Charts New Territory The Prime Minister’s actions risk setting a precedent that weakens an important condition of democratic government, say academics. ⇒ By Cynthia Münster writing for The Hill Times; posted Tue 19-Jan-2010.
- Prorogation Avoids Government Accountability in Many Other Ways: Conacher There are three other important government accountability situations not mentioned in any media coverage so far that the federal Conservatives are avoiding through the arbitrary proroguing of Parliament by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, all of which would likely have been reported on in February. Two are by the ethics commissioner and the last by the auditor general... ⇒ By Duff Conacher writing to The Hill Times; posted Tue 19-Jan-2010.
- Grit Plan: Let Harper be Harper
Most Canadians want Parliament to be there, just to prove democracy exists. First, all the experts said no Canadian would vote based on the issue of delivering Afghan prisoners for torture. But Stephen Harper killed Parliament anyway, to squelch that debate. Why? What did he know? Perhaps what anyone studying PR at a community college learns: that impressions are cumulative and, as a series moves along, each new one weighs heavier. Firing nuclear watchdog + global black eye re tar sands + ending KAIROS funding + torture scandal = bad election news. ⇒ By Rick Salutin writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 18-Jan-2010. - Michael Ignatieff Scoffs at PM’s ‘Ridiculous’ Rationale for Prorogation
The Harper Tories are coming up with new reasons seemingly every second day for their decision to shut down Parliament for five weeks until after the Olympics. Their defence has ranged from wanting to recalibrate their agenda for the second phase of stimulus spending to needing to rebalance Senate committees and now to this: a sitting Parliament causes market instability. Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered up that excuse yesterday in an interview on BNN. ⇒ By Jane Taber writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 12-Jan-2010.UPDATE: Harper’s Wounds are Self-inflicted As the story keeps changing, public trust in Harper’s position is eroding. Rather than give Harper the benefit of the doubt on prorogation, Canadians are asking the question raised in the Liberal ads: “What is he covering up?” ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Fri 15-Jan-2010.
- Is Stephen Harper a Clear and Present Danger to Canadian Democracy? Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown major flaws in the structure of the Canada’s version of the Westminster model of government. Should he win a majority, it is reasonable to believe that Harper will go much further down the road toward an elected dictatorship. ⇒ By W.T. Stanbury writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 11-Jan-2010.
- Prorogation Only a Blip on ‘Richter Scale of Upset,’ Clement Says Industry Minister Tony Clement has outraged the Twittering classes opposed to prorogation with these sorts of comments today, especially with his earlier statement that only the “elites” and “chattering classes” care about prorogation. ⇒ By Jane Taber writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 11-Jan-2010.
Here we go with the “elite” bashing in which CONservatives usually indulge rather frequently. A few things to point out, though.
First of all, the elite and media bashing is directly lifted right from the Republican Party’s playbook down south. If that is not enough of an indictment… well, there is more.
Next, the original “conservative elite” prior to and during the American Revolution was made up of Loyalists or — are you ready for this?!? — the Tories!!! You got it… they mostly moved to Canada! Now isn’t that a kick-in-the-pants for the ideological descendants of these “elites”?!?
Thirdly, this bashing is usually mindless indulgence of stereotypes — and I do include Minister Clement’s tirade in this category.
Lastly, conservatives love to work the populist pump as a way of mobilizing their followers. Undoubtedly it is effective considering how quickly and “well” it is taken up — not to mention “easily”. However, there is a need for elites in any political party. Of course, good care ought be taken here.
One of the more useful definitions of an “elite” would be “a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group.”
Now, from that we can really safely generalize the following:
- If an elite has good credentials and are indeed an intelligent lot, then they are useful; otherwise they are questionable and their influence and/or authority ought to be minimized if not revoked outrightly.
