Tag: Institutions

2015

What Has Stephen Harper Done that Any Other PM of Canada Hasn’t Already Done?

Maybe this is a question you ask yourself because, oh, I don’t know, you’re excessively partisan, or you’re not paying attention. (Pardon my glibness, I’m just very…frustrated. Maybe I need to start again…)

2015

Do Not Vote for the Harper Conservatives: Good Reasons for conservatives to choose another party

Almost everything on Facebook is meme-y, which is why I am unlikely to ever post something here that I see on Faceebook. Memes – especially political memes – are almost inherently simplistic and, usually, unreliable. But every so often, there is something different, something that is actually worth sharing beyond the echo-chamber of my Facebook …

Politics, Society

An Open Letter to His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston

Your Excellency, I don’t need to tell you that as the Queen’s representative in Canada you are essentially our Head of State. Regardless of the massive changes that have occurred since the position of Governor General was created, you remain in a position of actual authority even if the weight of the office has diminished …

Politics, Society

Abolish the Canadian Senate?

A lot of people are calling for the abolition of the Canadian Senate lately (spring of 2015), and these calls will increase if the chamber dose what everyone expects, and passes C-51 this week; C-51 being the anti-terrorism legislation that basically every legal expert in the country is opposed to. At the same time, the …

2015, Politics, Society

My Message to Senator Yonah Martin

Dear Ms. Martin, I would like to express my deep disappointment with you and your fellow Senators regarding Bill C-51, a bill that is unconstitutional – and will be found so, I have no doubt. The idea of the Senate is that is a place to reevaluate government legislation. Ostensibly this duty should be above …

2015, Politics, Society

It’s not just C-51 that’s the problem, it’s the System

I haven’t posted anything original in this space since February, in part because I am writing a new book, but in part because I have been a little depressed about the seeming inevitably of the government passing the worst piece of Federal legislation I have seen in my lifetime. (If you don’t know what C-51 …

Politics, Psychology, Society

Proposal for Improved Voter Turnout

The Proposal A number of years ago, a friend of mine proposed an interesting idea for promoting voter turnout in Canada during one of our writer’s group meetings: turn voting into a lottery. The idea is relatively simple: each ballot cast is also a ticket for Canada’s largest lottery. Every voter is only allowed one …

Journalism, Politics

Journalism and Democracy

We are at a time when journalism – or at least the potential to perform journalism – has become democratized in ways previously never thought possible. There are more “journalists” and outlets supposedly performing “journalism” than ever existed in history before. There are more people and outlets posing as journalistic. There is more coverage of …

Politics, Society

Armchair Governing

For decades we have known about the phenomenon of “Armchair Quarterbacks”: fans who watch so much football that they decide – probably subconsciously at first – that they would be better at the offensive coordinator job than the experienced professional currently holding that position. And it extends to other football decisions and other sports decisions. …

2010, Politics, Society

An Open Letter, I guess

Dear Mr. Crimmins I read your editorial in June 7th’s Hamilton Spectator with great interest. Your idea of dispensing with elections is compelling: it would save huge amounts of money, it would shorten campaigns and make them completely unpredictable (hopefully saving us from a situation like that of the US, where each campaign begins after …