rabble.ca - Coalition Stories

Stephen Harper: Wanted, for crimes against democracy (includes WANTED poster download!)

rabble staff — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:50:12 -0500

No Prime Minister in the history of Canada has demonstrated such contempt for democracy and its institutions as Stephen Harper.

The list is shockingly long –- proroguing Parliament twice for strictly partisan reasons, interfering and with and slashing the budgets of numerous Parliamentary watch dog agencies, abandoning Canadian citizens in jails overseas whole ignoring court orders to repatriate them, producing a guide for Conservative chairs of Parliamentary Committees to help them thwart the opposition, abusing their power by cutting funding to groups they don’t like, breaking their own fixed election law, the list goes on and on.

Elizabeth May: Executing the Green master plan

alex — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:35:38 -0500

I had the opportunity recently to talk to Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada about her party, its policies, its electoral chances and its place on the political landscape in Canada. As always, Ms. May was articulate, enthusiastic and pretty straight forward about the challenges she faces. When she took over the leadership in August 2006, the Greens had high hopes from the high-energy former head of the Sierra Club.

Canada's stolen democracy: Welcome to 2010

James Laxer — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:52:46 -0500

Stephen Harper has an aversion to Parliament. When the House of Commons sits, he and his ministers have to answer questions. The body language of the Prime Minister and his ministers, and their surly, disrespectful attitude to those on the other side of the aisle tells the story.

Who will stop Stephen Harper?

alex — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:56:23 -0500

As I watch with alarm Stephen Harper's lead over the Liberals solidify, even as he displays contempt for climate change efforts, and disdain for parliament, I am reminded of Ronald Reagan. What I remember is this: on almost every major issue on which he took a strong public stand, he was opposed by a majority of Americans. But that did not stop them from supporting him, giving him high ratings as President -- and re-electing him.

The coalition was our coming out to the politics of change

fwilson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:16:28 -0500

The coalition was our coming out to the politics of change. An experience that, of course, has now been stuffed back in the closet behind the old hat. But those nine weeks of possibility that began one year ago stripped us of our innocence and showed that Canadian democracy can escape the limits of neo-liberalism that have constrained us for 30 years.

The instinct for power

alex — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:59:50 -0500

When the Toronto trio (Ian Davey, Alf Apps, Dan Brock) went off to Harvard to talk Michael Ignatieff into returning to Canada to enter politics, they were looking for a Pierre Trudeau, someone who could inspire Canadians. Instead it looks more like they found a Robert Stanfield, the Trudeau-era Conservative opposition leader, who never did became prime minister. Like Ignatieff he turned down his early chance at taking power.

Politics with Don Newman

M.Gregus — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:19:39 -0400

Who doesn't feel queasy about federal politics these days? Add former CBC senior parliamentary editor and Newsworld Politics host Don Newman, who can finally speak his mind now that he's retired from the Mother Corp.

"If bankers talked about each other the way politicians talk, we would all keep our money in a sock under the mattress," he says. "We have to convince politicians to work together, to change the way they treat each other."

Right. We wish. But there's one big difference between him and the rest of us. He's got a clear and practical idea of how to do that.

Parliamentary politics

alex — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:32:40 -0400

Parliament resumed last week, and Jack Layton and the NDP were the target of main opposition and media criticism. With the Liberal party withdrawing their support for the Conservatives, the NDP was accused of flip flopping. Supposedly it dropped its opposition to the Conservatives in order to prevent an election in which it would lose seats. More seriously, a leading friendly critic said the NDP was giving away its hard won high ground and imperiling its chances to make major gains as the main opponent of an unpopular, right-wing Harper regime.

Coalitions and other lost causes

M.Gregus — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:01:19 -0400

How did coalition become a dirty word in Canadian politics? Since last winter's failed attempt, Tory ministers have used it as their default term of derision in Question Period. Er, no deficit, um, sound fundamentals, ah, lost files, sexy something ... Aha -- COALITION. This week, the Bloc Québécois and New Democrats adopted the usage, mocking the Liberal-Conservative, yuck, coalition.

