MetaFilter posts tagged with Harper

Walk Out to Winter

unSane — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:33:43 -0800

In January, braving -40C weather, 18-year old David Kawapit and half a dozen other young Cree supporters set out wearing snowshoes and pulling sleds laden with supplies from the isolated community of Whapmagoostui in northern Quebec, to trudge the 1,500 kilometres from the edge of Hudson Bay to Ottawa in support of better conditions for aboriginal people. Yesterday, their numbers swelled to about 270 they arrived in Ottawa, where they were met with cheering and wild applause. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt agreed to speak with some of the young people who completed the trek, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper had more important matters to attend to.

Les érections de Stephen Harper

Capt. Renault — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:07:36 -0800

Les érections de Stephen Harper. (SL video) (SFW). Speaking in French, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asks the hard questions about Canadian "érections". (Via MontrealMemes)

USTR still pushing ACTA on Canada

jeffburdges — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:12:20 -0800

Canada's Harper government has introduced an ACTA compliance bill at the behest of the USTR, despite the treaty being dead elsewhere. ACTA would come into force in the countries that ratify it after six countries do so, but only Japan has ratified ACTA at present.

To caricature and simplify at the same time!

ChuraChura — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:43:39 -0800

Charley Harper's "minimal realism" contributions to science and art are being celebrated by the graphic design blog Codex 99. Part 1 - Charley and Edie. Part 2 - The Birds. Part 3 - Tin Lizzie and Dinner for Two. Part 4 - The Golden Book of Biology. Part 5 - Bambi and Childcraft. Part 6 - The Animal Kingdom.

a Dickensian tale for graduates living in harperland

chapps — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:19:22 -0800

Rohinton Mistry's convocation speech to Ryerson [video - g&m, must wait for short ad) this link is to the text, with no ads, but hearing his reading is nice.

meanwhile, in Canada: "results suggest a leftward tilt"

flex — Mon, 28 May 2012 10:57:47 -0800

"The wide-ranging Forum Poll for the National Post sought the opinions of a sample of Canadians of voting age... The voting intentions, if actual ballots, would translate into a minority government for the NDP." The Canadian public is on a distinct tilt to the left, says a new national public opinion poll. Criticism of the Conservatives' spring budget, Bill C-38, continues: it is "anti-labour" (repeals The Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act; reforms Employment Insurance) and "guts the Fisheries Act"; a website protest against the bill is planned for June 4. In the meantime, Canada is dismantling the nation's entire ocean contaminants program; Canada's national archives are being dismantled and scattered; the Tories have filed a second motion to dismiss the robocalls lawsuits, and are set to shut down the Commons inquiry into the report on the F-35s. (previously on MeFi: protests continue in Quebec - Harper Godwins the NDP - the budget bill eliminates the penny - the robocalls scandal breaks)

#HarperHistory

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:41:12 -0800

On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked in the House of Commons whether he intended to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Harper tried to deflect criticism from New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair by saying that "Unlike the NDP, we are not going to ideologically have a position regardless of circumstances. The leader of the NDP, in 1939, did not even want to support war against Hitler." Members of the NDP were quick to reply that the NDP did not oppose Hitler in 1939 because the NDP was formed in 1961. Harper's reply: "Okay, it was the CCF, same difference. Parties do change their names from time to time." (Hansard, April 26, 2012) Background: J.S. Woodsworth, founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, was indeed the only Member of Parliament to vote against going to war in 1939. He broke with his party to vote against the war because he was a committed pacifist. “He was a religious man and he could not, for whatever reason, allow anyone else to kill another human being. It just wasn’t in his fibre.” Woodsworth died in 1942. It was not until 1961 that the CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) merged to form the New Democratic Party. Friday was day two of the Conservative Party's anti-Woodsworth campaign, with both Conservative MP Scott Armstrong and Foreign Minister John Baird on the attack. NDP MP Dan Harris replied by reading tweets from the #HarperHistory hashtag on the floor of the House of Commons. (Hansard, April 27) “Damn you NDP for not standing up to Genghis Khan.” “It was really the NDP that helped organize the stampede that killed Mufasa in The Lion King.” “The NDP refused to come to the aid of men when Mordor invaded Gondor. Shame.”

