The upcoming federal election and its parallel universe
In trying to anticipate what a federal election campaign will look like — and it seems increasingly likely that we will be unable to avoid one – it is striking that the biggest issues facing humankind are not even on the radar, yet alone being framed as planks in any party’s campaign platform. This […]
Canadian military spending higher than any time since WWII: study
Twelve years of budget increases have left Canadian military spending higher than at any time since the end of the Second World War, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). According to the study, by Bill Robinson, Senior Advisor with the Rideau Institute, Canada will spend at least $22.3 […]
The trouble with normal
What has happened to this country? Stephen Harper seems able to carry out the most outrageous acts, week in, week out, and there seems to be barely any consequence. From the breaking the law and lying about it (dismissing charges laid on the election financing case as all about accounting), to publicly condoning (and almost […]
Canadian student groups flood PMO with calls for an end to $1.4 billion in subsidies to oil companies
Nearly two years later it would seem that young Canadians are tired of waiting. Yesterday hundreds of youth from across the country began calling the hill asking to chat with our Prime Minister, calling for an end to the $1.4 billion in public money current given to oil and gas companies each year. The cross-country “phone […]
Salvation Army Launches 'The Dignity Project'
A report released today by The Salvation Army finds that many Canadians continue to believe persistent myths about poverty and the poor. The study is being released in conjunction with the launch of The Dignity Project, a campaign designed to educate and inform the public about the challenges facing society’s most vulnerable people. While the […]
A party of thugs, liars, cheats, crooks, dirty tricksters--and Christians
Do any of the alleged Christians who support the government of Stephen Harper have any trouble with the fact that his government is the most morally corrupt party in Canadian history? Does their fantasy that he will end abortions sometime in the future allow them to rationalize what he does on an almost daily basis […]
Layton caves on corporate tax cuts
>When Jack Layton announced last week that he was no longer pressing the Harper government to cancel its next round of corporate tax cuts (cost: $6 billion) he revealed that the NDP cannot figure a way out of the trap it has been setting for itself since Stephen Harper got elected five years ago. Stuck at 15-17% […]
Fix carbon tax by ending corporate tax breaks, using revenues for climate action and new tax credit: study
A new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Sierra Club BC calls on the provincial government to scale up BC’s carbon tax, and makes a number of recommendations to make the tax more effective and fair. “As currently structured, the BC carbon tax is increasing social inequality, while squandering revenues on […]
COMMENT: Back to the "Good" Old Days?
“The disparity in income between the rich and the poor is merely the survival of the fittest. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God.” —John D. Rockefeller, 1894. During the first 70 years that followed this pronouncement by one of the 19th-century’s leading robber barons, […]
13th Annual 'Teddies': government waste awards
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today held its 13th annual “Teddy Waste Awards” ceremony to recognize the best of the worst in government waste. CTF federal director, Kevin Gaudet acted as the Master of Ceremonies today at the black tie news conference on Parliament Hill. The CTF’s “Porky the Waste Hater” (pig mascot) and lovely guest hostess […]