Wondering why the Liberals pulled out of the coalition?

rabble staff — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:39:31 -0400

Thanks to babbler janfromthebruce and writer Scott Piatowski for bringing this much less reported tidbit from the Lisa Raitt "Greatest Hits" tape to our attention. We'll be tuning into to see how will this play out today in the Commons today.

The real story on Somali piracy, the Greek insurrection and the new assault on Medicare

tommyallen789 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:32:49 -0400

Alert! #122 - Somali - Canadian rap star Knaan tells the real story behind the Somali piracy. Aris Karafotias analyses the insurrection in Greece and its connection to the Greek Civil war in the 40s and the uprising in the 70s. Kathleen Connors of the Canadian Health Coalition talks about the Coalition campaign to save public health care in the light of a new assault led by the Canadian Medical Association. Music is the weapon profiles Seu Jorge.

Canada's next government

alex — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:08:40 -0400

In order to pass laws, any minority government needs a parliamentary majority. Thus, whenever a parliament convenes without one party holding a clear majority, no prime minister can continue to hold power without creating a formal, or (less often) informal coalition. The exercise of executive power by the prime minister requires support by a majority of legislators.

In 80 per cent of cases around the world the link between executive and legislative power is created through coalitions of parties (mainly following elections using some type of proportional representation). Coalition governments have not been part of usual Canadian parliamentary practice.

All of them must go

M.Gregus — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:10:01 -0500

Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles in 2002: "You are Enron. We are Argentina."

Its message was simple enough. You -- politicians and CEOs huddled at some trade summit -- are like the reckless scamming execs at Enron (of course, we didn't know the half of it). We -- the rabble outside -- are like the people of Argentina, who, in the midst of an economic crisis eerily similar to our own, took to the street banging pots and pans. They shouted, "¡Que se vayan todos!" ("All of them must go!") and forced out a procession of four presidents in less than three weeks.

Budget blues

M.Gregus — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:55:07 -0500

It is depressing. The budget passed yesterday and what felt like a small opening in the door for a new kind of politics, has now slammed shut. The old fractious bombast has re-emerged in full force along with the feeling that government power is now shared between Conservatives wearing liberal clothing and Liberals who are really just tarted-up conservatives. The whole scene feels so strangely out of time.

For a brief period, the shocking answer to a political crisis was cooperation. And it was powerful. The threat of losing the Government transformed the Harper government into a puppet of its own political ambition. The result is that we are stuck with Flaherty's foolhardy attention deficit disorder budget. But Harper has a serious decline in popular support to show for it.

Seeing red: Budget panned by labour and environmental groups

derrick — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:26:21 -0500

Craig McInnis, writing in the Vancouver Sun about the deficit budget introduced yesterday, assailed the Prime Minister, "Stephen Harper's extraordinary reversal of a lifetime of bashing big-spending governments, deficits, debt and Keynesian economics is a stunning betrayal."

Despite this hysteria in some right-wing circles, labour, social and environmental advocacy groups all felt that Stephen Harper's budget, released Tuesday, fell short of the response required in this time of crisis.

No laughing matter

Sharon Fraser — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:58:01 -0500

I listened to CBC Radio's coverage of the pre-budget Throne Speech on Monday. The host, Kathleen Petty, and the two pundits, Chris Hall (CBC) and Don Martin (National Post) could not utter the words "Jack Layton" or "NDP" with even a modicum of respect.

Stephen Harper was taken seriously; Michael Ignatieff was taken very seriously indeed. And Jack? Jack's name was never mentioned except with contempt or in derision.

CCPA economist slams missing EI support in budget

Tor Sandberg — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:48:49 -0400

Ish Theilheimer of Straight Goods interviews Armine Yalnizyan of The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, as she comments on the Canadian federal Budget, heavily criticizing the lack of funding for Employment Insurance and the absence of easing eligibility requirements.

Labour creates wealth: Party founder says

Paul D. Boin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:38:42 -0500

Quick. Who said this?

"Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration."

No. It's not Marx or Lenin.

