Hazel McCallion, one of history's longest serving elected leaders, turns 92 years old today. McCallion is current mayor of Missisauga, Canada's 6th largest city, where she has served for 34 years, winning 12 consecutive elections. Her
political clout and
public persona show no sign of slowing.
posted by 256
on Feb 14, 2013 -
18 comments
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.
posted by Fizz
on Apr 13, 2011 -
96 comments
"
It would have been quite a news conference, and it very nearly happened. Last fall, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, after months of intense, private talks, agreed to face the media together to declare their agreement that research shows
the 'benefits' and 'positive impacts' of supervised injection sites for intravenous drug users. For the RCMP, making such a statement would have been a turning point: the Mounties would have had to distance themselves from
dubious studies, commissioned by the force itself, that were critical of
Insite, Vancouver’s
pioneering safe
injection facility."
But it didn't happen.
posted by Alvy Ampersand
on Aug 23, 2010 -
50 comments
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.
posted by Naberius
on Sep 23, 2008 -
78 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
Results of tonight's election in Quebec are in. The Quebec Liberal Party has managed just barely to hold onto power in that province, winning a minority government--the first time this has happened in
la belle province since...well...since the year the phonograph was first patented. But there's an even bigger story. And that's the apparent collapse of the separatist
Parti Québécois vote, in favour of the centre-right
Action Démocratique Party, surprising just about everybody other than those who actually live in the province.
Here's the breakdown in the vote as of 11:00PM:
Liberal (32.50%) - ADQ (31.19%) - PQ (28.48%).
What these results mean for Canada's federal parliament---also in a minority situation---is anyone's guess at this point. The smart money is on Prime Minister Harper calling an early summer election. These results tonight would certainly give him reason to think that Quebec voters are in the mood for change. But like spring weather in these parts, things are quite changeable these days.
posted by runningdogofcapitalism
on Mar 26, 2007 -
69 comments
Stephane Dion has been
elected Canadian Liberal Party leader at a convention in Montreal. Barely third (by two votes) on last night's first ballot, Dion gained support today through each of the next three ballots he needed to reach the 50%+1 level. An Quebec academic known for his
federalist writings, he was originally recruited by former PM
Jean Chrétien to fight Quebec separatists in the mid-nineties. He served as intergovernmental affairs minister for several years under Chrétien, then later organized the
UN Climate Change summit as environment minister. He now goes to Ottawa as
Leader of the Opposition, in hopes of soon replacing current PM Stephen Harper.
posted by bowline
on Dec 2, 2006 -
121 comments
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is pumping out a pile of podcasts that have covered
the importance of offensive comics to Art Spiegelman,
600 bands over 54 shows,
Captain America versus the American government,
Amy Sedaris and geekdom,
the journey of young immigrants,
French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut and Harper's publisher John MacArthur discussing Europe and America perspectives since 9/11,
the after life,
sex with monkeys,
what radio producers do,
the french word "corps",
Bonnie Fuller's "The Joys of Much Too Much: Go For the Big Life — The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You've Ever Wanted (Even If You're Afraid You Don't Have What It Takes)",
Veteran Washington reporter Helen Thomas and some other bits & bobs [Breakdown inside]
posted by boost ventilator
on Jun 5, 2006 -
25 comments
Are Canadians changing parliament? It seems that the minority government Conservative Party has introduced legislation to set fixed four year election dates, the third week in October. Some people seem to think
it can work, and others don't. Evidently I fit into a minority position as I can't see the benefit of having a year long election runnup.
posted by pezdacanuck
on May 30, 2006 -
40 comments
Canada boots out its government: the
Non-confidence Vote. A binding, non-confidence vote is being tabled and the minority parties -- which collectively hold a majority of seats -- agree to support it. It's also a bit historical: it has been more than a century since a general, binding non-confidence vote has been tabled all by itself, unattached to a big-issue item like the budget.
posted by five fresh fish
on Nov 23, 2005 -
134 comments
He's young, telegenic, bilingual, a Harvard grad... and
now André Boisclair, the
youngest person ever elected to a seat in Quebec's National Assembly, is the new leader of the
Parti Quebecois, the nationalist -- as in
Quebec nationalist -- left-leaning party
founded to take
Canada's mostly french-speaking province out of the federation. Oh, and
he's gay. And an
admitted (former) cocaine user (although that might be
a good thing.) Oh, and, according to the polls, the next Premier Ministre of Quebec.
posted by docgonzo
on Nov 16, 2005 -
116 comments
Vancouver's elite Urban SAR team has been and returned, having helped out in New Orleans in the way they were trained. There's more help on the way from Canada, in the form of
Operation Unison; this includes a
a Canadian Navy flotilla consisting of the destroyer
HMCS Athabaskan, the frigates
HMCS Toronto and
HMCS Ville de Quebec and the Canadian Coast Guard boat tender
HMCS Sir William Alexander. The flotilla carries around 1000 servicepeople, many of them medical and rescue specialists, in addition to engineering and construction crews. Additionally,
forty Canadian navy clearance divers will be accompanying the relief force. Despite recent diplomatic spats between our two nations (notably over Iraq, cattle and softwood lumber) we remain good neighbours. After
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci's departure Canada was awaiting an even worse adversary in replacement
Ambassador Wilkins. And yet, despite Wilkin's lack of knowledge of things Canadian,
he appears to have a significantly greater measure of humility than dick-swinging Cellucci ever did. In any case, as "irrelevant and disappointing" as Canada is to
the likes of Bill O'Reilly, we're on our way to help our friends to the south.
posted by illiad
on Sep 8, 2005 -
51 comments
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