Apparently infected by the decline of political discourse in the United States, the Canadian right is increasingly moving toward defining the use of facts that run counter to its narrative as conspiracy and policy disagreement criminality. If you doubt this, consider recent Tweets by the likes of Calgary Conservative MP
Continue readingTag: Canadian Press
Alberta Politics: Environmentalist Tzeporah Berman, who gave as good as she got, leaves Alberta oilsands advisory role
PHOTOS: Former Oil Sands Advisory Group member Tzeporah Berman. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Progressive Conservative Legislative Caucus Leader Ric McIver, and Environment Minister Shannon Phillips. Tzeporah Berman, the high-profile environmentalist who became a lightning rod for right-wing fury at Alberta’s NDP, is no longer advising Premier Rachel Notley’s Government.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Standard & Poor’s downgrades Saskatchewan’s credit rating and The Anger Machine falls silent
PHOTOS: Like a flock of starlings, the entire Canadian Perpetual Outrage Industry knows when to wheel and turn instantly. Since they do it electronically, it’s almost as if they’re … a machine! Below: Brad Wall, the crumbling Colossus of the Prai…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Fallout from the ‘Rebel Media’ brouhaha: maybe it’s time to abolish Alberta’s anachronistic Press Gallery
PHOTOS: A screenshot of some of the partisan materials sold on Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media website. Below: Another image of a sale item from The Rebel, in this case a T-shirt with the website’s logo on the back and a slogan supporting the Conservativ…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Event logisticians’? Give us a break! They’re bouncers! What’s that tell you about the Tories?
PHOTOS: Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets a group of foreign event logistics consultants while travelling abroad (Government of Canada photo). Below: Pierre Trudeau does suppressed fury the right way; Mr. Harper does it with considerably less appeal. Clearly, the continuing uproar about Stephen Harper’s “event logistics team members” tells us
Continue readingAlberta Politics: There’s no way the Broadbent Institute should have hired a high-profile strikebreaker to moderate a panel on Alberta’s election
PHOTOS: A striker, at right, confronts a security guard during one of the dark days of the 1999-2000 labour dispute at the Calgary Herald. Below: Calgary Herald political columnist Don Braid and Broadbent Institute Executive Director Rick Smith. I was genuinely shocked when I learned a few days ago that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Democrat’s election-year debate over the Keystone XL pipeline
U.S. Senators from the Senate Climate Action Task Force urge action on climate change in Washington (Photo: Yuri Gripas, Reuters). by Matthew Daly, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Democrats are grappling with an election-year dilemma posed by the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Wealthy party donors are funding candidates who oppose
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: According to The Canadian Press: “Statistics Canada says…
According to The Canadian Press: “Statistics Canada says the country’s trade deficit with the world ballooned to $2 billion in November from $552 million in October as merchandise imports rose 2.7 per cent and exports fell 0.9 per cent.” But, but … the Harper Conservatives keep telling us (despite all
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert “in the crosshairs of the Canadian press”
Once again, American comedian Stephen Colbert is playing victim and anti-Canada provocateur. This time he drags Canada, Canadians, the CBC, Winnipeg and Windsor into his attack routine. Watch:
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Bad News: Two Polls Give Harper Conservatives Edge Over News Democrats
As the Canadian Parliament returns for what promises to be another acrimonious session, two opinion polls show that the Harper Conservatives hold a slight lead over Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll pegs Conservative support at 34 per cent, the New Democrats at 27, the Liberals at 24
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Preston Manning is no saint, as secretive Carleton University scheme illustrates
Preston Manning and his then-protégé Stephen Harper back in the day. Below: Mr. Manning as he now appears (United Church Observer photo): Alberta premier E.C. Manning, Preston Manning’s father; Mr. Harper as a Reform Party candidate. Nowadays, folks think of Preston Manning as a benign force in Canadian politics –
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The other shoe: Why the Globe’s ‘temporary leaves’ are likely to become permanent for some
One of the Globe and Mail’s senior copy editors writes a headline while a Pagemasters NA trainee looks on. Globe editors may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Globe Publisher Phillip Crawley. In the 21st Century, corporate bosses aren’t opposed to journalists making a fortune – as long as they
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Albertans should worry when Calgary becomes the city Canadians love to hate
How other Canadians see the typical Albertan: rich, smug, condescending and irresponsible. Below: What they think of us as a result; Alison Redford; Dalton McGuinty. We won the lottery. Now we won’t stop telling everyone else how to run their financial affairs. And guess what? They don’t like it! I’ve
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Truth, Tories and the Sun Network: ‘Let’s do it. We can fake the Oath!’
New Canadians rounded up by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s office get ready to reaffirm their citizenship oath. Actual new Canadians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Kenney; Paraguayan-born Public “Safety” Minister Victor Toews, himself a relatively new Canadian. More than one story emanating from Ottawa yesterday revealed the
Continue readingExcited Delirium: Canadian Press Sucks Up to Harper as ’2011 Story of Year’
Quelle surprise: mainstream media excited about Harper’s majority win and declare it to be ‘story of the year’.
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: Someone should ask a Minister
Canadian Press reports today that the government knows that repeal of the long gun registry means that "Canada would no longer meet its international commitments relating to firearms tracing and record keeping."
If only the opposition had an opportunity to ask the Minister of Public Safety why he is undercutting Canada’s international commitments to fight gun trafficking.
Oh right. They do.
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: There’s no danger of Murdoch style press scandals in Canada! Really! Got that? Now go back to sleep
Gotcha! Britain’s Private Eye magazine satirizes the Murdoch Fambly Saga across the Pond. Nothing like the Eye in Canada, more’s the pity! (Where is Michael Bate now that we need him?) Below: Rupert Murdoch, in happier times; Kory Teneycke, late of…
Continue readingCanadian Press whitewashes Harper’s incestuous relationship with media
Joan Brydon (CP) bends over backwards to show how Canadian journalism could never go the way of the Murdoch scandal by slanting her reporting to make sure we know that Stephen Harper would never be influenced by the media. She adds Harper’s antagonism …
Continue reading