Straight Goods news

Maybe Christy Clark won because she's female

Canadians seem to prefer women as provincial premiers.

by Donna Dasko

Christy Clark shocked everyone last month with her victory in the in the British Columbia election. The opposition New Democrats led by Adrian Dix were expected to win – but ended ended up with less of the popular vote than they ...Read more

Butterflies in Damascus

Syrian conflict attracts fighters from around the world to intervene.

by Uri Avnery

During the Spanish civil war of 1936, a news story reported the deaths of 82 Moroccans, 53 Italians, 48 Russians, 34 Germans, 17 Englishmen, 13 Americans and 8 Frenchmen. Also one Spaniard.

“Serves him right,” people in Madrid commented, “Why ...Read more

Harperites decrease tar sands scrutiny

Ottawa outsources environmental responsibility for in situ drilling.

by Nathan Lemphers

It’s hard to miss the federal government’s “responsible resource development” advertising flooding media, from the Stanley Cup playoffs to Blue Jays games, movie theatres, bus shelters and newspapers. Not to be confused with similar ads the ...Read more

Media try to milk a mouse

Fuss over Mulcair's parking blown all out of proportion.

by John Baglow

OTTAWA, June 13 ,2013  --  NDP leader Tom Mulcair waved and drove past a security checkpoint yesterday as he has always done. Turned out there was a new RCMP officer at the post who didn’t recognize him. An ...Read more

Canada Job Grant worse than useless: study

Funding comes at expense of proven job training programs.

from the Mowat Centre and Caledon Institute of Social Policy

New research from the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy finds that the new federal Canada Job Grant federal employment training program will halt progress ...Read more

Another kind of residential school

Darryl Dexter's government fights restitution to children abused in segregated orphanage.

by Stephen Kimber

Last week, lawyers for Darryl Dexter's NDP government were in court arguing, in a bureaucratic, tone-deaf, legally proper but morally questionable way, to exclude parts of the complainants’ affidavits in the Coloured Children Home case, on technical criteria.

For ...Read more