- The flock needs to be intelligent enough to consider what the elite expounds. In the same breath, the flock needs to be critically intelligent enough to parse what the elite says as well as what the elite is all about. If not, the flock needs to be honest enough to acknowledge this shortcoming in themselves and — or so one hopes — after so doing, do something about it and educate themselves! This is critical since the flock has the moral duty to keep the elite in check!
Unfortunately, judging from conversations with and from reviewing the blogs and posts in commentary sections at media outlets, there is very little indication that the requisite “critical intelligence” is present in the rank and file of most political parties in general and in the CPC in particular.
An additional caution ought be whispered here: Any person who thinks that there is a complete absence of an elite component (or components) in the CPC is absolutely naive and needs to seriously and thoroughly re-examine their premises — not to mention their analytical and critical faculties!
As for the “chattering classes” to which Minister Clement referred, it would do well for him to remember that there is as much “nattering” by his party members as their opposition counterparts. I have also observed that CONservatives noise tends to be more of an exercise in volume than that of the mental muscle variety!
All in all, a futile exercise of the pot calling the kettle…
- Few Countries Can Claim Such a Pathetic Parliament Proroguing’s only the half of it. In a generation, Canada’s legislature has decayed more than even the U.S. Congress. And while British and Australian MPs can slap down party leaders, here it’s the reverse ⇒ By John Ibbitson writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sat 09-Jan-2010.
- With All Our Problems, We Mustn’t be Silent Canadians are disengaged from the political process, and the timing couldn’t be worse ⇒ By Gary Mason writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Fri 08-Jan-2010.
In other words, our apathy is being used by der Harper to pretty much get away with murder!
- The Economist Vents Spleen on PM’s Decision to Prorogue The influential and mostly right-wing British magazine The Economist has taken a dim view of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament until after the winter Olympics. ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
The Economist articles are provided below…
Related: Harper Goes Prorogue Parliamentary scrutiny may be tedious, but democracies cannot afford to dispense with it ⇒ By the Editors of The Economist; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
Related: Halted in Mid-debate Stephen Harper is counting on Canadians’ complacency as he rewrites the rules of his country’s politics to weaken legislative scrutiny ⇒ By the Editors of The Economist; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
- Prorogation Hurtles ‘Out of Dusty Law Texts into the Mainstream’ Most Canadians are aware that the Prime Minister has suspended Parliament until after the winter Olympics and they are, by and large, not pleased with the decision, polls released Thursday suggest. ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
In his interview with Peter Mansbridge (see the link below) PM Stephen Harper unctuously dismissed prorogation as a non-issue for Canadians!
Related: Mansbridge One on One — with Stephen Harper (05-JAN-2010) Peter Mansbridge interviews Prime Minister Stephen Harper ⇒ By CBC; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
- ‘Routine’ Prorogation Erodes Parliament, Experts Say The role of elected representatives will erode further if the federal government makes good on its suggestion to make prorogation an annual event, experts say. ⇒ By Heather Scoffield writing for The Canadian Press; posted Tue 05-Jan-2010.
What were we to expect when a political party whose very dogma centres on small — or even smaller — government gains political power?!? Would it not follow that its very disdain for government, all related institutions and traditions thereto motivates it to dismantle as much as possible in order to undermine any hint of government efficacy by its very conduct — or misconduct — and governance?!? Gladstone once said
Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear.
Harper clearly includes the government — likely any government — in his distrust and fear.UPDATE: Tactical Diminishment Canadians would be right to wonder how any of this fits with the Conservatives’ commitment to restore the public’s trust in government. ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
Afghan Detainees
- Tories Fire Back on Afghan Detainees, Anger Opposition The Conservative government is firing back in the three-month-old debate over Canada’s transfer policy for Afghan detainees. ⇒ By The CTV.ca News Staff; posted Wed 03-Feb-2010.
