Women’s march in Washington. Last weekend, Washington, D.C. was the locus of celebrations marking the transfer of presidential power from Barack Obama to Donald Trump. The traditional ceremonies—from the swearing-in and the inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue to the plethora of balls and galas—coincided with events such as the “Deploraball,” organized by members of the […] More »
The Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race, scheduled to conclude in May 2017, is off to an inauspicious start. Between fights in the name of “Canadian values” and hot takes on same-sex marriage, the candidates appear to be competing to see who can advocate the most regressive policies, with a few notable exceptions. This takes […] More »
The prime minister has wooed Canada’s fiercest journalist watchdogs into puppy love. Inside a new citizen-run website that promises to cut past mainstream media’s crush and hold the Liberal government to account
It’s a journalist’s job to hold the government to account. But increasingly others are taking up that role, too. Last year, management consultant Dom Bernard was one such person. As the brainchild of TrudeauMetre.ca, a promise-tracking website that holds Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to his word, Bernard has created a novel government watchdog tool that’s […] More »
For our special 50th anniversary issue, Canada’s brightest, boldest, and most rebellious thinkers, doers, and creators share their best big ideas. Through ideas macro and micro, radical and everyday, we present 50 essays, think pieces, and calls to action. Picture: plans for sustainable food systems, radical legislation, revolutionary health care, a greener planet, Indigenous self-government, […] More »
Lost in the revelations that are coming out about Canada allowing a foreign spy agency access to world leaders (and who else?) is the knowledge that we’re finally getting more information about what actually happened during the G20. A fuller picture is emerging that adds embarrassing details to the already long list of offences committed […] More »
In spite of the recent trend toward political scandal in Canada, Samara a non-partisan charitable organization, is doing its best to recognize the everyday people who are contributing positively to politics in Canada. They’ve announced the Everyday Political Citizen jury, which will select two winners to receive the award for 2013. The Jury will include Preston Manning, Kirstine […] More »
I’ve been reading a lot of articles about Brian Mulroney taking the time to comment on various important matters recently. He was even interviewed by Conrad Black on the world premiere of the new octogenarian friendly television show The Zoomer (a talk show where, it seems, old people mostly discuss strategies for keeping children from […] More »
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 »
Canadians are giving up on their political system. Voting participation is at historic lows; the number of people who vote for the winning party is now routinely outpaced by the number who don’t vote at all. Most young people don’t vote—63 percent of people under age 24 didn’t cast a ballot in 2008—and that bodes […] More »
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. More »