Four Prime Questions about Harper’s Response to Ottawa Shooting
Two weeks after the senseless murder of a soldier on Parliament Hill (and another earlier in Montreal) there are several things we know and many we don’t. Obvious questions have been asked and inconvenient ones have been left aside. We know — and indeed could predict one second after the shooting — that Stephen Harper would...
RCMP issue statement Sunday re: Ottawa gunman
The RCMP’s investigation of the October 22, 2014, terrorist attack in Ottawa is advancing and has revealed a great deal about Zehaf-Bibeau’s movements and actions prior to the attack. The RCMP has identified persuasive evidence that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau’s attack was driven by ideological and political motives. Zehaf-Bibeau...
Work in the age of anxiety
Working Canadians, from blue collar workers to middle class professionals to hamburger flippers are facing the worst economy insecurity, most stressful working conditions, the slowest increases in real income and the most cynical anti-worker governments literally since the 1930s. At the same time the 1% and the powerful...
STATEMENT: Canada uses World Conference to continue indefensible attack on UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples’ organizations and human rights groups are outraged that the federal government used a high level United Nations forum on Indigenous rights as an opportunity to continue its unprincipled attack on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On Monday, the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples...
Remember kindness?
I confess. I have been binge-watching TV series. Lately I have narrowed my watching mostly to The West Wing an old favourite about a Democratic president, Jed Bartlet, portraying the manic, day-to-day crisis management of the White House. But in my defence I am doing so in part as an antidote to another series which I quit ...
California-grown fresh fruit on "class one" recall list
The brand "Sweet 2 Eat" fresh, whole fruit is being recalled in Canada due to a concern of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The fruit varieties include peaches, plums, nectarins and pluats and are being pulled off of supermarket shelves. Consumers should look for the brands Wawona, Sweet 2 Eat or Harvest Sweet. Each...
Homicide charges pending for missing 5-year-old and grandparents
Earlier today, the Amber Alert was called off for missing five-year-old Nathan O'Brien and a press conference was announced for noon PST. O'Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathryn Liknes have been missing for two weeks. At the press conference, Calgary Police Service Chief Rick Hanson announced that the missing persons...
Manitoba declares state of emergency
The Manitoba government is declaring a provincial state of emergency to take effect at noon today; requesting Canadian Forces support; and establishing a unified command centre near Portage la Prairie to assist with liaison efforts with the affected communities, Premier Greg Selinger announced today. This will allow emergency...
Canada’s failure to uphold the human rights of Indigenous peoples in its approval of Northern Gateway
BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Amnesty International Canada, Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), Chiefs of Ontario, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), Indigenous Rights Centre, Indigenous World Association, and KAIROS:...
Wynne’s Win, and the Agony of Right-Wing Pundits
While I realize it is churlish to take so much pleasure in the whining and wingeing of the usually arrogant right-wing pundits, I just can`t help myself. This gaggle of ideological nut bars rarely get angry at the fact that most governments in this country have been doing their duty in dismantling the democratic, activist...