Because while five of the eight Dipper leadership contenders are wasting their time in a little-watched debate that no one cares about aside from their own supporters, he's out shaking hands and getting votes in the East Island. To point out, so was Paul Dewar, except in St. John's.

Seriously, the only reason Topp and co. wanted Mulcair there was to throw a few barbs his way by attacking the "right-wing government" of Jean Charest (which Mulcair was a minister in). That's about the extent of the interest I think anyone had in the debate. To see that little spark.

These debates are stale, they're full of utter agreement, they're boring an...

This morning, as we waited for a client call to start, I told my staff – animal lovers all – about the sad, er, tale of Seamus, Mitt Romney’s Irish Setter. They didn’t believe me. When I finished telling the tale, they were in shock. I told them we should start a contest: come up with the best design for a Seamus Romney T-shirt, and we’ll get it printed on a few that we can sell to benefit a deserving animal protection group (we represent quite a few). So, get to work, Team Wk.com! The best design gets a signed copy of The War Room, plus a few T-shirts to give to Democ...

Alison Redford looks to have her first caucus defection on her hands, as former Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove is out, according to Redford's Chief of Staff:

...

As much as I agree with many of Ron Paul's principled stances on various issues, I just cannot stand the cult of over-zealous fanatics that support him Despite all evidence, these folks simply refuse to accept the fact that Dr. Paul will NOT be the Republican nominee for president. To the contrary, they act as if by chanting their mantras loud and long enough, or spamming every damn blog and YouTube video on the Internet with asinine comments somehow, it will alter reality. Of course, it won't do any such thing. At the end of the day, Ron Paul will attract less than 10% of the vote in most contested primaries and while he may have the resources to collect an appreciable number of delegates along the way to the conve...

Fischer v. IG Investment Management Ltd., 2012 ONCA 47 deals with when a class action will be allowed. A class action will not be allowed if there is a preferable process to vindicate class claims. The Court writes:

[43]         Turning to the merits of the Divisional Court's preferable procedure analysis, in my view, the error in principle that led to the motion judge's incorrect conclusion on preferability was more fundamental than his alleged failure to recognize that a substantial amount of the monetary damages claimed by investors went uncompensated in the completed OSC proceedings. The question whether the OSC settlements provided investors with all or substantiall...

With an Alberta election on the horizon this spring, the Wildrose Alliance have brought on Tom Flanagan to manage their campaign. For those of you who have never heard of Tom Flanagan, he was a political science professor at the University of Calgary (go Dinos!), and a key Harper strategist during his leadership run. Flanagan was the Conservative campaign manager in the 2004 federal election, so I can only hope it wasn't his idea to hold a "victory march" across Alberta in the campaign's closing weekend.

Since his exit f...

Since 2009, Federal Government spending increased by over 13% (Canada's Performance Report 2008-2009 and 2010-2011), and, with the exception of Atlantic Canada, the size of the federal public service has increased by 3%. Yet, Atlantic Canada suffered badly over the last three years, with a reduction of federal government employment amounting to 430 jobs; during the same time period, federal government employment was rapidly growing elsewhere in Canada. Now, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that he intends to cut the number of federal government employees.

So says Tea Party North “leader” Tim Hudak: “We took our foot off his throat by giving him a bit of a free ride in the summer.” What a bloody fool. Can you imagine the Con braying and screeching if Dalton McGuinty had said he had his “foot on the throat” of his principal opponent? You’d never hear the end of it. “That’s not how a Premier speaks,” they’d say. And they’d be right. Tim Hudak lost because he couldn’t present a positive vision for Ontario’s future. He lost because he launched vicious attacks on “foreigners” and gays and lesbians. He lost because he allowed his party to be taken over by far-right Landowner extremists. But the main reason he lost is because no one can pic...

...

Ten days ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was eagerly criticizing NDP leadership Thomas Mulcair over his French citizenship. The Prime Minister emphasized his Canada-first and always patriotism. In my case, as I say, I'm very clear. I'm a Canadian and only a Canadian.If the Prime Minister thinks that being Canadian is important, he has a funny way of showing it. Yesterday, he launched the

I wrote a article the other day for my blood using voice rec mission on my android phone and it is very impressive how so much is it was very accurate although it did make a few mistakes. Today I may not be speaking clearly enough because it is making any more mistakes including a mistake in the title same raging instead of writing. I was surprised friend since I was able to understand regina saskatchewan I was sure it might start replacing the word regina with something having to do with a female anatomy. Mm after I said the word vagina if for some reason inserted the word cock and balls as well. So beware if you write your blog posts entirely through voice recognition you’re bound to end up with some interesting mistakes....