Reconsidering the coalition

derrick — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:56:44 -0500

There is both a parliamentary crisis and a global economic crisis, therefore a storm on both fronts of Canadian politics. "It is difficult to brain-storm if a storm blows outside the brain," and so there has been much confusion in every part of the nation. In fact, there has been confusion in the form of confusing the two crises themselves.

For example, if one were to accept the thinking of the leadership of the NDP, one might conclude that the solution to the constitutional crisis is therefore a solution to the financial one. It is this mix-up on the part of the NDP has led to the amateur and unfortunately anti-political Keynesian imperative to "spend, spend, spend" by any means necessary more-or-less irrespective of outcome.

The Conservatives haven't a clue

James Laxer — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:51:29 -0500

As the Canadian economic crisis deepens with new layoff announcements every day, with the economy shrinking, and with Canadians anxious about their own future and the future of their communities, the Harper government still has not figured out how serious things have become.

On the eve of the budget, we already knew enough to say that what the Harper government will unveil tomorrow will not be remotely sufficient to stem the loss of jobs and to put Canada on the path to sustainable recovery.

Waiting for the budget to fall

M.Gregus — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:04:23 -0500

Budget time is here. And by now, we have all heard it a million times. Consumer spending is the ticket to stimulating the economy. But how do we reconcile that with the fact that consumerism and unbridled credit-driven spending are a good part of what got us into both the economic and environmental crises we now face?

It is unlikely that Harper or Flaherty get this but thanks to coalition politics, even they will have to pay lip service. The answer to our current economic challenge is to use government money wisely to make sure that the most vulnerable among us don't drop out of economic activity. This is not just a charitable or social justice perspective. This is hard-nosed economic necessity.

Harper "stimulus" budget falls far short

derrick — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:52:15 -0500

(Editor's note: The Progressive Economics Forum features Budget reaction today from Toby Sanger and a number of other analysts.)

Faced with the prospect of losing their grip on power, the Harper government has made a big show of taking action to address the economic and financial crisis, but it still falls far short of what is needed to revive the economy, create jobs and protect the vulnerable. In particular, the budget fails with any substantial measures to improve public services, help the poor, set a positive new course for the economy, or provide relief for the hundreds of thousands who are expected to become jobless over the next few years.

Debunking 'Constitutional fairy tales'

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:46:12 -0500

Up until his death in 1991, the late Senator and constitutional expert, Eugene Forsey, was frequently consulted by the media, governments and politicians of every stripe.

His expertise was untainted by partisanship, and his knowledge and integrity were widely respected. Even so, he found himself fighting a lifelong series of battles against what he called "constitutional fairy tales." And as he said more than once, "it would have to be loose-leaf, because there's a new one every day."

As Parliament resumes after the outrage of last December's prorogation, crucial aspects of our democratic future are once again at stake. Once again, understanding our constitutional options will be essential if we are to preserve whatever democracy we still retain.

All I want for Christmas … I mean budget day

Trish Hennessy — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:08:38 -0500

The weight of 100,000 (and growing) newly unemployed Canadians was on the shoulders of our federal minority government as they unveiled their budget response to Canada's recession today.

Core to the challenge: given a massive wave of unemployment hitting Canada, and the fact that six out of 10 Canadians don't get Employment Insurance (EI), would our government do the right thing and make our troubled EI system recession ready?

The answer is a cold hard no.

Remarkably, Budget 2009 doesn't expand EI so that the majority of laid-off workers actually qualify for the benefits that will keep them afloat while they look for a new job pouring coffee at Timmy's.

Cheek

Trish Hennessy — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:45:49 -0500

As eyes turn to the resumption of Parliament today, the Conservative party is funding a spate of radio ads frightening Canadians over the possible revival of a coalition between the Liberals and the NDP.

Though in the ad they press hard on the fear button by claiming the coalition includes the Bloc Quebecois.

The ad features two women exclaiming shock that a coalition would still be in the cards. “Now? In this economy?” they cry, followed by a male announcer encouraging Canadians to tell their politicians to stop playing political games.

I remember this ploy. It used to happen in high school all the time: