Before the Harper Conservatives inherited, in 2006, ten years of Liberal balanced budgets and robust surpluses, the last time a Conservative government actually balanced a budget for Canada was 101 years ago in 1912.

The Prime Minister was Robert Borden (originally a school teacher, incidentally). He too inherited his surplus...

While most attention last week was focused on the Harper government's 2013 budget with all it's wishful thinking, missed opportunities and neglected obligations, three other events were probably of greater significance.

(1) Still in the realm of finance, just before his budget, Minister Flaherty strangely instructed his political staff to...

Parliament has been back in session for just two weeks in this New Year, and already there's a chorus of complaints about how the place operates -- or fails to operate.

Some people focus on the lack of decorum among MPs, especially during the daily Question Period, and no doubt...

What's a "Gerrymander"?

It's the manipulation of constituency boundaries to give an unfair advantage to one particular political party. The word originated in 1812 with the appalling behaviour of then-Governor "Gerry" of Massachusetts who twisted electoral districts into the shape of salamanders -- just so he could win.

To prevent...

MPs watched in disbelief last Wednesday as Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan faced-off against his NDP counterpart, Nathan Cullen, and Party Leader Thomas Mulcair.

Right in front of the Speaker, just to one side of the aisle down the middle of the House of Commons, they went at it...

The Harper Conservatives will force another odious "Omnibus Budget Bill" through the House of Commons this week.

A lot of attention is rightly focused on the anti-democratic nature of their "omnibus" procedure, choking off debate and forcing MPs to deal with 50 or more unrelated issues all...

The Harper Conservatives are ramming another "omnibus" budget Bill (C-45) through Parliament.

It's massive, incoherent legislation, lumping together everything from navigable rivers to grain inspection, from disability savings plans to hazardous waste -- over 500 sections, over 400 pages, covering more than 30 different topics...