The ongoing fight to get this country to ban the export of the world’s deadliest industrial material has finally reached the Comedy Network and Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. The sheer absurdity of pretending that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely caught the eye of the popular show and they recently did a five minute segment, […]

By Tracy Weber in ProPublica. The week’s news about the sexual conduct of politically powerful men gives me a queasy feeling of déjà vu.  As the French agonize over whether Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s star power quashed past allegations, I can respond cynically: Yes, that probably happened. But we should not automatically assume that timelier reporting about […]

By Michael Jessen When you’re addicted to something, you’ll do anything to satisfy your need – and so will your drug supplier. In North America, one of our addictions is to energy, a commodity that is overabundant or in excess of demand – hence a drug on the market. For every addiction, there is a […]

 If you've had a quick scan of the Telegraph over the last couple of weeks you may have noticed that there has been a background theme that keeps popping up in different forms and different fashions. There seems to be a growing critical mass of awareness, desire and action centred around affordable housing. But there are...

Canada is at war again but you would hardly know it from the media. We should pay attention, for our part in the Libyan “mission” is a stunning example of how easily the self-righteous West can get involved in war without considering the consequences. First it was Afghanistan then Iraq, classic examples of imperial hubris, […]

The Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell told us the HST would be “revenue neutral.”  Not true. They promised 100,000 jobs by 2020 as a  result of all the money companies would be saving and reinvesting. Latest estimate: a quarter of that.  And they assured consumers, onto whose backs the HST transfers the tax burden, prices will come […]

“Democracy has become a government of bullies, tempered by editors” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson A strong statement and I think most would agree, an exact one. Particularly at this point in Canadian history. Here we are, a couple of days after yet another federal election, and there are many who still are jubilant in victory, many […]

I will forever remember election 2011 as the “ambivalence” election.   I was glad to see incumbent Atamanenko retain his seat, not out of any loyalty to the New Democrats, but because I didn’t feel the other parties fielded candidates worthy of ousting Atamanenko.  I think the only real competition for the seat came from […]

Canada’s financial sector has been the greatest beneficiary of recent corporate income tax cuts, as well as from preferred tax rates applied to capital gains taxes and stock options. In total, the value of these tax preferences and recent tax cuts now adds up to approximately $11 billion a year for Canada’s financial sector and […]

There is no point dwelling on the obvious other than to simply reiterate it. The election of a Conservative majority government will usher in wrenching change in Canada and we will have to witness the worst that Stephen Harper has to offer. It remains to be seen whether or not Harper actually wants to stay […]