The Cons find their wedge issue: Israel
By Alison@Creekside
Two days ago Jason Kenney’s communications director Alykhan Velshi tweeted that Con MP Tim Uppal from the inquiry panel at the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism will be looking for unanimous all-party approval when he introduces a motion to condemn the use of the word “apartheid” as applied to Israel in the House [...]
Our good narco-neighbour Colombia
By Alison@Creekside
In the House on Monday, Liberal trade critic Scott Brison defended Bill C-23, the Canada Colombia free trade agreement thusly:
“If we isolate Colombia in the Andean region and leave Colombia exposed and vulnerable to the ideological attacks of Chavez’s Venezuela, we will be allowing evil to flourish.”
Oooh – two Bush cat’s paw points for [...]
Party like it’s 1969
By Alison@Creekside
Bill C-15, an amendment to the Controlled Drugs [and Uncontrolled Growth of the Prison Industry] Act, guarantees, among other travesties, automatic jail time for people who grow and sell five marijuana plants.
Believe it or not, this is an improvement over what the Cons originally proposed — jail time for just one plant — until [...]
No change please, we’re British Columbian
By Frank Moher
That BC’s Libs would be re-elected was a no-brainer; they simply hadn’t done anything spectacularly incompetent enough in the last four years to get tossed-out. The breadth of their win may have something to do with their effective co-option of the environmental movement, thus drawing off erstwhile Green and NDP supporters. And the [...]
BC’s watershed election
By Alison@Creekside
“Environmental blah blah” is how retiring NDP MLA Corky Evans describes the privatization of B.C.’s waterways under the guise of addressing climate change. So-called “green” run of river hydro projects, also known as independent power projects or IPPs, divert water into a pipe several kilometres long and then into a turbine before returning it [...]
If Harper falls, Layton should too
If the Harper government falls in the next month, let’s keep in mind whose fault it is.
Jack Layton’s. That’s right. Mr. blown opportunity himself.
But first, let’s get something straight: when the opposition parties started moving toward a non-confidence motion back in November, they weren’t capitalizing on an opportunity to topple a democratically-elected government; they were [...]
Harper and the coalition of sharks
By guest blogger Frank Moher
One thing of which you can be certain: if you’re a western Canadian prime minister, they will eventually try to get rid of you. They, of course, being the central Canadian political operatives and parties who regard it as their congenital right to run the country.
It happened to Diefenbaker, it happened [...]
Why we don’t vote
Because of our ridiculous and highly undemocratic first-past-the-post system, the party that most Canadians do not want is forming a government. According to Fair Vote Canada, this stupid, stupid system wasted millions of votes, distorted results, severely punished large blocks of voters, exaggerated regional differences, created an unrepresentative Parliament and contributed to a record low [...]
Throwing one to the Greens
We’ve invited backofthebook.ca’s chief bloggers to let us know how they plan to vote in the federal election, and why. Below, Eric Pettifor reports in from Vancouver.
If we used the Australian system of preferential voting, I would vote on Tuesday as follows:
Green
NDP
Liberal
Satan and his Minions Party
Conservative
Note: #4 assumes the ability to do write-ins. I don’t [...]
Voting Liberal, without hope
Well, very little time left to make a decision and I don’t have a favourite party.
I have been very interested in listening to Green Party candidates and I believe that they ought to have a voice in parliament. So if I lived in a riding with a very strong Green Party candidate, I would [...]