Catch 167: Harper government pulls rug out from under non-Canadian gay couples who married here in good faith

maudlin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:52:42 -0800

Ottawa does about face on same-sex marriage for non-Canadians. The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed. The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian couple seeking a divorce.... The government’s hard line has cast sudden doubt on the rights and legal status of couples who wed in Canada after a series of court decisions opened the floodgates to same-sex marriage. The mechanics of determining issues such as tax status, employment benefits and immigration have been thrown into legal limbo. [The lesbian couple's] divorce application will be considered next month by an Ontario Superior Court judge. They are asking the judge to either craft an exemption allowing them to divorce or to strike down any legislative provision that has the effect of preventing them from doing so. In a response to Ms. McCarthy’s court application, federal lawyer Sean Gaudet tied the federal position to two central propositions. First, he said, couples who came to Canada to be married must live in the country for at least a year before they can obtain a divorce. Second, same-sex marriages are legal in Canada only if they are also legal in the home country or state of the couple. “In this case, neither party had the legal capacity to marry a person of the same sex under the laws of their respective domiciles – Florida and the United Kingdom,” Mr. Gaudet stated. “As a result, their marriage is not legally valid under Canadian law.” Under this reasoning, the federal government would recognize the validity of marriages that take place in Canada provided the same-sex partners come from a state or country that also recognizes same-sex marriage. The Globe & Mail will be hosting a discussion on this topic at noon Eastern time today.

Oh, Canada. :(

jaduncan — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:06:58 -0800

Canada is planning to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty. CBC, BBC, AFP. The Herald Sun claims that this is to allow shale sands oil extraction.

More voices you won’t hear in the election campaign

ServSci — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:59:40 -0800

Though mentioned intermittently, Mr. Harper's determination to muzzle critics will not be a “ballot box question” for most Canadians when they vote. Yet the implications for a Canada ruled by an unrestrained Harper majority government are obvious, and terrifying. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has now published an excellent commentary by Maria Gergin called “Silencing Dissent: The Conservative Record”. [via Gerald Caplan for the Globe and Mail] Continuing to quote Caplan, from his conclusion: "This contempt for facts, coming right out of the Bush/Cheney/ Rove playbook, infects every decision being made by the Harper government, from jets to jails to corporate tax breaks, as someone has put it. If you want to hear some sense about defence issues, don’t miss the Rideau Institute’s fine analyses. If you want to know how taxes can be fairer and how desperately needed public services can be paid for, check out the program of Canadians For Tax Fairness. If you want more on our growing democratic deficit, try Democracy Watch."

Seriously? Tell me some other shit!

Fizz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:54:21 -0800

Shit Harper Did Does exactly what it says on the can. Example: "Canadian PM Stephen Harper weakened regulations so that more pesticide residue could be left on your fruits and vegetables." "Harper decorated the government lobby in parliament with photos of just himself, instead of the traditional portraits of former Prime Ministers." And much more.

Stephen Harper appoints a priest and a former football comissioner to the canadian senate

sarastro — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:36:59 -0800

Stephen Harper once referred to the Canadian Senate as a "dumping ground for liberal cronies". He has now appointed his 36th senator, more than double the number of appointments by his predecessor, Paul Martin. Of further interest is that while 5/17 of Martin's appointments were members of the opposition party all 36 of Stephen Harpers appointments were directly affiliated with the conservative party. His most recent appointments? A Priest and a former CFL Comissioner

The Canadian government is "muzzling" scientists

twirlip — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:12:12 -0800

Scientists working for the Canadian government aren't allowed to talk to journalists without permission from Ottawa. And the restriction isn't limited politically sensitive topics like climate change and the Alberta oil sands -- the co-author of a recent Nature article about flooding at the end of the last ice age was told to "wait for clearance from the minister's office" before talking to reporters about his work. The policy has only been in effect at Natural Resources in Canada since March, but Environment Canada has had the same rules since 2008. (Previously.)

