Stephen Harper
FTW Friday: Exploitative “Border Security” episode won’t air
The separation of families and deportation make good television according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Vic Toews. The “de facto executive producers” approved a series that follows the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in action. A lot of what is caught on film shows people foreign to Canada being detained, confused and intimidated…. More »
WTF Wednesday: CBC under attack…again
The Conservatives are at it again with another sneak-attack on democracy. This time one of the targets is an old favourite—the CBC. If you search hard enough, tucked away in the 111 pages of unrelated motions, you’ll piece together the government’s plan to tighten control over crown corporations. Via Rail and Canada Post are among… More »
Q&A with Noah Richler: What we talk about when we talk about war
Noah Richler is the author of What We Talk About When We Talk About War (Goose Lane, 2012), a Governor-General’s Award non-fiction finalist. On November 5, 2012, Richler will join Jack Granatstein in Vancouver for a debate about whether or not Canada is a “warrior nation.” This magazine news columns editor andrea bennett interviewed Richler… More »
Messy Monday July 16: Newsrooms, Tebow and what to do about the news
The Newsroom hasn’t left yet, and neither have people who hate on it I’ve been reading a lot of critiques of the Newsroom on Monday mornings, mostly because I can’t afford HBO and it allows me to hate-watch vicariously. In case you actually have things to do on your Sunday nights, allow me to explain…. More »
State or not, Palestinians simply don't have a partner at the negotiating table
The opposition of both Barack Obama and Stephen Harper to the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations on the grounds that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be solved by bilateral negotiations is based on a false premise: that Israel’s leaders are or have been serious about such negotiations. The point here is… More »
Canada marks 35 years since abolition of the death penalty
The camera rolled as a three-drug cocktail was shot into Andrew Grant DeYoung’s arm, there in a prison in Jackson, Georgia. It captured De Young as the injection reached his veins and killed him, thus carrying out his sentence, and granting him a spot in the history books as the first man in America in… More »
Five new trends to watch for in Canada's 41st Parliament
With the House of Commons set to start back up again on June 2, Canadians will get their fist glimpses of the 41st Parliament. Given that the tumultuous campaign period, dramatic results, and overload of post-poll dissection nearly a month behind us, it may seem as though all the excitement in Ottawa has died down…. More »
42 years on, the freedoms that Bill C-150 affirmed can't be taken for granted
Tomorrow, let’s take a moment to reflect on the 42nd anniversary of the passing of Bill C-150, the omnibus bill that decriminalized abortion, contraception and homosexuality. The rights that Canadians have because of this historic bill are crucial to remember as those same rights come under attack elsewhere: on Wednesday, Indiana became the first state… More »
After G20 & "Not"-gate, Ruth Ellen Brosseau barely registers on Scandal-o-meter™
Newly elected NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, who is suddenly embroiled in one of the smallest political scandals ever recorded, would do well to learn the prevailing lesson of our most recent electoral proceedings, namely that even widely covered scandals do not have a major impact on polling results.
5 things that changed in Canadian politics last night, and 2 that didn't
Last night’s election was extraordinary in more ways than we would have thought possible a few weeks ago. Canadian politics has been shaken up in a serious, permanent way, and this election will be studied for years to come. As we start to digest the result and its consequences, there are some clearly identifiable changes… More »