In closing the Crown should not seek to sway by emotion but by logic and reason. Obviously in any trial there is some emotional response - that's normal. But Crown closing should be focused on facts and logical conclusions, not drama. This is Canada and not a Hollywood TV show:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/01/26/christie-blatchford-evidence-is-overwhelming-shafia-deaths-no-accident-prosecution-tells-jury/

A brief follow-up to yesterday's post on the possibility of a hike in OAS age eligibility here. Here is the first of many analyses likely to come along now that Harper has raised the issue of "major" reforms to Canada's pension system, namely the OAS: "Does Harper really need to raise the retirement age?" The upshot of the piece is that no, he does not.

On the other hand, Canada is different because, unlike most other countries, our public pension commitments are not a substantial threat to our public finances. The Canada Pension Plan is in long-run...

...

...

Prime Minister Harper unveils grand plan to reshape Canada - The Globe and Mail

And there goes millions of Canadians' plans to retire at age 65 if Harper decides to remake CPP.
The good thing about this is that most of the old coots on the verge of collecting CPP vote for the CPC at election time.
Pissing of a good segment of society will assist other parties in overthrowing the present day government and will return Harper to the cesspool he rose out of....

a research summary that puts forward a snapshot of the health of Oxford County citizens and also outlines the local health priorities that...

...

Premier Kathy Dunderdale and her ministers refuse to hand over documents on more than $5.0 billion in public works spending by the Conservatives since 2004.

The documents are cabinet secrets, as their argument goes, and under the access to information law cabinet cannot release that information to him.

like her predecessor, Premier Dunderdale was unavailable to talk to reporters earlier on Thursday but she did have time to call an open line radio show to talk about the Auditor General and other things.  Dunderdale eventually turned up at a 2:00 PM scrum to take reporters questions.  Predictably she rejected any claims that she is withholding information improperly.

Here's...

I know local radio news always wants to create some excitement, but every time I turned on the radio today I kept hearing about " gunfire in a fifth grade class " and " diamond heist in Saskatoon " .
Well, not so much....

I work at a university and so I keep hearing about how dull it is when faculty just lecture all the time.
Well, here's an account of the least dull lecture of all time .
Thanks, Dr. Grumpy .

Just too fun to resist. How the Gingrich moon base plan fared in the Republican debate tonight. Predictable responses from his fellow candidates, largely challenging the expense it would represent. Not so predictable, Newt's invocation of...

The Liberal Party lost the last election not because they didn't know what they stood for, but because they stopped looking.

After the last election many party officials, pundits and members of the public claimed the Liberals lost because they didn't stand for anything, that Liberals didn't even know who they were, and as these comments are reflected upon, one cannot help but be reminded that the Liberal's identity problem is Canada's as well.

Ever since confederation our politicians, our generals, our poets, and our artists, have all sought to define what it is to be Canadian. While some rest on the definition  of "Not American" or suggest Canadians were formed merely out of a response to our southern neighbour, the definition of our own national being...

Neat little mock ad from the folks at BuzzFeed pivoting off the accusation that Newt Gringrich is "grandiose" It's actually not surprising in the least that Newt would so readily embrace the term given his attachment to the notion of "American exceptionalism" a view that holds the United States in an entirely unique position amongst nations of the world for various reasons that are mostly bullshit. Fun Fact: Joseph Stalin was the first person to employ the term "American exceptionalism" when he castigated the American Communist Party for its deviance from Marxist theory. Go figure. ...

Earlier today, federal, provincial and territorial justice and public safety ministers finished their annual meeting in Charlottetown. Among the items under discussion, was Quebec's request that the Harper Tory government transfer data from the life saving long gun registry to provinces wishing to establish their own. According to the agreed press release, some jurisdictions supported the

I’m a copyright radical, like most younger people. I wasn’t born that way, but Napster, and the war on Napster and filesharing helped shape my vision of what people need to do to remain free. As most TED talks are, this is an amazing video on how to understand culture and arguments against copyright/SOPA. Youth consume and create content online, and childhood is now criminalized and forced underground, which radicalizing people both for and against the law. I’ll freely admit I take a radical view of copyright now to work around it when possible, and help balance the situation by leading others away from the boxes they are put into by companies like MPAA and Viacom. This doesn’t mean I take whole DVDs and make perfect copies to try and sell for a profit, it means I w...