The CPC “propaganda and obfuscation juggernaut” rolls on… Now, the big blue machine — the very masters of attack, deflection and misdirection — are at it again in questioning the patriotism of opposition critics as well as the latter’s regard for the Canadian Forces. As they seem wont to do (seemingly often and regularly), the CONservatives are taking cues from the American Republican Party whose modus operandi during the Bush administration was to accuse those who weren’t in favour of the “war on terror” — or even the legitimate critics of the administration — as unpatriotic if not outrightly treacherous. Such ignoble fools who resort to cheap and simplistic demagogy sprinkled with self-righteous histrionics in order to secure their status and goals; sadder still are those who buy into the very pap they spew…
- Watchdogs Describe Coming ‘Under Attack’ by Conservative Government A trio of recently fired watchdogs visited a prorogued Parliament today to complain that the Conservatives are “at war” with the government’s independent tribunals. ⇒ By Colin Freeze writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 26-Jan-2010.
- Richard Colvin Faces ‘Reprisal’ for Detainee Testimony Letter accuses Conservative government of retaliating against diplomat who blew whistle on Afghan torture by refusing to pay his legal bills ⇒ By Steven Chase writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 25-Jan-2010.
Senate
- How the Senate Could Operate without Political Parties The Senate can make a greater contribution to the governance of Canada if parties were neither the basis on which the Senators are selected nor the basis on which the Senate is organized. ⇒ By B. Thomas Hall And W.T. Stanbury writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
- With Senate in His Grip, PM Drives Crime Agenda Conservatives pave way for agenda with five senators heralded for being tough on crime, committed to Red Chamber reform ⇒ By Gloria Galloway and Daniel Leblanc writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sat 30-Jan-2010.
Fact: Only 3 crime bills made it to the Senate last session (2009); 17 crime bills died on the order paper thanks to der Harper’s proroguing Parliament.
Sounds pretty disingenuous of der Harper to cite/invoke anti-crime as his motive when it is obvious his “other” legislative agenda would be served by this action.BTW, der Harper has, to date, appointed the most senators (33 as of Feb-2010) to the current upper house — so much for his decrying patronage appointments of previous non-CONservative PMs and vigorously campaigning for Senate reform.
Related: Did Liberals Obstruct Agenda? Reality Check for Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and the Tories ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sat 30-Jan-2010.
Once again, a politician lies in plain-sight. You have to love the CONservatives. though. When they lie — or just being merely unctuous — they can still do it sanctimoniously!
Related: This is Senate Reform?
The opposition have abused their Senate majority by obstructing and eviscerating law-and-order measures that are urgently needed and strongly supported by Canadians
, said the Prime Minister in announcing the appointments. But the blame for the latest obstruction lies with Harper himself, not the Senate, for it is he who prorogued Parliament after Christmas, thereby killing the anti-crime legislation that was before the Senate and ensuring that it will not be passed for many more months. ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Sun 31-Jan-2010.The more one ponders upon this, the more it seems that here’s yet another motive — and cleverly also the excuse and opportunity — for der Harper’s proroguing Parliament (circa 2009). Whether true or not, der Harper certainly has no problem accusing the opposition Senators — albeit nonsensically — for allegedly blocking crime bills that simply haven’t even made it to the Red Chamber yet! At least that much hasn’t changed with der Harper… good old
attack, deflect and misdirect!
Sad thing is that his flock — his fellow CONservatives — just lap up what ever he serves up as talking points. They certainly seem to parrot those with rabid frequency, repetition and fidelity on the main stream media comment boards! Too, one would scarcely expect these very same to grasp the rich irony — never mind the obvious hypocrisy — in der Harper crowing about the opposition abusing their majority in the Senate immediately after securing a CONservative majority in the Senate himself through the appointment of his minions.Related: Justice Minister Nicholson Pushes Crime Bill He Used to be Against As a Mulroney backbencher, Rob Nicholson was against mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. ⇒ By Harris Macleod writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
- Senate Hardly the Biggest Obstacle to Tory Crime Bills The Senate may be blocking Senate reform legislation — that’s a matter for debate. But it is not blocking crime legislation. ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Wed 06-Jan-2010.
We know all politicians lie but der Harper… something else altogether!
