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By Eva Prkachin, on March 5, 2015, at 12:40 pm
ATTENTION: Our records show that you illegally downloaded a film from the Internet. You could be fined for up to $150,000 if you don’t pay up quick. Your ISP will kick you off the Internet if you don’t comply. Immediately send us details of your private information or face the consequences.
This is the unwelcome message thousands of Canadians received earlier this year. The bullying notices garnered immediate attention because, one: they were pretty galling, and two: a lot of the claims made in the letters weren’t actually based on Canadian law.
The threats of hundred-thousand dollar fines and getting (Read more…)
By The Mound of Sound, on March 5, 2015, at 12:24 pm It’s a tale with two scripts. One is the story presented by Stephen Harper, his PMO, the RCMP and others. The other is the account presented by disgraced senator Mike Duffy. At least one side isn’t telling the truth.
Who to believe? We’ll have to wait until all the evidence is in but I figure the truth has come, quite inadvertently, from senator Duffy.
There is one piece of evidence, the unintended disclosure of which, set this whole business in motion. It’s an e-mail – candid, descriptive and, most importantly, contemporaneous with the events. When Duffy circulated the e-mail to (Read more…)
By Richard Hughes, on March 5, 2015, at 12:08 pm Richard Hughes- Political Blogger
Our rights and freedoms are disappearing before our eyes.
The new normal is ‘Orwellian’ and it is taking hold as commonplace. Like a lobster in a pot we are being conditioned to be accepting of these dangerous intrusions.
Harper’s Bill C 51-The so called anti terrorism bill promises further intrusions, much further and all encompassing. Privacy it seems is being discounted at an ever increasing pace.
Check out this CBC report:
Give me your password!
The case of a Quebec man charged with obstructing border officials by refusing to give up his smartphone password has raised a new legal question in (Read more…)
By Andrew Currie, on March 5, 2015, at 11:38 am
Your news links for today:
Snowden Live: Canada and the Surveillance State – CJFE on YouTube Edward Snowden says Canadian intelligence gathering has ‘weakest oversight’ – CBC News Bill C-51: Breaking down both sides of a most terrifying debate – Macleans Committee won’t hear from former prime ministers on anti-terror bill – Globe and Mail Did Conservatives violate their own terror bill by sharing “terrorist propaganda” on Facebook? – Press Progress Mobilicity may have lost funding for spectrum auction just before deadline – Financial Post Bell’s site shows Nova Scotia as a part of the US :/ – reddit Rick’s (Read more…) . . . → Read More: OpenMedia.ca: Your Daily Digital Digest for Thursday, March 5, 2015
By The Mound of Sound, on March 5, 2015, at 11:27 am It’s a scary feeling. You glance out your office window overlooking the Port Metro Vancouver docks to see thick clouds of white smoke billowing your way.
That’s what happened to my prospective son-in-law yesterday at his computer animation shop in a gentrified, former industrial building hard alongside the docks, right by the cranes. He made a number of trips in his car ferrying his colleagues a safe distance from the fires.
They didn’t know what it was, only that it was acrid and they wanted to get away as quickly as they could. Vancouver Police phone lines were jammed so (Read more…)
By mauricetougas, on March 5, 2015, at 10:59 am Once upon a time, if we had a decision to make that might have some consequences, we would consult with trusted advisors. It might be your parents, a religious leader, law enforcement people, or a politician. (HA! That last one was a joke; we have never trusted politicians.)
Today, however, we have a new trusted advisor, one whose advice trumps everything else. Including common sense. That advisor is the insurance company.
The most recent example of how insurance companies have taken over decision making comes out of Lethbridge, a pleasant southern Alberta city.
First, some background.
As you no (Read more…)
By The Mound of Sound, on March 5, 2015, at 10:57 am Few people today know much about Canada’s legendary foray into aviation high tech – the Avro Arrow that rolled out of the Avro Canada Malton plant in October, 1957. Aviation Week’s Bill Sweetman revisits that bittersweet moment in Canadian aviation that ended when the Arrow was put to the cutting torch by the conservative government of John Diefenbaker just two years later.
When Aviation Week reported on the fighter’s rollout, in October 1957, the magazine called it “a serious contender for the top military aircraft of the next several years”. High praise indeed, for a non-U.S. aircraft, given (Read more…)
By John Klein, on March 5, 2015, at 10:41 am Here the case is made that “global warming” was supplanted by “climate change” because it sounded less urgent, (much as tarsands became oilsands), and other history is presented about the Denial movement infesting political discourse.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2015/mar/05/doubt-over-climate-science-is-a-product-with-an-industry-behind-it
Bad Science: A Resource Book – described in Merchants of Doubt as a “how-to handbook for fact fighters”.