 Decima's latest, which gives the following  national numbers:

...the Conservatives at 32 per cent support, followed by the NDP at 29 per cent. The Liberal Party, which held its 2012 convention in Ottawa two weeks ago in an attempt to rescue itself from permanent third-party status, is sitting at 25 per cent support. They are followed by the Green Party, at 7 per cent, and the Bloc Quebecois at 5 per cent.

The CPoC is down a couple of points nationally, if you look at Decima's deets . ...

Lord Acton

From Canadian Press :

The veteran auditor, in an interview Thursday, said the government's sweeping denial of documents on the basis of cabinet confidentiality has left him no way to trace how and why spending decisions were made.

"I can certainly say it's not a good thing," he said.

"The auditor general's office is a very important link in the chain of accountability in government. And when governments spend money and make decisions, we go in and look at how they spend the money and how they make these decisions."

Loveys, who plans to retire in May after...

Three polls of the two largest Western provinces have come out this week - one for BC, two for Alberta; two done by Forum, one done by Léger - showing different fates for everyone involved right now.

One poll I already covered, and then argued with David Climenhaga over. Now there's two other polls to come out that are worth covering.

First, let's look at an Alberta poll done by Léger Marketing , which showed the following results:

...

Harper is talking pension reform in Davos and one big change could be coming :

In the wake of Harper's speech, it now appears that the Conservative government could be poised to gradually change the Old Age Security system so that the age of eligibility is raised to 67 from 65.

On pensions, the government will move to ensure that demands on the Old Age Security benefit don't bankrupt the system.

"Our demographics also constitute a threat to the social progr...

At the recent Council of the Federation meeting inVictoria, Canada's provincial and territorial Premiers put the future of Canada'shealth care system, and the fiscal arrangements of Confederation to pay for it,front and centre once again.  It seemslike just a few years ago when then Prime Minister Paul Martin was wrestlingwith similar demands for funding and for a national plan for targetedimprovements to...

Placzek v. Green, 2012 ONCA 45 deals with discharging a civil jury.

Put briefly, trial by jury is a substantive right that will not be set aside by the Court unless barred by statute or in the interests of justice. If, however, the trial Court concludes that the complexity of the matter, or the nature of the evidence, is such that a jury will not apprehend it properly then striking the jury is proper. Such striking will not be second guessed by the appeal Court. If the decision to strike is reasonable it will be upheld on appeal.

The Court writes:

THE DECISION TO DISCHARGE THE JURY

[6]              As indicated above, the trial judge disch...

The North is developing very quickly.

When I first came here the idea of a shawarma place would be laughable. No longer.

Making Nunavut a Territory gave it a self confidence it never had as just the eastern part of the NWT.

I see Iqaluit growing to 25,000 within a decade; the population is growing by leaps and bounds. The Territorial Government, and the population in general, is keen on development provided it benefits the local economy and respects the environment and traditions of Nunavut.

Nunavut has iron, diamonds, gold, fish (so much fish -- currently largely taken by Japan) and resources in abundance.

Now it certainly isn't perfect. Crime is astoundingly bad; I spoke to one lawyer who had twelve (yes 12) murders on the go right now. Pri...

If Stephen Harper were a character in a Hollywood epic movie about the western Canadian frontier, and went to live with the First Nations people, I can’t help but think his alternate name would be Dances With Oil. He sure doesn’t dance with the one he brings to the ball. He wants to give the appearance of listening, but he won’t because he sees First Nations as his “adversaries”. DFAIT hilariously has labeled First Nations as “adversaries” in their struggle to promote Tar Sand oil, and ship our brains out to the USA and China. The PMO calls environmentalists “enemies of the state”. -A sample of Harper’s &...

In a meeting of the committee that manages the business affairs for the House of Assembly, the Tories approved an additional $150,000 for the Liberals.  The New Democrats got nothing, even though they have a significantly larger caucus.

Check this CBC report for a good synopsis.

