The STM has just decided to raise rates for a CAM on the south shore. Those people will now have to pay $110 per month instead of $70 per month which they used to pay. This decision will only affect 3000 people. Horrible idea. We should be trying to...

That's the amount which arctic warming will cost us this year. It's calculated on the social cost of carbon: the cost on agriculture, power generation resources, everything. By 2050, arctic warming would have cost us 2.4 trillion USD that year. We all know that for Harper, his numbers in the polls are the most important issue before he gets his majority. So, that means concentrating on the economy. This warming is costing us billions of dollars. So, Harper's "working" on the economy and yet, he doesn't care about the 370 billion USD that is going to be lost this year. It is time that we turn this trend around and start protecting the environment.

The study estimated that melting sea ice and permafrost as well as dwindling snow co...

http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2439007

This article touches on some of the Carmichael said the local PC executive told him he could...

Steve Clark, the former mayor of Brockville has won the PC nomination for the Leeds-Grenville by-election, but not without controversy. Shawn Carmichael, the Vice-President of the Leeds and Grenville Landowners Association, who had been backed by the Randy Hillier wing of the party, had his nomination papers rejected by the party last night. Many have speculated that Carmichael, or one of his kind, could either run as an independent if the party didn't recognize his candidacy, or force Clark, who had been seen as the "establishment" candidate, into tacking to the right, which could hurt the Tories image elsewhere in the province, particularly as they suffered a crushing blow in Toronto Centre finishing a very distant third. The Ontario Landowners Association has already pledged to run "sla...

Obama is saying he wants to switch to cleaner and renewable resources. He said that investing in clean energy is the good thing to do for our economy. Which I agree that Green jobs is a resource and that many countries are not taking an advantage of. He stated that moving to biofuels will help them get there energy independence. That will help the farming industry, because more use of ethol which is made of corn, and biofuel which is made of Biomass (organic matter such as wood, animal waste) will mean more demand of these things from farmers. Obama said he will also look into other sources one of which is nuclear now although nuclear does create a lot of energy, it is raioactive. Now even if you do not believe in climate change like I do and do not think that changing to renewable is nece...

So, a non-artisan moment here… because, although I may not always agree with the policies of the NDP I do have great respect for Jack Layton. He is an incredibly valuable opposition voice in the House of Commons, and incredibly valuable to Canada as a whole. He has done so much great work in his political career. So, that said, I just wanted to say get well soon Jack. I know you’re a fighter. Luckily it seems that your prostate cancer was caught in time, so this is very good news. Many Canadians are diagnosed with and survive prostate cancer every year and I know you will be one of them...

Glen Murray continued the Ontario Liberal winning streak last night, rolling to victory in Toronto Centre. Just as in St. Paul's, the Liberal vote held almost exactly at 2007 levels, with Murray holding on to the broad Liberal base across the riding. The NDP had high hopes with Cathy Crowe, but ultimately fell short, although the 33% of the vote pulled by her represents the best showing by the party in that riding since they nearly won St. George-St. David in 1990.

While the Liberals and NDP both went to sleep feeling fairly good for different reasons, the PC's and Green Party both had rough nights. Pamela Taylor finished a distant third, with the PC vote dropping to 15%, and the Green Party vote, which in recent elections had made Toronto Centre one of the better ridings in the...

Jack is poised to give a press conference on his “personal status and immediate future as NDP leader.” CBC’s Rosemary Barton is saying he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, if true, it is said it is treatable, but will require him to take time for rest away from work. I will be updating as more news becomes available. 10:55am: Edit: Confirmations from various sources are saying prostate cancer. Waiting to hear from him in about five minutes. 11:01am: CBC/CTV announcing he will be stepping down temporarily for rest and 11:03: Karl Belanger just announced Jack to come on stage. Jack will not be taking questions, but is smiling and says he’ll be fighting prostate cancer just like his dad did many decades ago. 11:05; Not stepping down, wants to get to work...

Last year, when the Canadian public reacted with outrage at the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition, many thought such an idea would be dead in the water for years to come. Yet the idea seems to be back on the table, based on a new EKOS poll showing that no party will have a majority in Parliament. The latest survey shows that the Liberals would win only 122 seats, leaving them 32 MPs short of forming a government, which the NDP could help to make up with their projected 31 Parliamentarians.



What would be the Canadian opinion of such a coalition? Well after two prorogations of Parliament, a tepid economic recovery, and numerous scandal...

I have never seen a clearer example of Conservative talking points making one of their MP’s look incredibly foolish than in this video. My former MP Peter Braid (from when I lived in Waterloo) gets completely embarrassed by Bob Rae for the lies in his talking points… then continues to repeat the same things over and over, never addressing the questions and just looking foolish overall. Check it out, it made my day. ...

After Harper prorogued parliament he said it will not be a big issue to Canadians. Now industry minster Tony Clement said, "I know it's a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the elites in our country." Now the Conservatives say they are working hard, and that they want to take the spring brake for parliament eliminated. Harper should know that you can work just as hard or even more in Parliament. The Tories want to get rid of the spring vacation.Now, I am all in favor of making our politicians work more but this a planed vacation which means it was in the calendar a long time now, and instead of getting rid of this vacation you could just simply not have prorogued Parliament.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/nation...

This is making the news down south. A candidate for a US Senate seat in California has launched an attack ad against their opponent using... In a recorded...