Produced by the tobacco industry to help any industry fight any legislation that responded to scientific findings, this was a representation of big tobacco’s playbook in written form.
The book provided soundbites and ready-made talking points to arm any industry fighting regulation. Among the (Read more…)
By TheNewTeddy, on March 5, 2015, at 10:31 am Corporate Research Associates put out a new set of provincial polls.
NLL 56 P 31N 13
PEL 58P 26N 12G 4
NSL 58P 20N 18G 3
NBL 54P 27G 10N 9 The simple story is the Liberals are doing very well in all 4 provinces. In general, things are pretty consistent across all 4 provinces. The NDP is a bit stronger in Nova Scotia, taking support from the Tories, while the Greens are stronger in New Brunswick, taking support from the NDP. While it (Read more…)
By Lorne, on March 5, 2015, at 9:58 am Are we losing all perspective on the threats posed by terrorism? While there is no doubt that all perils to public safety need to be taken seriously (yes, even those posed by pipeline ruptures that Enbridge seems to treat as state secrets), one cannot escape the conclusion that the Harper regime sees it in their best electoral interests to convince us that we cannot go about our daily lives without a massive surrending of freedoms, à la Bill C-51.
Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked classified information, suggests we need to get a little perspective.
In an online chat (Read more…)
By Warren, on March 5, 2015, at 9:46 am
By Peter Lowry, on March 5, 2015, at 8:57 am People keep asking how the heck Conservative MP Patrick Brown can sign more than 40,000 new provincial party memberships? What they fail to grasp is that a system developed 30 years ago has grown and become something of an industry. Brown did not invent it, he just used it. This system saw candidates knocking on individual doors as a waste of time and concentrated instead on negotiating support with community leaders. Nobody seems to sign up individual party memberships any more. You negotiate with the community leaders: the wholesalers.
A lot of good community organizers, for all the major parties, (Read more…)
By PoliticFreak, on March 5, 2015, at 8:48 am According to a recent survey published in the Globe and Mail Stephen Harper’s Anti-Terrorism bill enjoys the support of 82 percent of respondents across the country. Wow, impressive right?
When we look a little closer we see that this supports comes even though most Canadians no little to nothing about the content of bill C-51.
The majority and I mean VAST majority of the support for the bill comes from Canadians who know the bill in title and not much beyond that.
So 82 percent of respondent support something referred to as: The Anti-Terrorism bill. No wonder it enjoys such (Read more…)
By Owen Gray, on March 5, 2015, at 8:38 am
http://psychcentral.com/
Back in 2008, Stephen Harper decided to cut public funding to the opposition parties. As the head of a newly elected minority government, it was a stunningly stupid move. When they threatened to revolt and form a coalition government, he prorogued Parliament and went around the country declaring that coalition governments were illegitimate and would lead to political Armageddon.
Now, with his economic leadership in tatters, he has proposed two pieces of legislation (Read more…)
By Adam Clare, on March 5, 2015, at 8:36 am The “dragons” on CBC’s show Dragons’ Den the investors funded a new product called Greenlid. Greenlid is a contraption that makes it easier to deal with household composting and waste diversion projects. In parts of Canada it is known as a “green bin” program.
With most waste diversion programs it’s hard to get 100% success so hopefully the Greenlid will make it easier for people to be a part of the earth-saving green bin programs (or similar )
Constructed from end-of-life recycled cardboard and newsprint, The Greenlid is scientifically designed to make composting easier and cleaner by using (Read more…)
By Greg Fingas, on March 5, 2015, at 8:32 am Here, on the many problems with building social benefits and employment policies alike on a foundation of distrust.
For further reading…- Rick Mercer rants about the obstacles the Cons are throwing in the way of veterans. And the CP follows up on the Cons’ response to Paul Franklin’s case here.- CBC reports here on the Cons’ plans to slash existing sick leave for the federal civil service. Kathryn May points out the complete lack of any justification for that course of action, and has since noted that the plan is further being extended to out-of-scope positions. (Read more…)
By The Arbourist, on March 5, 2015, at 7:06 am A tongue and brain twisting experience.
Filed under: Humour Tagged: English, logophilia, Poem, Pronunciation
By Ed Hollett, on March 5, 2015, at 4:30 am Last year was the 30th anniversary of one of the most significant events not only in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador but of Canada as a whole.
