Canadians like to feel good about our official policy of multiculturalism, and in general there’s plenty to feel good about. But as the introduction of the ominous new law SB 1070 in Arizona in April swept the news—a law that allows police in that state to demand proof of citizenship from people in public and […] More »
Today, which is, appropriately, World Press Freedom Day, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression released their first in what will be an annual series of reports on the state of free expression in Canada. As the authors note in the introduction, 2009 was a notable year in Canadian press freedom: The Supreme Court of Canada established […] More »
It’s Earth Day today, the time every year when we think about the environment and stuff for 24 hours. Earth Day celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and there are lots of events going on to celebrate the milestone. There have been some good-news stories about the environment over the last four decades, but over […] More »
This week we learned that government transparency in Canada is in pretty bad shape with the release of the information commissioner’s report. But it’s not all bad news: Two new websites have launched in the past few days that aim to shine a light on the activity of government, civil servants, and elected officials. April […] More »
From the Afghan Detainee torture scandal to the Helena Guergis Magical Mystery Police Adventure, governmental transparency is at a dangerously low ebb and risks being “totally obliterated,” says the interim access-to-information commissioner Suzanne Legault. Her report, released yesterday, gave low ratings to 13 out of 24 government institutions on their compliance with requests for information, […] More »
Today in Verbatim, This contributing editor Andrew Wallace interviews Dave Zirin, sports editor of U.S. progressive weekly The Nation and host of Edgeofsports.com, a blog and radio show that examines the collision of politics and sports. He’s the author of several canonical books on that topic, most recently of A People’s History of Sports in the United States, […] More »
Earth Hour is on Saturday, March 27, when people around the world will turn off all their electrical gadgets for one hour, starting at 8:30 pm, local time. Started in 2007 in Australia, Earth Hour has become a global juggernaut, with hundreds of cities and hundreds of millions of individuals participating. For the last few years, […] More »
Most people think that the ‘para’ in Paralympics means paraplegic, but it actually means parallel. Ironic, since for much of its history, its treatment has been anything but. In fact, the Paralympics has always been that thing that you’re vaguely aware is supposed to come after the regular Olympics, but is never seen, nor heard from […] More »
Progressive media, it seems, is one of the very few bright spots in today’s bleak world of journalism. Despite the cash-strapped economy, rather than succumbing to the heavy hand of advertisers or clinging to sensationalized coverage—as their corporate counterparts have been obliged to do—independent progressive media has managed to survive and flourish by simply sticking […] More »
Well played, Mr. Harper, well played. While you’re probably sitting comfortably at 24 Sussex, sipping Chianti and learning how to play “Hey Jude” for Laureen’s next fundraiser, I’m sitting in bed at 11pm Monday night trying to rack my brain for what to say this week about the state of climate change in Canada. How […] More »
Michael Schmidt, the dairy farmer whose David-and-Goliath battle with the Ontario government has turned him into somewhat of an emerging folk hero, wants to restore liberty to the dairy aisle of your local supermarket. There is, he says, no place for the state in the kitchens of the nation. Schmidt successfully defended himself last month […] More »