Fox News North?

molecicco — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:54:42 -0800

Ricken Patel, of Avaaz vs. Kory Teneycke, VP Development of Montreal-based Quebecor Media (15-second commercial before TV-debate). Quebecor's lawyer's are now threatening to sue Avaaz if they do not withdraw their online petition to keep Sun Media (owned by Quebecor) from getting a "must-carry" license for a proposed news channel being referred to as "Fox News North". Avaaz (previously), an international online activist group, is among a host of voices that allege that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been trying to use his position and influence to push the Canadian television regulator (the CRTC) to grant a "Category 1" license to Quebecor for a new news channel. That would mean all Canadian broadcasters must carry the channel, and that the channel would receive government funding. This channel is expected to have a conservative stance and similar tone to that of Fox News - in March 2009, Harper and his then-Director of Communication Kory Teneycke had a private lunch with Roger Ailes, president of Fox News, and Rupert Murdoch, CEO and founder of News Corp., owner of Fox News. Shortly afterwards, Teneycke left his job to head Sun Media's political coverage. Quebecor has been denied the license. Rumours are now flying that Harper is trying to install a more friendly leadership in the CRTC in order to get the Category 1. The current Vice-Chair will not be offered contract-renewal, and it is reported that Harper is trying to get the current CRTC Chair, Konrad von Finckenstein, to leave his job by offering him plush jobs. In places like Chile. In the meantime, Quebecor are seeking a Category 2 license. Upset over the perceived manipulation, Canadian Avaaz members then launched the online petition, applauding the Category 1 rejection, and asking Harper to stop pressuring the CRTC on the matter. In 6 days, over 75,000 people have signed the petition, attracting Teneycke's attention. Teneycke questioned the legitimacy of the online petition over his twitter account, saying "Source emailed me to say they registered Boba Fett, D. Shroot, etc. Petition lacks basic controls. Not sure who signed me up." But he later admitted that it was his source who added those names. However, the names of several real people, including journalists, were also falsely added to the petition at about the same time - activity which Avaaz is calling "criminal sabotage", and which they believe may have been the work of Teneycke. Quebecor's lawyers are now threatening to sue Avaaz if they do not remove the petition, but Avaaz has no such plans and is seeking to investigate the fraudulent signups.

pay for research once... you are a taxpayer... pay for research twice... well, we shouldn't pay for research twice

infinite intimation — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:30:56 -0800

Yesterday (April 15), Representatives Doyle (D-PA), Waxman (D-CA), Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), Harper (R-MS), Boucher (D-VA) and Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (HR 5037), a bill that would ensure free, timely, online access to the published results of research funded by eleven U.S. federal agencies. -Alliance for Taxpayer Access. Text of H.R.5037 The US government funds research with the expectation that new ideas and discoveries from the research will propel science, stimulate the economy, and improve the lives and welfare of Americans. In addition, the government also funds collaborative information technology and network-based infrastructure projects such as investments in supercomputer centers to leveraging investments in collaborative database development such as Genbank. These wide and diverse investments in e-science have fundamentally changed the nature of scientific research and the understanding by members of the research community of how research is conducted and shared. Recently, policy makers have recognized these changes via legislative and administrative processes and are now focused on new strategies to enhance US economic competitiveness, to advance science, to better manage the research investments, and improve access to the fruits of our collective investment. Federal Research Public Access Act of 2010 ARL Submits Comments to OSTP Regarding Public Access Policies for Science & Technology Funding Agencies (Jan. 19, '10) [PDF] ARL Joins Coalition in Letters to Lieberman and Cornyn Federal Research Public Access Act of 2009 Principles for Release of Scientific Research, US Office of Science & Technology Policy (May 2008) NIH Public Access Policy AAP PR Campaign against Open Access and Public Access to Federally Funded Research, 2007 CURES Act of 2005 Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 ACS Challenging NIH's PubChem Database, 2005 Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA) Via: ARL.

