By Alison@Creekside Neo-liberalism: trickle-down, deregulating, deunionizing, globalizing free market privatization of government. When Stephen Harper was studying under the “Calgary school” in the 80’s, he became so enamored with the neo-liberalism of Austrian philosopher Friedrich von Hayek — guru to Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, the Chicago boys, the IMF, and the WTO — it formed the basis […]
In the shadow of Flaherty’s funeral
By Montreal Simon Well I knew what he was going to do from the moment he announced that Jim Flaherty would have a state funeral, for no good reason. And then let it be known that he had PERSONALLY written the eulogy he would deliver. And sure enough he did turn that solemn occasion into […]
Flaherty: An insatiable desire to kill government
By Montreal Simon I think it’s fair to say that he was a better person at the end of his political career than he was at the beginning. He did reinvent himself from a pit bull to something vaguely resembling a pragmatist. He did become more human. And I’m sorry he died before he could spend […]
Flaherty’s magic surplus
By Montreal Simon Well in case you thought that the Con regime was nickel and diming veterans, and killing good jobs all over the country, because they absolutely HAVE to slay the deficit. Or as Jimbo Flaherty warned us: We could find ourselves in a big black hole, the economy is fragile, the global risk is huge […]
The Cons’ $165 billion fiscal cliff
By David@Sixthestate.net As I pointed out in my last post, the fact that the Conservatives have admitted they will miss their budget projections next year isn’t news. There hasn’t been a single annual budget yet that actually reached the projected balance it was supposed to, and, as a result, the date at which the Conservatives […]
The Conservatives miss their budget projections. Again.
By David@Sixthestate.net Last week, the media delivered its resounding judgement on the Conservatives’ fall budget update. Jim Flaherty, they say, has unfortunately allowed the projections to slip. The deficit has grown. Canada may not balance its budget on time. Curiously, this fact does nothing to change the obvious cognitive dissonance now in play in the […]
Parliament’s latest protesting Page
By Montreal Simon It’s an inspiring sight, and a chilling one. Kevin Page, the parliamentary budget officer standing up for the right to know the truth, in a country where the Big Lie rules. As the Cons try to smear him and muzzle him as they have so many others. They have attacked him for […]
Parliament’s darkest day, and finest
By Montreal Simon It was the Canadian Parliament’s darkest day, and at the same time one of its finest. Each new round of voting began with a round of applause from the New Democrat benches and ended with whoops and cheers from the Conservatives whose majority might means they’ve voted down every motion so far. […]
LPG cut, Summerworks restored: Is this any way to run a culture?
Update, June 14th: Moore reverses cuts to LPG. By Frank Moher Let us now consider the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the confusion that is its Minister, James Moore. As we reported on the weekend, the Literary Press Group of Canada, a 37-year old organization whose job is to sell the books of Canadian authors, […]
Where is James Moore?
By Frank Moher Two weeks ago in this space I wrote about the Conservative government’s politically-motivated decision to withdraw funding from the Toronto theatre and arts festival, SummerWorks. To recap: Last year, the company presented a play, Homegrown, that the Prime Minister’s Office decided (in advance, without seeing it), glorified terrorism. So this year, after […]
