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Do newspaper endorsements matter in elections anymore?

The answer isn't simple

Scott Stager Piatkowski

In an era in which circulation figures for most newspapers are falling faster than water over Niagara Falls, do newspaper endorsements in election campaigns still matter? At the risk of appropriating the language of click-bait, the answer may surprise you. While the Canadian experience is less immediate and, even among the most politically engaged Canadians, […] More »

Gender Block: Trudeau time

Gender parity in the cabinet is great—but where does our new PM Justin Trudeau stand on other women's rights issues? Hillary Di Menna examines Trudeau's stance on childcare, women's shelters, abortion and more

Hillary Di Menna

Monday October 19 came and went, showing Stephen Harper the door on the way out. Canada’s new Prime Minister is loved, hated, and internationally lusted after apparently (PILF is a thing now, huh). Justin Trudeau, a self-described feminist, talked about women’s rights throughout his campaign; time will tell if the talk goes anywhere. Our new […] More »

Gender Block: election time

As Canada's federal election approaches, which party leaders are paying attention to women's issues?

Hillary Di Menna

Election day is October 19 and women’s issues are being discussed, sort of. Like, one of the discussions is about how major party leaders aren’t actually into the idea of having these discussions. Here’s a glimpse so far: Up for Debate Wouldn’t it be handy if there were a debate specifically about women’s issues? There […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: Immigration

And last in our Tories in Review series, Nathaniel Basen examines immigration policies, the closing of Canada's borders and the removal of basic rights

Nathaniel Basen

IT’S FROM BEHIND THE PLEXIGLAS BARRIER of the visitor’s cubicle that I wait for Glory Anawa. I’m at the Immigration Holding Centre in Toronto—or, as Anawa and her two-year-old son Alpha have called it since February 2013, home. In front of me, etched in the glass separating visitor and prisoner, is that same word, HOME, […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: women’s rights

Gender Block columnist Hillary Di Menna investigates how women's rights & issues have fared under the Conservatives

Hillary Di Menna

THE SUN HITS the back of my neck as I kneel over my poster board. It’s a hot summer afternoon in June and I’m colouring with markers, shared with the hands of girls decades my junior, helping with childcare at a sex worker solidarity rally. We’re at Toronto’s Allan Gardens, the day’s setting for lunch, […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: balanced budget

Deconstructing the myth of the balanced budget

Nathaniel Basen

THERE IS NO REASON for the federal budget to be balanced at any particular time, argues Jim Stanford, an economist at Unifor and author of Economics for Everyone. The cartwheels necessary to balance Canada’s federal budget, he maintains, actually ensure slower growth and smaller future surpluses. It could, in short, harm the economy—not boost it. […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: LGBTQ rights

Today in our Tories in Review series, Larkin Schmiedl looks at nine years of attacks on LGBTQ rights in Canada

Larkin Schmiedl

OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has—surprisingly—become an outspoken champion of gay rights worldwide. In 2009, Harper arranged a private meeting with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni to urge him to drop a controversial law that would imprison homosexuals for life. In 2011, Immigration Minister John Baird not only launched a pilot program […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: disabilities

We examine Stephen Harper and friends' track record on disability rights. Hint: It's not great

This Magazine Staff

IN 2007, the federal government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ratified in the House of Commons several years later in 2010, the convention recognizes the rights, dignity, and worth of those with disabilities, while providing a framework for a high-quality, equitable life. This is all great stuff—and yet, the […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: environment

Larkin Schmiedl examines Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party's dismal environmental track record, full of broken promises and missed opportunities for a greener Canada

Larkin Schmiedl

WHEN IT COMES TO THE ENVIRONMENT, Stephen Harper doesn’t have a hidden agenda—he’s always been upfront about his healthy-industry-over-healthy-Earth policies. In 2006, for instance, in his first speech outside Canada after he was elected as prime minister, he called Canada an “emerging energy superpower,” suggesting his intention to expand oil sands production. “And that has […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: Information and transparency

Sam Juric examines the Conservative's battle to curb Canadians' access to information and the scary fight to create a transparency-free government

Sam Juric

HERE ARE JUST A FEW of the things that keep James Turk up at night: Unapologetic fear mongering; trampling over fundamental civil rights; limiting access to information; an invasive gaze cast over Canadians protesting in public, leading to their arrest; an iron fist that limits Canadians’ ability to move freely across borders; the introduction of […] More »
September-October 2015

Tories in review: The North

We ask: Does Stephen Harper's professed love for Canada's North runs any deeper than his annual photo op tour?

Rhiannon Russell

THERE ISN’T MUCH OF A GROWING SEASON in Old Crow, the Yukon’s northernmost community. Yet a vegetable garden has flourished there for the past three years, thanks to the efforts of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and funding, in part, from the territorial government. In June, residents planted cauliflower, garlic, kale, cabbage, onions, potatoes, lettuce, […] More »