The agreement between the federal and provincial governments known as the Atlantic Accord resolved a dispute over the control of oil and gas resources offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ray Blake is a historian at the University of Regina with a research interest in federal-provincial relations. His latest article is “Politics and the Federal Principle in Canada: Newfoundland Offshore Oil Development and the Quest for Political Stability and Economic Justice.” (Read more…)
By Simon, on March 5, 2015, at 3:39 am
For months Stephen Harper has been working day and night to try to create a climate of fear.He has fanned the flames of paranoia and xenophobia, appealed to the beasts that dwell within us.He is using the armed forces to help him portray the world as a dark and threatening place, with videos like this one…
Which is designed to dovetail with his own party propaganda, is full of the hollow words he uses every day, like "values" and "freedoms." And is being played over and over again on Canadian TV. So not surprisingly he is (Read more…)
. . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper, Bill C-51, and the Harvest of Fear
By Richard Hughes, on March 5, 2015, at 1:21 am Richard Hughes-Political Blogger
BC Lib’s urbane quick wit , the sharp tongued Mike DeJong, is doing a not so slow burn over constantly being harpooned by Cowichan NDP MLA ‘Brother Bill Routley’ for their sleazy tactics and heartless governance.
Well actually Routley admitted that one of their MLA’s might have a heart. Probably.
Mike DeJong rattled by Brother Bill Routley
Routley, Bill is getting to them and the obedient MSM types have been following DeJong’s ‘Talking Points’ to a tee.
Cowichan NDP MLA Bill Routley
Well, in Victoria he may have been following them to a tea, at the Empress perhaps.
Here is (Read more…)
. . . → Read More: Cowichan Conversations: Liberals Squirming Over ‘Jiggery Pokery’ Taunts From NDP’s Brother Bill Routley
By PoliticFreak, on March 4, 2015, at 9:50 pm
Take Our Poll (function(d,c,j){if(!d.getElementById(j)){var pd=d.createElement(c),s;pd.id=j;pd.src=’https://s1.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/shortcodes/js/polldaddy-shortcode.js’;s=d.getElementsByTagName(c)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(pd,s);} else if(typeof jQuery !==’undefined’)jQuery(d.body).trigger(‘pd-script-load’);}(document,’script’,'pd-polldaddy-loader’));
By Eva Prkachin, on March 4, 2015, at 7:58 pm
ICYMI: Our own Meghan Sali is meeting with key MPs in Ottawa next week about Bill S-4. This piece of legislation could bring American-style copyright trolls to Canada. Tell Meghan your concerns in the blog or in the comments below.
One of the big concerns we hear from our community is that there’s no-one in parliament that speaks Internet.
Well, here at OpenMedia, we work day in and day out to inject Internet voices into democratic processes to ensure that the government hears our ideas and addresses our concerns.
read more
By Simon, on March 4, 2015, at 7:24 pm
It's ironic that at a time when Stephen Harper is trying to ram his dangerous anti-terrorist bill through parliament.Muzzle some of his most distinguished critics. A parliamentary committee will hear from strong supporters and vocal critics of the government’s anti-terrorism bill, but not from four former prime ministers who have decried the lack of increased oversight in the legislation.And has terrorized Canadians more than any other leader in Canadian history.It's ironic and outrageous, that our big TV networks won't run an ad like this one…Read more »
By Simon, on March 4, 2015, at 6:16 pm
At a time when half of his PMO has been subpoenaed to testify at the Mike Duffy trial, and he might have to go to court to argue why he should not join them.At a time when his former parliamentary secretary Dean del Mastro is waiting to be sentenced for electoral fraud.At a time when he is trying to beat the drums of fascism as hard as he can.It follows that Stephen Harper would try to prove that he's tough on criminals. Read more »
By Norman Farrell, on March 4, 2015, at 5:24 pm The good doctor at The Gazetteer diagnoses a similarity between issues underlying the now debated transit sales tax and the late and unlamented HST. RossK is focused on the tax ‘shiftyness’ involved in both.
Quite right. BC Liberals have slowly shifted away from progressive taxation, preferring revenues from fees and taxes that have greater impact on the lower and middle classes. For example, the provincial tax on clear gasoline is 32.17¢ a litre. To a person earning $200,000, average fuel consumption would result in a tax of 0.5% of income. To a person earning $50,000, the same amount (Read more…)
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