Canadian politics

May 082012
 

Backlash against Wildrose shows most voters reject bigotry.

by Gillian Steward

The sighs of relief sweeping Alberta are almost audible. It's not that most Albertans are relieved that the Progressive Conservatives won the election, yet again. But rather that it is now abundantly clear that most Albertans are not racists and homophobes.

Other Canadians likely feel they don't need to prove this. But in Alberta we had a history that clung to us like an old, tattered sheet.

The Social Credit party, which governed Alberta for 35 years, was overtly anti-Semitic in its early days.

In the early 1980s anti-Semitism reared its ugly head again, when it was revealed that a social studies teacher in a public high school was teaching students that the Holocaust was a hoax. Jim Keegstra was quickly booted from his teaching job and eventually convicted of wilfully promoting hate, a decision upheld in 1990 by the Supreme Court.

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May 082012
 

Effort comes in response to sinking in the polls.

by Bill Tieleman

Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. 
– J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"We should be considering and actively debating a name change in our party, and I'm glad we're doing it," Premier Christy Clark said last week. But if the BC Liberals do pick a new name they will be breaking new ground.

In the last 50 years, I can find no record of a Canadian political party in power for over a decade changing its name before it faced an election. The only major re-branding for a governing party came when the Saskatchewan Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, or CCF, became the New Democratic Party while ruling the Prairie province in 1961.

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May 082012
 
Westray tragedy +20

Despite fatalities, still no prosecutions under Westray Act.

from the USW with YouTube video by Samanthan Bayard

On the 20th anniversary of the Westray Mine explosion, the United Steelworkers union (USW) is launching a renewed effort to ensure enforcement of the 2004 Westray Act, landmark changes to the Criminal Code intended to make corporations, their directors and executives criminally accountable for the health and safety of workers.

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May 082012
 

Foreign Temporary Worker program hurts job market for everyone.

by Mehdi Rizvi

Human resources Minister Diane Finley announced recently that Canada would now allow employers to pay temporary foreign workers wages that are 15 percent less than Canadians earn. In March budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said employers would have to make every effort to hire local Canadians before they would be allowed to bring in temporary foreign workers.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney further added that unemployed Canadian workers who refuse to accept low-wage jobs would lose EI benefits. He said that, if they accept these jobs, our need for temporary foreign workers would be reduced.

This vision appears on paper to have some merit. But it is not easy to understand, foresee, forecast and analyze what the federal government really wants to achieve from this research-deficient rapid transformation from permanent to temporary immigration.

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May 012012
 
airport

Locals bear brunt of YVR fee hike.

by Bill Tieleman

There's nothing like an airport for bringing you down to earth.
– Author Richard Gordon, Doctor In The Swim

Vancouver International Airport’s controversial Airport Improvement Fee jumps by 33 percent Tuesday — but only British Columbians will be paying it, while international travelers will get all the benefits without spending an extra penny.

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May 012012
 

Oil industry the big winner in Alberta election.

by Gillian Steward

For once the outcome of an Alberta election was completely unpredictable. Right up until the end of the campaign, the two leading contenders — Alison Redford’s PCs and Danielle Smith’s Wildrose party — were locked in a bitter battle for control of government.

But one outcome was entirely predictable.

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Apr 222012
 

And: NDP support increases in Ontario.

by Inside Queen's Park

Adjusting the budget
In the British parliamentary system, taxation and spending in a given financial year (running from the beginning of April to the end of March) acquire governmental authority when legislators vote in favour of a motion "that this House approves in general the Budgetary Policy of the Government". Passage of that bland formulation at the end of the 12-day Budget Debate endorses both the Budget Speech and Budget Papers.

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Apr 222012
 

Look who's hoping to ride Danielle Smith's coat tails.

by Dave Cournoyer

As the face of the campaign, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith is her party's biggest asset. She is media savvy, personable and, despite her limited governance experience (one year as a trustee on the dysfunctional Calgary Board of Education), she talks about becoming Premier with more confidence than any opposition leader in a long time.

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Apr 222012
 

Canada's grizzlies are under the gun and on the run.

by Gillian Steward

 

It's spring, and the trophy hunters are out and about in British Columbia looking for grizzly bears to kill. They won't be eating them of course; grizzly bear meat doesn't taste very good. But a grizzly bear rug looks great in front of the fireplace.

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