Catching Up With Our Readers
September 30, 2010 | 2 Comments
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so here we go (I hope I don’t miss anyone): At Atomic Robot, R. Mowat covers the defeat of Bill C-440, which would have provided cover for U.S. resisters looking for refuge in Canada. This post is particularly significant because for the first time, R. [...]
Speaking of coalition governments…
September 30, 2010 | 2 Comments
It surprised me to see in the latest EKOS-CBC poll that when forced to choose between a Conservative government lead by Stephen Harper and a Liberal-NDP coalition government lead by Michael Ignatieff, the coalition government option eked out a plurality by the skin of its teeth (41%:39%). EKOS called the lead, “small, but statistically significant”. [...]
A Soundtrack of Swine Gnawing on Bone
September 30, 2010 | 2 Comments
Writing in Maclean’s, Colby Cosh goes to town on the vacuous won’t-somebody-please-think-of-the-children press release from Alberta’s Wildrose Alliance: “No little girl,” reads the statement, “ever dreams of growing up and becoming a prostitute, and no parent wants to see their child become a sex worker.” As an argument in favour of the existing prostitution laws, [...]
The Parliamentary Paternalism of Michaëlle Jean
September 29, 2010 | 13 Comments
Michaëlle Jean’s last day as Governor General of Canada is tomorrow and in the course of her departure, Jean has been reflecting on her five years in the role. Specifically, Jean answered questions about her role in the 2008 prorogation of Parliament that saved Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government from a potential Opposition coalition government. [...]
The Trudeau Generation: Why Pierre Elliot Trudeau matters more than ever
September 29, 2010 | 10 Comments
by Max Fawcett Ten years ago, Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, died at the age of 80. Given his declining health at the time, his passing wasn’t really a surprise. But the national outpouring of grief and emotion that greeted his death was much more unexpected, given how conspicuously out of character [...]
Updated: Should sex work be criminal?
September 28, 2010 | 21 Comments
(See update here.) We haven’t paid much attention to the Conservative government’s mid-summer crackdown on organized crime, have we? Remember, just a couple of weeks ago, when justice minister Rob Nicholson got serious about punishing organized gambling, prostitution and drug crime? In the blink of an eye, Nicholson made several regulatory changes to the Criminal Code. As we [...]
If We Can’t Have Weed, We Might As Well Have Prostitutes Instead
September 28, 2010 | 5 Comments
Huzzah! Ontario’s prostitution law fell Tuesday after a judge ruled that it endangers the very women it is meant to protect. I’m not prepared to comment on the merits of the ruling (though I’m generally against courts imposing public policy… even if it’s policy I support) and it might not get held up on appeal, [...]
Speaking of Arcade Fire…
September 28, 2010 | 4 Comments
A propos of Scott’s post below, I thought I’d share this review of Arcade Fire‘s most recent album by Matt Feeney at The American Scene. Here’s the opener, which is more a commentary on pop commentary than on the band: I’ve been slowly working my way into the newish Arcade Fire album, “The Suburbs,” and [...]
The most important new band in Canada
September 27, 2010 | 1 Comment
At this past Calgary Folk Music Festival, an emcee introduced now Montreal based Stars, sibling to iconic musical collective Broken Social Scene, as, “the most important new band in Canada.” I scoffed then and I scoff now. Don’t get me wrong, Stars is a good band and I honestly appreciate the music they create. I’ve [...]
Week in Review
September 27, 2010 | No Comments
Monday monday, So good to me… Defining Populism: We had a bit of a debate about the nature and definition of populism (Bonus follow up post here) The sudden importance of paternal political relations: What is it about MPs’ dads that keeps them in the news? I’m No Fan of George Soros’ Politics, but that’s No [...]