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Currently viewing entries by Murray Dobbin.
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Reform democracy or rid the country of Stephen Harper?
The movement for democratic reform is undoubtedly one of the most heartening developments in Canadian politics in a very long time. Not just because it was great to see some 25,000 people out in the streets protesting the Harper dictatorship, but perhaps even more importantly giving a wake-up call to the social and labour movements who have become dormant largely on the excuse that Canadians have become more conservative. This is simply not the case.
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Mea culpa on Haiti
Sometimes you get things wrong. A couple of people have forcefully pointed that out to me re: my post on Haiti contrasting the killing of the war in Afghanistan with the response to the earthquake in Haiti. In my zeal to criticize the government’s role in Afghanistan I glossed over the repressive role of the Canadian government in Haiti.
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Peacekeeping or war-making?
Watching the response of the Canadian government to the catastrophe in Haiti I am sure I am not the only person to see this as a powerful counterpoint to our grotesque participation in the occupation of Afghanistan.
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Dinosaur man gets his hands on the money
Someone could have made a bundle five years ago betting that Stockwell Day, alias “Doris”, and a man who believes that humans and dinosaurs cavorted together way back when, would be where he is today.
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A better world is possible only if we can imagine it
The horrible earthquake in Haiti should remind us that for all we detest Stephen Harper and what he is doing to the country we, all of us, are incredibly lucky to live where we do — in a “first world” country. It should give us pause to think that we are wealthy because billions of other people are poor. And there are no poorer or more star-crossed than the people of Haiti. It should also remind us that Haiti might well be further down the road to social justice if it were not for Canada’s shameful complicity in the forced exile of its popular leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
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First Prorogue, then Eviscerate
There is, for good reason, a lot of enthusiasm across the country as the groundswell against Stephen Harpers’ cynical shuttering of Parliament continues to grow. The prime minister from hell has gotten away with so much — and the opposition is so weak that any indication of genuine public disgust at his continuing demonstration of contempt for democracy is a welcome sign. And everyone who cares about the country should be taking part in the new movement for democracy.
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Time to join the democracy movement
Stephen Harper is the classic political gambler — he takes chances where others would hold back. It often pays off (like proroguing Parliament in December 2008 to stave off certain defeat by the opposition coalition). But his arrogance often leads to spectacularly bad judgement — such as his attack on culture before the last election which lost him the seats in Quebec that might have given him a majority.
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The Idiot Empire
What happens when an empire is run by people who have a visceral contempt for government and all it stands for? You have an empire that will ultimately fail and collapse because whatever else you might leave to “market forces” administering a global empire and protecting the motherland from attack is not something you want to leave beholden to the profit motive.
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The Ugly Canadian
It was really just a matter of time. The deep well of affection and respect around the world that Canada has drawn on for decades has been slowly poisoned by the Harper government (and the Liberals immediately before it) and the world is now taking serious notice.
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Harper pledges to sabotage climate change agenda at G20
Stephen Harper is clearly not moved by Canada’s rapidly decaying reputation regarding its appalling position of climate change. In a Bloomberg story I have not seen reported anywhere in the Canadian media, Harper told the South Korean National Assembly that he will “…use Canada’s co-chairmanship of next year’s Group of 20 countries meeting to urge members to put economic recovery before efforts to protect the environment.”
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