The greatest histories are always written in the toughest times

saucysault — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:43:55 -0800

Je ne comprends pas anglais, Former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien forgets his second language as he and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent use their elder statesmen status to discuss bringing down the six week old Conservative government in Canada after the promised economic stimulus turned into cutting travel expenses, cancelling pay equity and the right to strike for federal workers, and changing the party funding law in favour of the ruling Conservatives under PM Stephen Harper. The opposition still vow to topple the government even though the funding change appears to have been dropped. But the largest opposition party is effectively leaderless and they need the Bloc Quebecois support. Could the next Prime Minister of Canada be Gilles Duceppe?

Taking Down Harper (part deux)

gman — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:53:28 -0800

Anti-Conservative site Vote For Environment, has had over a million hits in just 12 days. Previously.

Obama's Got Options, Baby.

Naberius — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:54:43 -0800

Maybe America needs Barack more than Barack needs America... It's got to be tough being Barack Obama these days. Just managing to hang onto a slim lead in the polls against a truly horrifying Republican ticket - after eight years in which a Republican administration has all but destroyed the nation. Having to explain to people over and over again that no, he's really not a Muslim, and people still don't believe him. Sarah Palin. Maybe America isn't worth Barack's trouble. Maybe there's other fish in the sea, America. Maybe you ought to think about that a little and stop being this way. Canada has an election coming up too, and given what they've got to work with, more and more Canadians are starting to take a hard look south of the border.

Y'a un «fuck» qui s'ennuie en maudit..

zenzizi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:12:57 -0800

Culture en péril - In these Canadian election times and in response to the recent Culture cuts from Conservatives - three of the best Quebec talents in music, theater and humor join forces and hit back hard (lol) with a highly satirical imagining of the replacement program (captioned).

Vote in my space.

gman — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:40:36 -0800

Newfoundland's Progressive Conservative Premier registered his Anything But Conservative campaign today with Elections Canada. The same agency also deemed that the online vote swap on Facebook is in fact legal. They're hiring.

Harper gets a crush

pezdacanuck — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:54:33 -0800

National Post hosting Harper version of "I've got a crush on Obama" Do video's such as these (the original here) really help persuade people to vote one way or another? I can't believe that someone would be so dough-headed to fall for this kind of nonsense, but that's just me.

Election Fever!

GuyZero — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:43:33 -0800

Everyone is all abuzz about the upcoming election! But even after introducing an act calling for fixed election dates because "this power allows the governing party to set the time of the election to its own advantage", Stephen Harper has decided to call it quits on the 39th Parliament because it's "dysfunctional" even though he's only three years into his mandate. After all, he can change his mind on fixed elections because he supported them in the first place.

Canada's Back!!!

KokuRyu — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:16:43 -0800

PM Stephen Harper’s Canada Day greeting Harper adopts a hawkish, true-blue Tory tone for this year's Canada Day greeting, with an uncharacteristic (for a Canadian) shout-out to God: From championships in hockey to humanitarian and military leadership roles in Afghanistan and Haiti, we can say again this year, Canada is a citizen of the world and we make our contribution a positive one. And why shouldn`t we? From the natural wealth of the land that God created, to the talents, energy and imagination of people drawn from all the nations of the earth, we are a country that has been truly blessed.

Quebecois nation

stinkycheese — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:36:51 -0800

Quebecois now a nation. Arguably, this all started with Liberal Party leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff opening the Pandora's Box of Quebec nationhood earlier this fall, pondering whether the French-speaking province of Quebec should be granted some sort of special status. Canadians old enough to remember Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord feared the worst. Before you knew it, the Bloc was arguing that Quebec ought to be viewed as a "nation without conditions". Prime Minister Steven Harper then presented a motion to Parliament recognizing the Quebecois as a nation. The controversy raged, both from the Conservatives and the Liberals. Yesterday, the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted for the motion. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong has resigned. His statement. How will this change the country? How do nations operate within other nations? Who is a Quebecois anyways? How does this work? Could other groups in Canada be recognized as nations? And what about those separatists? Looks like they already want their own hockey team.

Canadian PM has hunger for human flesh.

patr1ck — Wed, 03 May 2006 12:22:28 -0800

Canadian PM Stephen Harper eats babies. Or at least that's what many Toronto commuters read on their commutes Thursday, Friday, and Monday (they decided to leave the news up over the weekend). Another case for real news becoming more like The Onion?