The Tories used a 2008 report to justify the extra Liberal cash.  Back then, they denied the Liberals the cash recommended by an independent review and, instead, rewarded the New Democrats.

You can take all the political chatter about this little episode but don't spend too much time on it.  Instead focus on what this little play b...

I want to congratulate the new batch of 7 Senators and welcome them to this remarkable place. I also want to encourage their reported fervour for reform. As good as our Parliamentary system is (it is the most successful system of government on the face of the earth today having lasted for literally hundreds of years), it needs to evolve always as it has done successfully over the years.

...to picket Stephane Gendron's office .  Gendron is mayor of Huntingdon, Quebec and a small-time radio shock-jock. His most recent comments re Israel's right to exist, when seen in its full context , are not as awful as has been portrayed, but the guy more generally comes across as divisive rabble rouser.  And in any case, picketing an asshole, even a percieved asshole, is a democratic right.  So I can't criticize Meir and the gang too much for this one.  Just don't get yourself l...

No, they’re not. They suck, in fact. In the book-to-come, I discuss how progressives have let conservatives get away with claiming they’re better at managing dollars. Among other things, progressives need to tell that story, over and over.

Legal setback fo...

The latest report by the province's Auditor General has some information to bear in mind as we talk about Muskrat Falls.

Note that total liabilities went up from the end of March 2010 to the end of March 20...

I was very, very excited to learn that the City of Vancouver is exploring implementing a program started in San Francisco in which "smart" parking meters adjust their price to reflect supply and demand (story is here in the Vancouver Sun). For those unfamiliar with the program, here is a breakdown. In San Francisco, the city has the goal of ensuring at least one free parking spot is available on every block in the downtown core. As I learned during the San Fran's presentation at the Code for America summit, such a goal has several important consequences. Specifically, it reduces the likelihood of people double parking, reduces smog and greenhouse gas emissions as people don't troll for parking as long and because trolling time is reduced, people searching for parking don't slow down other...

Fish from ice fishing in Qikiqtarjuaq are coming in about three weeks earlier than usual. That's good locally -- more local jobs -- but a sign of the changing climate.

Corporate tax cut disciples will ridicule the messenger, Canadian Labour Congress just reeks "enemy of the state", but their study on corporate taxes is largely reliant on third party conclusions, ROCK SOLID empirical manifestations, that deserve consideration. What is presented is a clear and concise picture of the utter failure of corporate tax cuts to deliver the benefits as previously argued. That a large segment of economists and apologists can still play offence on corporate tax cuts is mystifying, given data which is supposed to be the underpinning of their arguments contradicts their entire rationale.

CLC finds the promised investments have...

...

I was reading a column that Martin Reg-Cohn wrote yesterday on the continuing saga in London where as those who’ve followed it know, Caterpillar has locked out it’s workers in a draconian effort to get them to slah their wages by half – this as the CEO earns a million $ salary and the company worldwide made profits in the billions of dollars. I agree with the column where he says it is now time for the Premier and by extension, his Labor Minister Linda Jeffery, need to do something more then just issue statements saying they are “hopeful” the 2 sides will moderate their tone. Let’s cut to [...]

Police lawyers 'coming out of woodwork' inquiry hears

We all know how this works....
the police are public entities.
The police are fully indemnified from acts of sheer stupidity or even from criminal acts they commit while in uniform.
The police when they can will do whatever is necessary to ensure that they are protected from prosecution for "crimes" committed.
They have resources(yours and mine) with which they can fight any battle.
Their unions protect them from the law while they upstand the law themselves....

Budget good exercise' for First Nations | The Chronicle Herald

What the headline should say is this....

"Free money good for natives"....

And the story should read....
Canadas' native population is excited to be on the recieving end of millions in taxpayer funds to do as they see fit....which most times means....one or two band members....the leadership, will end up filthy rich while allowing the kids on their own reserves to go without and you and I get to pay for it.
_____________________________

This is laughable. And just another joke upon the Canadian people....

Oil policy turning good guy Canada into global bad boy

"In a Jan. 20 piece headlined "Is our neighbor to the north becoming a jingoistic petro-state?" the influential Slate online news magazine suggested with barely restrained glee that the new ugly American is actually Canadian."
_______________________________

Great, like Harper said, you ain't going to recognize Canada when he's finished.
He might be right....never thought I'd confuse any of us as being ugly fucking americans but this idiot has made it so we all look like ugly fucking americans.
Soon we'll have to wear Swiss flags on our backs to travel just so people don't think we're Ca...

