In 2011, Canadian artist Franke James set out on a solo European art exhibit spanning 20 countries. But what happened instead, prompted an Amnesty International campaigner in Croatia to declare it a "sad day for Canadian democracy."

The battle over Keystone XL has been brewing for more than four years. With a final decision on Keystone expected from President Obama as soon as the next month or so, the situation has reached a fever pitch: on February 17 in front of the White House, if expectations hold true, we will witness the largest rally ever held in the U.S. on the issue of climate change. More than 20,000 people will gather to lobby for action on climate change and to pressure their president to disallow the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. These tens-of-thousands of everyday Americans, whether they know it or not, are protesting Canada as much as they are the Keystone project.

We must offer support by sharing First Nations perspectives, and remembering that some truths are simple: we have to share this land together in a fair way that reflects a real understanding of its history. This Friday, a global day of action provides an opportunity for us all to stand together.

The Harper government is skilled at paying lip service to deeply-entrenched Canadian values while often de- facto moving public policy away from those values. There is perhaps no better example of this double-sided strategy than in the area of federal water policy.

Today, Jason Kenney and the Conservative government announce a controversial list of countries that will determine who does and does not get access to healthcare in this country. This is what the government has facetiously called "public health and safety coverage" illuminating their limited understanding of the field of public health. As a family doctor working with refugees and refugee claimants, the potential impacts of this policy are horrifying. We will no doubt see individuals left with no choice but to allow their health to worsen before seeking services. It seems to me that this is a lose-lose situation.

This coming week, Parliament will vote on my amendments to Bill C-299, Conservative legislation that would impose a mandatory minimum sentence of five years on people who kidnap children. It would seem as though this would be just the kind of issue on which members of all parties could collaborate in good faith. Instead, however, this bill has become a prime example of how excessive haste -- and an uncooperative attitude toward parliamentary opposition -- can make for bad law and bad policy. It should be deeply troubling to Canadians that the laws governing our criminal justice system are being altered quite so nonchalantly. Surely, despite our differences on principle and policy we can at least agree that any proposed changes to the Criminal Code should be the object of serious scrutiny and debate.

As MP Bev Oda has chosen to abort not only her ministership, but her political career, the bombshell has informed a troubling narrative on Harper's Conservatives' treatment of womankind. As the Harper government's war on women rages on, anti-woman proposals which have been blighting in the right-wing fringe for years have come to fruition.

The Conservative government, and the new CBC/Radio-Canada code of ethics violate the principles of independence, and impartiality that are so closely associated with the profession of journalism, and are a serious threat to the preservation of Canadian democracy, where freedom of the press is a fundamental value enshrined in our Constitution.

Control from the backrooms was always there, but never to the extent that it is now. Until the present generation of MPs, especially in the Conservative caucus, stand up to PMO (and other MPs to their respective leader's offices), not much will happen to improve their lot or that of MPs in general.

The Conservative Party invited the media to attend Harper's speech to caucus. The short length of the speech — 4 minutes and 11 seconds — took ...