Clearly, it was not the kind of news they had gone to the Manning Centre to hear, and, it seems, they did not receive it with particular good grace. As reported in The Star, presenting the results of a poll he conducted in December, André Turcotte imparted the following to
Continue readingTag: harper government misdeeds
Politics and its Discontents: This Just In!
And it is very encouraging, in that it appears Canadians are beginning to wake up to the true nature of the Harper regime: Nearly two-thirds of Canadians believe that the ruling Conservatives are settling political scores with their Fair Elections Act, a new poll has found. You can read all
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: His Hands Are All Over It
Like an ugly stain that resists the most determined efforts at removal, Bill C-520, a ‘private member’s bill’ proposed by Conservative MP Mark Adler, has Stephen Harper’s signature and paranoid paw prints all over it. The bill, about which I have written previously, would require all employees in parliamentary watchdog
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Another Guest Post From The Salamander
I sincerely hope that other commentators on my blog do not think I am playing favourites when I repost another’s comments as a guest post. I sincerely welcome and value all of your comments. My reason for reposting The Salamander here, who offered the following comments in response to my
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Issue So Many Of Us Grapple With
This letter to the editor reflects an issue I think most of us in the progressive blogosphere struggle with, as do the folks at samara: Voter turnout is the key to federal change Eroding the fabric of the Canada we loveThe only way that we are going to get rid
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Telling Distinction
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Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Shoulder Shrug
Like many of the commentators and bloggers whom I read, I regularly feel a deep frustration over the passivity of people. No matter what the problem, be it political, social, environmental or a host of others, too many have a ‘can’t-do’ reaction that debases so many in a myriad of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Initial Reaction To The Budget
To paraphrase the Soup Nazi, young people, “No job for you!” This message brought to you by the Harper government, not hard at work for you. H/t PressProgress Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Peace Of Mind: An Elusive State
Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light. – Dylan Thomas I have now passed seven years of my ‘official’ retirement; it will be eight years this June since it actually began, given that I took a six-month leave before starting to draw
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Mercer Takes Aim At Julian Fantino
Rick Mercer surely is one of our national treasures: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Too Good To Resist
And, of course, Fantino and the entire cabal showed what they are really made of yesterday in The House of Commons. For an incisive evisceration of Fantino et al., check out The Galloping Beaver’s post. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: UPDATE: A Shameful Minister With No Shame
I can think of not one positive thing to say about Julian Fantino. Apparently, Toronto Star readers can’t either: Fantino ‘absolutely regrets’ clash with veterans, Jan. 30 There is no possible excuse for the shameful treatment of our veterans by the federal Conservative government. Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino’s arrogant
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Measure Of The Man
Sounds like Rick Mercer has the Harper cabal’s number: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Refusing To Become What The Harper Government Wants Us To Be
While Stephen Harper’s trip to Israel is receiving wide domestic media coverage, coverage that I have been studiously avoiding out of deference to my at-times delicate sensibilities and constitution, the following Harper encomium strikes me as both chillingly ironic and hypocritical: Israel is the only country in the Middle East
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Harper Legacy: Empty Mantras And Empty Ideology
I hope readers don’t think I have grown lazy or burnt-out when I reprint letters from The Toronto Star. It is just that their observations and ideas are frequently so nicely expressed that I think they merit some exposure in the blogosphere. Today’s offers a sharp rebuke to the tired
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A World Badly In Need Of Inspired Leadership
Since he was elected to the position, I have written several posts related to Pope Francis; several of them express a renewed hope that the plain-speaking pontiff can generate some hope in a world badly in need of inspiring leadership, something almost wholly absent in our current crop of politicos,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Can Loyalty Oaths Be Far Behind?
In yet another development in the dangerous drift toward autocratic rule, the Harper cabal, under the guise of a private member’s bill introduced by Mark Adler, the Conservative MP for York Centre, wants parliamentary watchdogs and their employees to disclose previous political activities. Bill C-520, which has the full backing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Faint Ray Of Hope?
Those of us who write blogs on a regular basis, I suspect, have a high tolerance for the uglier aspects of humanity that we regularly confront in our exploration of the political arena. Greed, deception, avarice and rampant egoism seem pervasive, concern for the collective good little more than a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Motivational Video
If Stephen Harper’s contempt for the things we hold dear as Canadians isn’t reason enough to vote, what is? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Unspeakably Sad Picture
But this photo of materials tossed in a dumpster upon the closure of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada library in Mont-Joli, Que. also speaks volumes about the Harper contempt for any knowledge or research that contradicts his regressive and destructive policies. A war on science indeed. Recommend this Post
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