While world leaders are increasingly saying out loud that the postwar liberal world order is dead, the ruling classes in the Global North have an answer for what will come to replace it: fascism. Will they be able to implement their vision?
A guide to standing up to book bans and beyond, and how to protect and strengthen public education in Canada
The Sleeper Issue of the Next Election? Could inequality be the sleeper issue of the next federal election? A new national poll conducted by Environics Research for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows a record-high 76% of Canadians believe the gap between rich and poor has widened over the…
It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s…
It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s…
The “Occupy Canada” movement (with a little help from CCPA research) has raised public awareness of the unprecedented growth in income inequality and wealth concentration in Canada over the last 30 years. And recent reports from the OECD and the Conference Board confirming this trend have raised alarm bells amongst…
As recorded in Hansard, since the beginning of the Legislative session on April 12, there have been ongoing relentless attacks, on Hydro, the West route for Bipole 3, and the government. The attacks, mainly by Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen, have centred on the costs of the West route, claiming that…
Suffering from fiscal whiplash? First the Harper government tells us the 2005/06 surplus is $13.2 billion. Then on the same day, it announces large spending cuts. Doesn’t it seem a bit gratuitous to cut spending if Ottawa is flush with cash? For a government focused on getting a majority in…
Anyone wanting to see just how dysfunctional politics in B.C. has become should check out Bob Simpson’s recent Private Members’ statement in the provincial legislature. For seven minutes Simpson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Cariboo North and one of two Independent MLAs, spoke about why he and fellow Independent…
Last week Premier Christy Clark took the unprecedented step of promising there would be public consultation regarding the Province’s position on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. If this really happens it would be an important opportunity. The current government has never allowed…
By year’s end, the U.S. State Department (or possibly, President Obama himself) will decide whether TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline is in the American national interest. The proposed 2,673-kilometre pipeline would bring tar-sands diluted bitumen (or “dilbit”) from Hardisty, Alberta, to Gulf Coast refineries in Texas and Louisiana, crossing through…
Download 319.02 KB 15 pages Fiscal policy issues — issues related to the balance between government revenue and expenditure — have come to play a curious role in the electoral cycle in Ontario. In advance of an election, debates over fiscal issues play prominently in the political discourse. The opposition…
By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them. Martin Luther King speaking in 1961 On Labour Day 2011 unions in North…
Allow me to indulge myself just this once. Almost exactly one month ago I wrote a post on the Progressive Economics blog arguing that the Bank of Canada was being too optimistic about our economic prospects in the July Monetary Policy Report . Last Friday, both the Governor of the Bank of…