Chaos Politics Comes to Canada
Politicians should refrain from attacking the systems that keep them honest—the media, Parliament, the courts. Would-be leaders should be upfront about their plans for how they want to govern, basing their platforms on facts, not feelings. Prime ministers and premiers should be emotionally stable and avoid speaking in careless, inflammatory ways.
Ford has already violated all of these constraints, with no public consequences.
All-party group calls for an end to 'Senate games' on three animal rights bills
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel, NDP MP Fin Donnelly and Green Party MP Elizabeth May presented a united front Tuesday asking Conservative Sen. Don Plett, in particular, to allow Bill S-203 — legislation that would ban maintaining and breeding dolphins, whales and porpoises in captivity — to get to a third-reading vote in the Senate.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/all-party-senate-games-animal-protection-1.4712255
The US is no longer a 'safe' country for refugees
This is what the US government does now. It is no longer in the “beacon of freedom” business. This is a country that now signals its values to the rest of the world with the moral stridency of a burning cross. This is the nation we consider a “safe” third country.
Perhaps we could continue to avoid “playing politics”, standing by and watching while a human rights atrocity unfolds before our eyes.
The Unpopularity of Female Politicians Has Everything to Do With Sexism
Wynne’s record as premier is far from perfect. But this record feels utterly disconnected from the hatred directed toward Wynne herself. It’s safe to say that when a Reddit user writes that “Wynne is an egotistical, sadistic, sexual vampire... I will have to put a wooden stake through her heart, cut off her head, stuff it with garlic and then burn her,” the issue isn’t Hydro shares or transit stops.
https://thewalrus.ca/the-unpopularity-of-female-politicians-has-everything-to-do-with-sexism/
The rules of B.C.’s electoral-reform vote show just how healthy our democracy is
The government of British Columbia is putting two fair questions to every one of its citizens who will have an equal chance at determining the future of the province’s electoral system. Ideally, there would be more time for people to consider their options, but with a robust public education campaign, folks can learn a lot in six months—certainly enough to make an informed decision.
The great Canadian climate delusion
To those who think an oil-rich Canada can be a prosperous winner in a world that exceeds the Paris emission targets, it’s time to think again.
Canada has no plan to meet its 2030 Paris Agreement emission targets, because it’s virtually impossible to do so if the oil sands’ output rises to Alberta’s cap of 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year. Under the agreement, the global oil market won’t have room for our oil, either.
Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth
Biggest analysis to date reveals huge footprint of livestock - it provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of farmland
Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.
The public funding of Catholic schools in Ontario is unstable and unprincipled
In 1999, the UN Human Rights Committee found that the preferential funding of Roman Catholic schools in Ontario amounted to religious discrimination and that Canada was in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
None of the leading parties is willing to address this issue. They have decided, it seems, that the political cost of doing the right thing is too high.
How an NDP victory in Ontario is a real possibility
Many felt that New Democrat Andrea Horwath would be ultimately cut down by a strategic voting movement that would unite behind Wynne to stop Ford.
Instead Horwath’s NDP has momentum after first establishing itself firmly in second place and now by challenging Ford’s Conservatives for first place. Recent polls have placed the NDP and the Conservatives within a point of each other, both well ahead of Wynne’s Liberals.
https://theconversation.com/how-an-ndp-victory-in-ontario-is-a-real-possibility-97158
We can stop Trumpism from coming to Canada
As much as the Ford vs. Wynne dynamic echoes Trump vs. Clinton in 2016, there is one significant difference: here in Ontario, we have a viable third party on the ballot.
Right now, Andrea Horwath's NDP is polling just a few points behind Doug Ford. If she can maintain her current momentum, Horwath could actually pull off an historic upset.
Okay, Now I Actually Do Want To Take Your Guns
Hey there, NRA:
All along, as American life has gotten deadlier, as our kids have gotten less safe in their schools, you have had the opportunity to work with the vast majority of Americans who support the sensible reform of our gun laws. You have had the chance to preserve your own rights as we work together to keep our gun regulations in step with gun technology. You haven't.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a20747292/nra-guns-take-them-away/
Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected
A new study from researchers at McMaster University analyzed the carbon impact of the whole Information and Communication Industry from around 2010-2020, including PCs, laptops, monitors, smartphones, and servers. They found remarkably bad news.
The bottom line is that we need to buy less, and engage less, for the health of this entire planet.
Andrew Scheer to serve as stark reminder for young people that smoking pot does not make you cool
“The two puffs of a single marijuana cigarette I had in 1999 have taught me everything I need to know about Mary Jane, thank you very much,” said Scheer in a scrum today, proving his point but not in the way he meant to.
@danso I agree, Dan. We know that clearing the entries in Facebook’s ad preferences does nothing: Facebook repopulates them. We know that opting out of preference-tracking does nothing: Facebook gathers them, regardless of your setting. We know that opting out of categories of advertising (e.g. alcohol) does nothing: Facebook and Instagram will still show you those ads. We cannot trust Facebook on these three, why should we trust them with ‘Clear history’? http://jackyan.com/blog/2018/05/facebooks-clear-history-option-why-should-i-begin-believing-them-now/
Nine Uncomfortable Canadian Energy Facts
On a per capita basis we consume energy at more than five times the world average. We even consume more energy than oil hungry Americans and twice as much as the average citizen in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"Canada’s per capita emissions of greenhouse gases are among the highest in the world — 3.2 times the world average, more than double that of China, and eight times that of India."
https://thetyee.ca/News/2018/05/07/Uncomfortable-Canadian-Energy-Facts/
"Clear History"? Why not #DeleteFacebook instead
At the Facebook developers conference, Mark Zuckerberg once again asked the social media site's users for their trust.
Even if they did promise to delete your activity from their servers, there is no way to verify that. Users are left to trust that the code only Facebook can read does what Facebook says it does. No company can be trusted with that kind of power over users, least of all one with Facebook's track record.
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/clear-history-why-not-deletefacebook-instead
Justin Trudeau’s Two-Faced Climate Game
At the Paris climate summit meeting in December 2015, Canada’s freshly elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau, took the podium before his new international fan club and declared, "Canada is back, my friends!"
Mr. Trudeau has revealed himself to be not a climate crusader, but a pipeline pitchman who tells the world one thing while doing the opposite at home.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/opinion/trudeau-climate-kinder-morgan-pipeline.html
Greenbelt about-face speaks volumes about Doug Ford
Ford and his Progressive Conservatives knew this was a big problem for them the instant the video surfaced. He immediately declared that he actually supports the Greenbelt "in a big way." Ford on Tuesday declared a total reversal of policy.
We learned that he makes stuff up on the fly and is willing to say things to pander to whatever audience he’s talking to.
The ugly secret behind Canada’s new prosperity
These are the best of times for Canada. We have never been wealthier. The GDP and the stock exchanges are setting records. Our life expectancy just surpassed 82 years.
This new prosperity is masking another side of the country where poverty, disease and inequality are actually getting worse, not better.
Consider these facts when our politicians brag about economic growth, or promise more middle class tax cuts.
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-ugly-secret-behind-canadas-new-prosperity/
The spectacular cynicism behind Trudeau’s pipeline morass
The Liberals' own consultation process was little more than window dressing for a fundamentally Conservative position: the pipeline is going in, no matter what. Having served as a handy prop during the campaign, dissenting First Nations are now a hindrance to be gently pushed aside. It underscores a longstanding conceit in this country: Liberals talk like the NDP but govern like Stephen Harper with a hangover.
