If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Once upon a time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives understood Canadians' concerns on gas tax. They said it was "time to axe the tax on the tax." Of course, the prime minister was in opposition then, but the idea must be implemented today in B.C. if we want to see lower gas prices.
The G8 Summit was oddly clarifying: With Europe riven with divisions over the euro and the sclerosis of welfare states in aging societies, the United States wrapped up in increasingly parochial domestic politics, Japan adrift and Russia backsliding into authoritarianism, Canada stood alone as a country with healthy economic prospects and a stable government.
The Komagata Maru incident occurred during a time in Canadian history where there was a deep-seated prejudice against minorities and immigrants. NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu's motion today urged the Government of Canada to officially apologize in Parliament to the South Asian community in the House of Commons. I commend him.
The Harper government is waging war on Canada's fresh water. Industry will now have unprecedented influence over water protection policy and the Harper cabinet will make decisions about which watersheds deserve protection based on political, not scientific, grounds. What a travesty Harper has decided to sacrifice our freshwater heritage in order to please his industry friends.
Canadian women won equality rights 27 years ago when the gender equality clause in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms took effect. Yet, several times since the turn of the 21st century, parliament has seen fit to debate whether women's rights should be restricted. How can this happen?
In this week's editorial pages we got to meet Thomas Muclair, SCARY ENEMY OF NATIONAL UNITY when he railed against the Alberta oil industry. All the western premiers quickly fired back, calling Mulcair's grasp of economics "tenuous and "goofy." But some are conceding that Muclair is being pretty damn "clever" in rejecting one of the dominant pieces of conventional wisdom in post-Harper Canadian politics: that you need the West to win.
Canadian citizens may be shocked to learn that the Canadian Forces do not have the same Charter Rights as the rest of us. They give up those rights when they enlist. Maybe this law makes sense for the military -- it is used to suppress mutiny and rebellion, but at the same time, these are the people who are risking their lives for our freedom. Don't they deserve better?
It's disconcerting to read that members of all three main federal parties agree that the current committee system is seriously flawed. One long-time Liberal MP, Mauril Belanger, quit a committee on which he had served for nearly two decades, saying it was no longer possible to accomplish anything in what had become a hyper-partisan environment.
Is Stephen Harper quietly working to "re-brand" Canada? Is his government emphasizing the military, the monarchy and select episodes of Canadian history in order to create a competing brand of right-wing Canadian nationalism and divert attention from the great symbols of Liberal patriotism, like medicare and Lester Pearson? The pundit class thinks so.
International relations scholar Henry Nau suggested two metaphoric approaches to U.S. foreign policy. The first is the jigsaw puzzle. The second is the chess game. The United States will determine whether it wants to play chess or jigsaw for the future of North America. The question is, will Harper decide to play nicely with the others?
As we approach the month of June, the Liberal party will soon be making a decision on when to hold their next leadership convention. With roughly a month to go, there doesn't seem to be much interest from the public in what they do or, for that matter, what they decide. Clearly at this point in time the NDP offers voters the biggest contrast with the governing Conservatives; the Liberals still don't seem to fit in anywhere.
Canadians are generally an obedient lot, so what gives with the plan of a group of Canadians to block Warren Buffett's coal trains near Vancouver this Saturday? Those on the train tracks and those standing up for alternatives to the tar sands, while maybe considered radical, might just be the new responsible.
This ad campaign is important as it signals that the NDP is becoming much more professional in how it conducts itself. After a dismal, and boring leadership campaign, the NDP are finally getting back into the game. This is welcome news to that large body of Canadian voters who voted against the Conservatives in the last election.
When Thomas Mulcair became party leader, outspoken MP Bruce Hyer was passed on the new shadow cabinet. Mulcair noted how, "Bruce simply feels that he's allowed to come up with his own decisions." But then again, one has to wonder if that is a good or bad thing, or a sign of how our political system is broken.
Lies and miscalculations rule the day in Canadian politics and we don't seem too bothered. Who needs data, facts, or expertise to make hundreds of billions worth of decisions? Since lies seem to work, politicians scatter them liberally. Candidates spew promises they have no intention or clue how to keep. We are repeatedly shocked to see them broken.
On a day when many were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the signing of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Stephen Harper's government announced legislation that will drastically reduce the number of regulatory agencies that exist to protect the environment in which individual Canadians enjoy their rights and freedoms.
