A proposal for the monetization of the file sharing of music from the Songwriters and Recording Artists of Canada. "Most Canadians are aware that the Internet and mobile phone networks have become major sources of music. What they may not know is that songwriters and performers typically receive no compensation of any kind when their music is shared or illegally downloaded... We believe the time has come to put in place a reasonable and unobtrusive system of compensation for creators of music in regard to this popular and growing use of their work."
posted on Jan 29, 2008 - View this thread

The layout of this site looks an awful lot like this one. Probably just a coincidence. [via matthewgood]
posted on Dec 12, 2005 - View this thread

"You know, you cannot exercise your powers to the point of humiliation for others. That is what the Western world -- not only the Americans, the Western world -- has to realize. Because they (the have-nots) are human beings too. There are long-term consequences if you don't look hard at the reality in 10 or 20 [or] 30 years from now... I do think that the Western world is getting too rich in relations to the poor world. And necessarily, we're looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy and with no limits. And the 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more." Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien reflects on September 11th, and not all Canadians agree with him.
posted on Sep 12, 2002 - View this thread

The CEO of Canada's largest book retailer will be pulling Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf from store shelves and the Chapters/Indigo online store, saying "We consider it hate literature... With freedom of expression, the line is drawn on hate literature." Perhaps MeFites can help her out by compiling a list of other books to remove. Can we get rid of The Anarchist's Cookbook, The Protocols of Zion, and Turner Diaries?
posted on Nov 29, 2001 - View this thread

Canada gets it own Star Chamber. New "anti-terrorism" bill allows police to arrest and hold "suspects" for 72 hours without a charge, allows the government agency that monitors foreign communications to spy on Canadians, and creates "investigative hearings" in which you can be compelled to testify before a judge.
posted on Oct 16, 2001 - View this thread

"May the spirit of peace, and the love of human beings for each other, be shown in our sympathy." More than 75,000 people streamed onto Canada's Parliament Hill in Ottawa today for a special service to remember the victims of Tuesday's attack in the U.S.
posted on Sep 14, 2001 - View this thread

We're getting some new cable channels in Canada, and one of them is PrideVision, the world's first gay, lesbian, and bisexual television network. Even ten years ago, would anyone have thought we'd someday see programmes like Closeted Hollywood, Dyke TV, Queer as Folk, and Metrosexuality on North American television? And as a category 1 service, Canadian cable companies are required to make PrideVision available as part of their digital service.
posted on Aug 31, 2001 - View this thread

Another benefit of globalization: Third World-style political oppression right here at home. From the Ottawa Citizen (of all places): "Officers from various police forces and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have infiltrated, spied on or closely monitored organizations that are simply exercising their legal right to assembly and free speech. Targets of such intelligence operations in recent years... [include] a senior citizens' satire group that sings about social injustice... Individuals have been arrested for handing out literature condemning police tactics... "
posted on Aug 20, 2001 - View this thread

I guess we'll walk. Much of eastern Canada is currently in the grip of one of the worst summers for smog on record, and a recent poll showed that 58 per cent of Canadians support the idea of limiting car use on smoggy days. However, just 37 per cent said they were willing to pay more taxes in order to improve public transportation.
posted on Jul 30, 2001 - View this thread

Canada's newest political prisoner? "Well-known activist Jaggi Singh, accused of using a wooden catapult to lob teddy bears at police during the Quebec City summit two weeks ago, faces a preliminary hearing on May 16... Mr. Singh is the only protester still in jail among the 463 people arrested during the [FTAA] summit, at which of 34 countries in North and South America met to discuss reaching a hemispheric trade deal by 2005." Of course, the National Post has its own take on things.
posted on May 3, 2001 - View this thread

Could next month's Summit of the Americas transform Canadian political culture? Michael Valpy thinks so. He writes: "Canadians have lost deference for their traditional political institutions and leaders. They have become surprisingly ready -- more ready than Americans -- to engage in protests, boycotts and civil disobedience, according to political-science studies... Likely not since the 1919 Winnipeg general strike and the Great Depression marches of the unemployed has an event so galvanized the energies and imaginations of Canadians on the left side of the political spectrum."
posted on Mar 10, 2001 - View this thread

For many days now, a mysterious splash screen at 2600.com. Is the famous Hacker Quarterly folding? Are they throwing in the towel against the MPAA? Is the site being redesigned, and moved to Canada? Is this a protest against the WBAI situation?
posted on Feb 25, 2001 - View this thread

Just let Canadians decide and there won't be a tie.
posted on Dec 11, 2000 - View this thread

Doesn't this site violate Canada election laws? They claim they will be posting election results as the polls close. Under Canadian law, time zones that are still voting aren't allowed to know who is winning further east. First up: Newfoundland.
posted on Nov 27, 2000 - View this thread

The body that regulates cable in Canada, the CRTC, is licensing 283 new channels. All will be available only through digital set-top boxes.

Along with the expected Biography, Mystery, and ZDTV channels, in the mandatory tier we're getting Book Television from CHUM, a gay and lesbian channel, a documentary channel, and Land and Sea, a rural service from the CBC. If that wasn't wacky enough, the optional channels will include BBC Canada, the Wine Television Network, two wedding channels, several hockey channels, and channels dedicated to theatre, poetry, jazz, dance, pets, South Asian culture, international film, horses, law, martial arts… just about anything you can think of, actually.

While I don't expect they can all survive, it should make for an interesting six months.
posted on Nov 24, 2000 - View this thread

In the other important election still to be decided:

The Canadian Alliance Party and their creationist leader, Stockwell Day, is proposing that if 3% of the Canadian electorate request it, the government should be obliged to hold a referendum on just about any issue. Up until now, many Canadians had been concerned that under a Alliance regime they would be facing endless referenda on limiting abortion rights, immigration, banning gay marriage, native rights, and so on. It was a sad, depressing prospect, as anyone living in Quebec knows.

Last week, however, the CBC television program This Hour Has 22 Minutes found a "hidden issue" I and many other "silent Canadians" can support: changing Mr. Day's first name from Stockwell to Doris.

If you are a Canadian citizen, add your name at the 22 Minutes Web site.
posted on Nov 17, 2000 - View this thread

Finally, in the upcoming federal election, Canadians will have a chance to do what Americans have been doing for decades: elect an American leader.
posted on Nov 7, 2000 - View this thread

Notes from the Canadian federal election: Some people don't like the leader of the Canadian Alliance, Stockwell Day, but other people really don't like him. And he doesn't like them too much.
posted on Nov 3, 2000 - View this thread

Today I saw an ad on TV complaining that American health care is being “Canadianized.” All I can say is that I wish these Americans would stop lying about the Canadian health care system. While most Canadians seem to agree that our health system is a bit of a mess, we also seem to agree that we don’t want the American system, thank you very much.

The US market-driven medical system spends about 14% of its economy on health care, while Canada's cost is about 9% of GDP. Both countries' health care costs stood at about 7% in 1971, when the Canadian system converted to the public system and the US decided to stick with a market-driven private system. Yet the Canadian system covers everyone; the American system doesn’t. Private delivery of health care means money is lost to the profits investors demand (as much as 15%), higher executive salaries, higher marketing/advertising costs, and lost economies of scale.

Why attack the Canadian system? Part of the answer lies in the fact that to the American health care industry, Canada is just one huge, untapped market that they would love to have access to.
posted on Jun 16, 2000 - View this thread

A usability nightmare... and so slow. Oh, what I would give for a good Canadian travel site.
posted on Apr 11, 2000 - View this thread