by John Baglow
A victory wrapped in a defeat, the judgement in the “Robocalls” case (which actually included live calls too) should be no cause of sorrow for the Council of Canadians, who brought the results of six closely-contested ridings to court hoping to see the results annulled.
Mr Justice Richard Mosely has ruled that the election results stand. But read on.
by Adil Sayeed
BC’s May 2013 provincial election results show us yet again that Canada’s current first-past-the-post electoral system is still broken. Although British Columbians rejected the Single Transferable Vote option in a 2009 referendum, by 61 – 39 percent, other forms of voting reform may still be feasible. BC MPs Nathan Cullen (NDP) and Joyce Murray (Liberal) did much better than expected in recent national party leadership races, in part because they championed voting reform at the federal level.
So let’s take another look at why we need voting reform in Canada and which reform option might work best.
from the United Steel Workers
TORONTO, May 21, 2013 — Today, the fight begins for a more prosperous, fairer economy for everyone. Workers Uniting, the global union formed by the United Steelworkers and the United Kingdom and Ireland’s Unite the Union, is hosting its first-ever economic policy conference, Building a Global Agenda for Shared Prosperity.
by Bill Tieleman
"I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant… It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing."
– Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events
The BC New Democrat campaign that led to last week's stunning reversal of fortune by Premier Christy Clark is A Series of Unfortunate Events with politically tragic consequences.
by John Baglow
Nigel Wright, Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, has resigned.
This caps what must have been the week from hell for our Conservative rulers. And it has been particularly satisfying, yet galling at the same time, to behold the usually complacent Parliamentary Press Gallery turn in lockstep against the government, penning reams of hostile commentary, from scathing criticism to angst to amazement to open ridicule.
by Stephen Leahy
After a solid year of Canadian public, researchers, and international science community outrage, the Harper government finally yielded and agreed to transfer the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) to a non-profit organization. And then — and then! — the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans tried to take credit for the May 10 announced signing of a crucial Memorandum of Understanding with the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
by Jill Richardson
[Editor’s note: While most of the references in this articule are to US stores and meatpacking plants, Canada has had at least its share of tainted meat scandals, from XL Meats’ E Coli to Maple Leaf’s Listeria — and this article warns that a nation that once adopted free market demands for de-regulation, now demands re-regulation due to disturbing public interest group investigative findings.]
Planning a summer barbecue? When you buy meat for a festive meal, watch out for some uninvited guests. An alarming amount of American meat harbours not just pathogens, but “superbugs” — antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For now, you’d better cook your meat well enough to kill the germs.
Continue reading »
by Janet Larsen
When New York City opened registration for its much anticipated public bike-sharing program on April 15, 2013, more than 5,000 people signed up within 30 hours. Eager for access to a fleet of thousands of bicycles, they became Citi Bike members weeks before bikes were expected to be available.
from Council of Canadians
World Fair Trade Day on May 11 launched the May Days of Action against the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) — an opportunity to connect fair trade products and purchasing with fair trade policy. The month-long Days of Action event, which includes actions and public events on five continents, is also timed to coincide with the 18th TPP negotiating round in Lima, Peru, from May 15-24.
"You only have to look at the list of chapters in the TPP to see that the deal is not about removing barriers to trade so much as putting barriers in front of the public good. The TPP is about making it more difficult or even illegal to get in the way of corporate profiteering,” says Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians, who begins a six-city trade justice tour on the TPP and other Canadian corporate rights pacts in British Columbia on May 22.
by Kristen Beifus
NHK Broadcasting, Japan’s equivalent of the BBC, contacted me last month, wanting a statement on the American public’s reaction to the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. A super-sized NAFTA, the TransPacific Partnership is a free-trade agreement whereby countries give foreign corporations rights and privileges to encourage investment and global business.
The TPP was a major issue during Japan’s recent national elections, when thousands took to the streets in protest. It was hard for the Japanese journalist to believe me when I explained that there is little awareness of the TPP here in the United States, because our media has hardly covered the subject.
