Are Social Impact Bonds a good way to invest in public services? "Imagine a contract where private investors are paid by the government if there's a decrease in homelessness or convicts re-offending. It's a an idea that's taking shape in the UK and some US states. And now the Canadian government is considering piloting social impact bonds. Critics say it's a way of governments shirking their responsibilities." CBC's "The Current" reports.
[more inside]
posted by flex
on Nov 20, 2012 -
29 comments
"Canada exists for no natural reason. ... [This] is not to say that no significant differences exist between Canadians and Americans — just that our shared national border, unlike those of Europe, was not shaped by linguistic and ethnic variations. The War of 1812 made all the difference here. A complicated and unpleasant struggle, mostly forgotten, sundered our two countries. And that struggle is now 200 years old, which makes this as good a time as any to start remembering."
posted by Johnny Assay
on Feb 20, 2012 -
119 comments
Noah Kirkman was stopped by the police while riding a bicycle without his helmet... He then spent the next two years trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare... trying to go home.
The Kirkman family has been locked in Kafkaesque bureaucratic limbo since a misunderstanding ruined an idyllic summer vacation in small-town Oregon in 2008.
[more inside]
posted by infinite intimation
on Apr 16, 2010 -
23 comments
GenDisasters is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents of Canada and the U.S. that our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Dec 9, 2008 -
12 comments
"It's the first time since Japanese Internment that we've imprisoned children" -- from
a post displaying
a letter written by a 9 year old Canadian.
posted by mathowie
on Mar 10, 2008 -
72 comments
Dear Condi, -- Lloyd Axworthy was Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs for five years (1995-2000). Now that he's no longer in government, he doesn't need to be so diplomatic.
posted by winston
on Mar 3, 2005 -
80 comments
LAWs instructions for starting criminal procedures against Bush Today in Vancouver, Lawyers Against the War filed torture charges against George W. Bush under the Canadian Criminal Code. The charges were laid by Gail Davidson, co-chair of Lawyers against the War--LAW, under provisions enacted pursuant to the U.N. Torture Convention, ratified by both Canada and the United States. The charges concern the well known abuses of prisoners held by US Armed Forces in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. The charges were accepted by the Justice of the Peace and referred for a hearing to decide whether Bush should be required to appear for trial. The Attorney General of Canada's consent is required within eight days for proceedings to continue, and the question of Bush's diplomatic immunity will have to be resolved by the court.
posted by sunexplodes
on Dec 1, 2004 -
66 comments
After reading that
beef has been recalled from my local grocery store, I spent some time reading
Mad Cow USA a book written back in 1997 but not widely published because of fears of repercussions under the Texas food disparagement act. AlterNet has an
article written by one of the book's authors summarizing some of the key points of the book. Some claim that only ground beef is infected, while
others claim that's bull.
mad-cow.org has a lot of good information on the topic, and it seems the powers that be are going to
blame Canada.
posted by woil
on Dec 30, 2003 -
14 comments
The requirement to carry passports while visiting US, that will eventually include biometric markers such as iris scans as well as digital photos, leaves
Canadians unhappy.
posted by riffola
on Sep 23, 2003 -
23 comments
"Toronto flings garbage at Michigan" no no!... - US Courts Canadian Crud! ...Eh?, well, OK: Toronto
trucks it's tons 'o trash across the border to dump in Michigan landfills, and some Yanks are
eager to buy, although others...
"It's so disgusting we don't even talk about it...Why can't they keep their garbage over there?" .....[''We need to put an end to this desecration of our beautiful state,'' fumed Representative Candice S. Miller, Republican of Michigan who also warned that terrorists or weapons of mass destruction could be concealed
amidst the rotting food and used diapers.]
......"Relations between the United States and Canada have been souring for two years....Canada's wishy-washy stance on the Iraq crisis...has irked Washington" chides the Boston Globe, clearly piqued that Boston is not in a position to
catapult cannisters of it's garbage and toxic waste northward at Canada, towards the "Great Concavity" of David Foster Wallace's
"Infinite
Jest". [other shades of "....Jest" loom as "...a reputed haven for terror groups." whispers the Globe...just like in Wallace's book!]
.....Toronto can't find any Canadian communities willing to furnish an immense garbage pit, while "
Michigan's underused landfills are famous for courting crud from outside the state's borders.": They approached Toronto with the deal.
["Ontario, meanwhile, accepts imports of toxic industrial sludge, low-level radioactive waste, and other dangerous refuse from Michigan and other US states."] Garbage is a protected "free trade" commodity under NAFTA and Michigan may need the 'trash jobs':
NAFTA has spurred automakers to
shift production away from the US and build new factories in Canada and Mexico. Canada's auto
factories are
7%
more productive than US ones and have lower health care costs. [
"The growth of imports to the
U.S. from these factories has contributed substantially to the growing U.S. trade deficit and
the related job losses."]. So: Canada sends garbage and shiny new autos south: the US sends radioactive sludge, spittle, jobs and curses north.
Meanwhile, walk across the border and the
murder rate per 100,000 (per year) drops from
42.6 (Detroit, USA) to
2.2 (Windsor, Canada):
"Are
Canadians somehow flinging all their fear and murderous rage into the US along with the garbage?" (asks the Daily Tabloid)
posted by troutfishing
on Mar 10, 2003 -
42 comments
"A little invasion is precisely what Canada needs" wrote Jonah Goldberg last November. According to Rush Limbaugh, Canada isn't a country, it's a
"country". Tucker Carlson on CNN has said Canada "should be bombed" so that they are taught a lesson. Doesn't he remember
April 17th? No matter. Since Canada will never be able to defend itself from the US using conventional means, it's time for Canada to reactivate it's nuclear weapons program.
posted by johnnydark
on Feb 28, 2003 -
31 comments
Just a defacto "Nope". "Refugees" from the US seeking asylum in Canada will no longer have any hoops to jump through. The hoops are to be replaced by impenatrable legal barriers, otherwise known as "inking the deal".
posted by crasspastor
on May 7, 2002 -
6 comments
Last week, the WTO
ruled against a corporate welfare program for US exporters (
again). This week, a Canadian hemp company
claims the US owes them US$20m under NAFTA for harrassment and impinging on future returns.
posted by raaka
on Jan 23, 2002 -
10 comments
A common dollar for Canada and the U.S.? With the Euro unit of currency slowly coming into common use, it's only natural for other continents/countries to follow suit. How would this affect the national identity of Canada? Is this a sensible thing to do? What are the benefits and deficiencies of such a plan?
posted by ashbury
on Nov 17, 2001 -
39 comments
Summit of the Americas A very complex set of issues that are being discussed in Canada, but for most of us, all we see presented is the police, the tear gassings, the forces gathered in protest. Here, a summary of the complex issues at stake and being discussed.
posted by Postroad
on Apr 21, 2001 -
53 comments
Canada urging Microsoft to move north It's pretty obvious to everyone that the US government does not believe that Microsoft should be allowed to continue operating within their borders. No problem. We'll take em, as would most other countries. I for one, would
love to see Microsoft leave the US. Wouldn't you?
posted by Calebos
on Jun 2, 2000 -
22 comments