One of our true national treasures, Linda McQuaig (why has she not received an Order of Canadah?) recently wrote an article detailing the abysmal conditions under which pigs await slaughter. It is a piece that should make all of us cringe, whether or not we regularly eat pork: Many people —
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Politics and its Discontents: Henhouse Alert
Welcome to Ontario, A Place To Grow and Open For Business. Depending upon whether you are a private driver or a commercial operator, you will soon be sporting one of the two new mottoes on your licence plates. A small thing, you might conclude, if you are willing to overlook
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Guest Post: A Response To Flying Blind
Yesterday’s post dealt with the announcement that a degree of self-regulation is to be conferred on the airline industry by the Trudeau government. Given the fraught history of self-regulation in this country, it is alarming news. BM, a frequent commentator, offered an analysis of the situation as well as an
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Flying Blind
Many will recall that during the Harper era, our country moved toward greater self-regulation in various industries, often with disastrous results. From tainted meat to railway disasters, the lesson is clear: leaving safety up to the corporate sector, whose prime directive is to maximize profit for their shareholders, is a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Where Do People Stand In The Harper Hierarchy?
The answer would seem to be, “Nowhere near the top.” As discussed in yesterday’s post on CETA, leaked documents confirm that Canadian sovereignty, something all citizens should have a right to expect, will continue the erosion that began under NAFTA. Specifically, the dispute-settlement mechanism that enables investors to sue governments
Continue readingAlberta Diary: If you can’t trust Postmedia when it reports on oil and the environment, when can you trust it?
If you can’t trust your Postmedia website, who can you trust? I mean, other than Alberta Diary. Regardless, don’t blame these poor guys. They’re just trying to earn a living. Below: Economist Robyn Allen, Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey. Industry self-regulation doesn’t work and never will for a simple reason: He
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Industry Self-Regulation – Another Update
Last week I wrote two posts on the Harper regime’s ideological decision not to impose mandatory reporting of drug shortages on the pharmaceutical industry. The government instead has placed its market-driven faith on a voluntary system, with results nearly as disastrous as those in Canada’s food industry, which also enjoys
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Industry Self-Regulation – An Update
Yesterday I wrote a post about the plight of Ryan Harrington, the young man who, were it not for a drug called Celontin, would suffer upwards of 200 seizures a day. Because the Harper regime opted for a voluntary instead of a mandatory requirement for companies to report drug shortages,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Industry ‘Self-Regulation’
In a world rife with the environmental, economic and social consequences of unfettered capitalism, the term ‘industry self-regulation’ has always struck me as little more than a oxymoron. Examples abound of what happens when government regulatory agencies enter into what turn out to be Faustian bargains with the corporate sector,
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