 I oppose violence with every remaining sinew in my body but I'm saying to Harper and Oliver that violence is what their policies will bring. I haven't had a fight since about Grade VII and I lost that one but I can tell you that I'm prepared to stand in the way of that first shovel and take the consequences. And I say to you both that you're making a mistake if you think you can do these things without very serious consequences.

There is no middle way, Prime Minister this Tar Sands gunk has to go by train or truck through Alberta...

I don't know, these things never seem to end well. Always too many hatches and lasers and super villains around.

Where to start with Newt's big announcement yesterday? It is a very serious announcement made during a presidential nomination contest, after all, it deserves some kind of attention, at least.

So let's start here at this fun thread in the Guardian. Check out the 6 pm entry and othe...

The culture of secrecy that is Danny Williams' legacy in provincial politics is firmly institutionalised. The provincial Conservative's war against oversight and adequate oversight of their management of the province's finances now extends to withholding information from the province's Auditor General.

When the province's Auditor General went looking for the Conservative's oft-mentioned infrastructure strategy, he found out they didn't have one.  You'll find that gem in the first few pages of the latest report from the Auditor General on how the provincial government spends public money.

A committee of officials was supposed to develop the strategy.&a...

Maybe it’s because I’m posting this in the middle of the night, or maybe it’s because I’m denser than usual, but I’m a bit confused. My party is (a) still mired in third place and is (b) still nearly 20 points back of the Cons and is (c) still behind the NDP, who do not have a leader. Like I say, I’m dense. Perhaps someone will fill me in on the way to the celebrations. Thanks.

It's beyond absurd that alleged "small government" Republicans are adamantly opposed to "wasting" taxpayer dollars on doing much of anything that would repair the basic elements of America's crumbling infrastructure (i.e., boring employment-creating undertakings that would fix roads, bridges, airports, etc. and improve daily life for ordinary folks), but will propose fantastic manned missions to Mars or pledge to establish a pointless colony on the Moon. Seriously? When President John Kennedy engaged the American nation in the "space race" it was not only an an aspirational morale booster at the high-water mark of the Cold War, but also had the practical effect of advancing scientific research and delivering multiple spin-offs in the realm of new technology developments...

In 2009, the Harper Tories had a clear plan to replace the long gun registry with something that could work: We want to return to the better system of having retailers record their sales of non-restricted weapons instead of having to register them with the long-gun registry. - Guy Lauzon, MP (Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry)We want to return to the better system of having retailers record their

People who click "like" on Facebook to show support for a cause are slacktivists, you on the other hand with your "Support Our Troops" bumper sticker, breast cancer ribbon fleece and poppy laden dashboard are not.

Slacktivism is a pejorative term that refers to easy and simple gestures, relatively symbolic acts in support of an issue or cause. Recent usage of the word and its derivatives have been mostly applied to Facebook users as the social media site allows anyone to support something with as little as a click.

The fact that the majority of Facebook users are young, innovative, and are just of a different generation, has no bearing on the fact that older, less tech savvy people who are stuck in their ways criticize the youth and their minimal participation in...

Too many polls have come out this week, and I hope this will be the last one (oh, who am I kidding?).

Abacus Data shows an overhyped, within-the-margin-of-error rise for the Liberals that the Globe and Mail, in all its glory, is trying to make into a big story. Meanwhile, they decide not too pay attention to the fact that Abacus' Liberal poll results are below the most recent average, which shows the Liberals closer to 25%, not 21%, as I explained just before... oh nevermind.

In fairness, Abacus as I've seen tends to dumb d...

A bunch of nice national headlines from the last few days.

"The Bob Rae bounce: Liberals continue to gain steam."

" Tories Lead, Liberals Gain But Remain in Third Place in Canada ."

" Liberals' momentum gets boost from lacking NDP leadership ."

" Federal...

...conducted barely eight months into a four year mandate.  Even (marginally) encouraging ones.   And hardly a reason to plump for Bob as LPoC leader this far in advance of the leadership convention, if anyone is thinking that.  Wait until he craps a gold brick in public before we declare him THE ONE.

That is all.

Warren reacts with amusement to the suggestion that capitalism is robust and healthy.