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Stephen Harper has decided to cancel two spring breaks of Parliament. He says that there is "lots of work to do." That's a bit rich from the guy who decided to prorogue Parliament until March. If there's a lot of work to do, then Harper should cancel the prorogation and get back to work now. Instead, he's seen his numbers in the polls and is trying to regain favor with us by cancelling some breaks. That might be good in the economic crisis we're in, but the opposition has been hard at work since January. After all that, don't they deserve a break? Well, the Conservatives haven't been hard at work and one of them actually took a vacation and traveled during the prorogation. If Harper wants to try to regain favor, le...

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University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes told opposition MPs the Tories' refusal to hand over documents on Afghan prisoners makes a "mockery" of Parliament and is unconstitutional....

As a University of Calgary student I’m rather appalled at the suggested increases the university has suggested over the last few days. On the 27th a leaked memo with the proposed increases had been leaked to the Gauntlet (the university’s student newspaper) along with the Herald. The university then sent out a blanket email to the entirety of [...]

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If anyone is reading this who doesn’t know what I am on about in this post, just a brief introduction… In my former life (like, 9 whole months ago) I was student president at Wilfrid Laurier University. I still feel very passionate about this position and the great things it can do. I was originally planning on staying out of this year’s race completely, but as usual I find myself sucked back in, even just a little, because I have become somewhat frustrated watching the race from afar. As I have been saying the past few days on Facebook, yes, I know I&#...

Now, I'm no expert. I certainly don't have all the answers, but from talking to many people recently (because my conversations almost always digress into politics) I have noticed a simple theme. That theme is that the Liberals need to explain why they would be a better government than Harper's and moreover, exactly what they would do if in power. I have expressed previously my happiness about the current work the Liberal party is doing during Harper's little vacation, because they are engaging stakeholders and presenting legitimate ideas, but now it...

As a Liberal, and a member of the Pro-Choice Coalition of Ottawa, I am very pleased to see Michael Ignatieff take a stand for choice by pressuring the Prime Minister on the issue of maternal health at the G8.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/include-abortion-in-maternal-health-pledge-michael-ignatieff-tells-pm/article1453666/

"We want to make sure that women have access to all the contraceptive methods available to control their fertility because we don't want to have women dying because of botched procedures, we don't want to have women dying in misery."

In the face of moves like...

If you have not heard yet. CBS has said that they will broadcast an anti Abortion ad( during the super bowl) about a story of Tim Tebow and how his mom was sick when she was pregnant with him. The doctor told her to have an abortion she denied it ,and then he was born. The problem is now that many pro choice advocates are demanding CBS to not air the ad. Now here is a what i would like to say first the ad has not been aired yet so how can we say if it is really all that controversial. My thinking is that organisation are aloud the freedom to air their belives wether you believe in it or not. It is freedom of speech. I think the real question is: will you change your mind just because of a 30 second ad. I think maybe. but i do say to those pro choice groups you can still put out your argume...

according to our great environment minister. Jim Prentice says that Quebec should have a plan which is like the US and Canada: a weak plan which lets polluters keep polluting. He especially criticized the new tax on gas-guzzling vehicles that will come into play in 2017. Prentice thinks that because 75% of cars do not meet the standards, Quebecers will go to other provinces to buy automobiles. Nevertheless, he ignores that automakers have seven years to come up with more fuel efficient cars. When companies have an opportunity to make a profit, they will innovate like never before. Quebec's plan is great, and we can only hope that others will follow.

Quebec and California are members of the Western Climate Initiative, composed o...

While I was out canvassing for Glen Murray on the weekend, I saw an interesting piece of NDP lit a few times. It was standard anti-HST rhetoric, claiming that with the costs of living rising, the HST was bad for lower income voters (never mind the historic lower income tax cuts the NDP voted against), and one of the things it claimed was going up, which would be hurting lower income voters? TTC fare hikes. Never mind that the province has no responsibility...

The long-held Tory lead among the Canadian public has dropped considerably and now the Conservative and Liberal Parties of Canada are at a parity in the polls, at 32 percent each, according to a Harris-Decima poll conducted recently . While at the same level of popularity, it is the Liberal Party which has made significant inroads with the Canadian people, slashing Tory leads especially in Ontario and Québec.



The lead is especially strong in the Toronto area ridings, where previously the Conservatives had made significant headway among ethnic minorities and women, but where they have now fallen behind the Liberals by five points (Lib: 40, Con: 35, NDP: 11). A simi...

I have to say, I like how things have been going this last month. The Liberals are finally acting like a real alternative to the Conserv...

Really, what is next in Canadian politics? Liberal and NDP MPs are currently hard at work in Ottawa, and those on their self-imposed vacation will come back when Parliament returns in early March. At that point we get a Throne Speech and then a confidence vote. What happens after that? How does that vote go? Poll numbers are slowly creeping in favour of the Liberals, but it is still a dead heat. Do they want to risk an election at this point? I'm not sure. It could be a huge risk, because there is no guarantee in victory, but they have certainly had a...

The new Harris-Decima poll shows that the Liberals are tied. This is the third poll which states the Liberal revival in popularity. Good news for us. The just reaffirms the truth that Canadians believe in democracy. What Stephen Harper did was wrong and we know it. I'm proud of Canada for speaking out against Harper. One thing is sure though, the Liberals and the Conservatives are almost tied and if Stephen Harper decides to go for his majority in April, he's dead meat.

http://www.harrisdecima.ca/sites/default/files/releases/2010/02/01/hd-2010-02-01-en461.pdf...