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U.S. Politics

September-October 2017

Naomi Klein: How to stand up against the Trumpification of society

From Klein's newest book, No Is Not Enough

Naomi Klein

We can fight the global rise of right-wing demagoguery in two possible ways. There’s the establishment option embraced by centrist parties the world over, which promises a little more child care, better representation of women and people of colour at the top, and maybe a few more solar panels. But this option also comes with the […] More »

FTW Friday: Equal Pay Day

Kelsey Braithwaite

Ladies. We are so close. Our southern neighbours have taken another step towards recognizing the need for equal pay for women. This past Tuesday, president Obama vocalized his support for the Paycheck Fairness Act to be passed. The act points out the loopholes in the ironically titled Equal Pay Act and, if passed, would strive […] More »

Friday FTW: Canadian doctor schools US senator

Simon Treanor

Earlier this week, Canadian doctor Danielle Martin battled the rather patriotic U.S. Republican Senator Richard Burr at a subcommittee meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss different health care systems around the world. Okay, maybe I’m being a little melodramatic here but it sure seemed like a battle—and Martin, the vice-president of the Women’s College Hospital […] More »

WTF Wednesday: free trade celebrated as prosperity reigns!

Joe Thomson

On November 21st the Macdonald-Laurier Institute will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Free Trade with a “gala” dinner that promises to be a “remarkable evening”. It’s being billed as a can’t-miss event, presumably attended by autocratic millionaires who will be outfitting themselves with new monocles and pocket watch fobs for the evening. I imagine most […] More »

Friday FTW: France bans youth beauty pageants

Joe Thomson

In an unprecedented move France has actually banned something that wasn’t strictly for the purposes of race-baiting. (Sorry Tom Tucker.) Earlier this week, the country’s senate announced children’s beauty contests will be banned, pending adoption by France’s National Assembly—a move that’s sure to send the glitter and baby-thong markets reeling in France. Thong market aside, […] More »

Friday FTW: U.S. Supreme Court says no to patenting human genes

Espe Currie

In a stunning display of common sense over corporate interest, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 13 that human genes can’t be patented. The case centred on controversial Myriad Genetics, the (now former) patent-holder of the gene mutation responsible for hereditary breast cancer. Perhaps, like many others, you first heard about the gene mutation after […] More »

WTF Wednesday: Tech giants help pass cyber surveillance bill

Catherine McIntyre

Remember that day Wikipedia didn’t have all the answers? That day you turned to the world’s trustiest encyclopedia but all it said was, “Imagine a world without free knowledge”? Last year on January 18, thousands of websites protested against the major U.S. internet censorship bills, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protest IP Act (PIPA). […] More »

WTF Wednesday: Alaska caucus shares laugh over gay rights

Catherine McIntyre

A public opinion survey released earlier this month shows that 67 per cent of Alaskans think gay couples deserve some form of legal recognition. So, in a meeting of the Alaska House Majority Caucus February 15, Mark Miller, a reporter for the Juneau Empire newspaper, asked, “would the caucus support the idea of having domestic […] More »

“Politicizing” tragedy: discussing the Wisconsin shooting

Katie Toth

A deeply disturbing attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is shaking America right now. A “frustrated neo-Nazi” killed six people and critically wounded three before being shot by police himself. The temple attendees were preparing for their Sunday services before the shooting. Southern Poverty Law Center has released some new information about the alleged […] More »

Meanwhile, in America, someone compares health care reform to 9/11

Katie Toth

Yesterday was a big day for our neighbours (or, sorry, is that “neighbors”?) next door! August 1 marked the first day that United States’ federal health reform contraception mandate comes into play. Starting now, the next time that insurance companies go into open enrollment periods (the period where new policy years start and they bring […] More »

Canada marks 35 years since abolition of the death penalty

peter goffin

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 »