Access to Information
- Pattern of Delay: Ottawa’s Kafkaesque Information Denial The Globe asked why federal agencies were taking so long to release information. The answer took two-and-a-half years to come ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
- Tories Blocked Full Release of Sensitive Public Works Report A federal cabinet minister’s aide killed the release of a sensitive report requested under freedom-of-information in a case eerily similar to a notorious incident in the sponsorship scandal. A bureaucrat had to make a mad dash to the department’s mailroom last July to retrieve the report at the last minute under orders from a senior aide to then-Public Works minister Christian Paradis. ⇒ By Dean Beebu writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
UPDATE: Don’t Meddle in ATIP Requests, Political Staff Told PMO warning comes on heels of news an aide to Public Works minister made mad dash to mailroom to ‘unrelease’ report ⇒ By Daniel Leblanc writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
Miscellaneous
- Experts Warn There’s Little to Cut in Federal Public Service Stockwell Day’s recent appointment to Treasury Board presidency has been trumpeted as a signal of fiscal restraint to come. ⇒ By Cynthia Münster writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
- PMO Press Office Has Whopping 27 Staff ‘That’s a lot of staff to not get back to you,’ says Don Martin. ⇒ By Jeff Davis writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
What do you expect when der Harper is absolutely obsessed with
enlightening the public
and tight message control? - Why 2010 Might Not be a Lucky Year for Tories The former NDP campaign chief weighs in on Canadian politics and more ⇒ By Brian Topp writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 19-Jan-2010.
- Ignatieff’s New Maxim: to Thine Own Self be True Liberal Leader’s reputation as a global thinker is his strength, not a liability, his new team of advisers argues as they tackle ways for the party to start fresh and reconnect with younger Canadians ⇒ By John Ibbitson and Michael Valpy writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 18-Jan-2010.
- The Real Stephen Harper? Our sphinx-like, dull-as-a-door and unashamedly opportunistic prime minister has been wrong so many times — yet he always bounces back ⇒ By Gerald Caplan writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Fri 15-Jan-2010.
- High Time for a Minister Who Understands the Role of Aid At Oda’s CIDA, slow has taken on new meaning and poverty has taken a back seat to trade ⇒ By Ian Smillie; posted Fri 08-Jan-2010.
- PMO Hired Ari Fleischer Twice, Documents Show Former Bush spokesman earned nearly $50,000 off sole-source contracts helping Stephen Harper manage U.S. media relations ⇒ By The Canadian Press; posted Wed 06-Jan-2010.
Of course, in this case, the sole-source contract was awarded because our dear der Harper is the most hyper-partisan and ultra-ideological. To boot the dinner he had with media types included only right-wing moguls! Surprise, surprise!!! Anyone doubt that the CPC is the Republican Party North?!? Still, you have to admire the polish that der Harper exhibits during media interviews — he never betrays his frothing-at-the-mouth partisanship! He’s a very savvy manipulator!
Finance & Economics
☝ Top ☜ Prev ☞ Next ☟ Bottom- The Rise and Fall of the Guardians The recent financial crisis has battered the credibility of technocrats. It is no longer clear that, left to their own devices, they will produce the one thing that justifies giving them authority: better decisions. ⇒ By Alasdair Roberts writing for Foreign Affairs; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
The Environment
☝ Top ☜ Prev ☞ Next ☟ BottomIn my world view, the environment is inextricably linked to energy. That is certainly reflected in these pages and in this sidebar.
- Canada’s Lost Decade on Climate Change Three consecutive environment ministers under Prime Minister Stephen Harper have failed to implement a single major policy to cut our growing emissions. ⇒ By Marlo Raynolds and Rick Smith writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
- Environmental Groups Losing Interest in Lobbying Prentice Frustration is mounting that the government has locked itself into an environmental policy bunker on climate change. Environmentalists say they’re giving up on Jim Prentice. ⇒ By Jeff Davis and Cynthia Münster writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.