MetaFilter posts tagged with stephenharper

A little help from his friends

salishsea — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:25:10 -0800

Stephen Harper, Canada's Prime Minister, sings "With A Little Help From My Friends" at a gala last night in Ottawa with Yo Yo Ma and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Harper survived a confidence vote this week with a little help from his former sworn enemies.

Playing Hide and Seek with the Body of Christ, and with YouTube videos

ocherdraco — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:50:44 -0800

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has found himself in a bit of an imbroglio this week. Having attended the state funeral of former Governor General Romeo LeBlanc, the evangelical Harper has been accused of pocketing a communion wafer, an action considered "seriously offensive" by Catholics [scroll down for explanation]. But as professor of Internet and E-commerce law Michael Geist notes, the confusing thing about the controversy isn't whether the PM did or didn't eat the wafer (or even whether he should have been offered it in the first place), but rather why Societe Radio-Canada (the French name for the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has yanked a video of the incident from YouTube. Geist (who has explained copyright law for—and to!—the CBC before), says that "While other versions remain online, the [copyright infringement] takedown request by a news organization of a clip that should certainly qualify as fair dealing* is very problematic (and somewhat puzzling given that the video was a CPAC [Cable Public Affairs Channel] video, not Radio-Canada). News organizations depend upon fair dealing every day for their own coverage and should not be so quick to demand takedowns of newsworthy clips that should qualify for similar protection." *Fair dealing is the Canadian term for fair use.

Canadian Federal Election Thread

joannemerriam — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:02:28 -0800

Harper has called a federal election in Canada for October 14, 2008, ignoring his own fixed election date law. Polls predict another minority Conservative government. It will be the third national election in just over four years. Harper is promising to pull our troops from Afghanistan by 2011, although the Taliban would like us to withdraw right away. Meanwhile, Layton is promising to invest in the manufacturing sector and Dion promises to bring back the federal court-challenges program. Other key issues include the economy and the carbon tax. Major parties: Conservative Party of Canada Liberal Party of Canada New Democratic Party of Canada Bloc Québécois Green Party of Canada (despite not having any seats currently, they will be in the debates) CBC's list of ridings

Continental integration on the march

I, Credulous — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:34:55 -0800

A coworker hipped me to this, and I found it quite astonishing that I'd heard nothing about it.

It's a great irony that, while the United States has probably never been less popular among Canadians than in the era of George W Bush, plans to integrate Canada more deeply into the US have been proceeding at a brisk clip. The threat of Canada being absorbed into the US has traditionally provoked strong reactions here, as the pitched electoral battles over the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1980s and '90s attest. But the issue seems to have largely disappeared in recent years, leaving the impression that the push for deeper integration has stopped or that Canadians no longer care about it. Neither is true.

It seems that a goodly number of politically active groups are aware, however, and are organizing protests. How effective will those protests be when they won't be able to get within several kilometers of the site? Has anyone got any thoughts about this? How will they fit 52 stars on the Star-Spangled Banner? Should I don my tinfoil hat? Is the protest even relevant, given that most of the news reports I can find are calling it a fait accompli?

These moments, they don’t vibrate, I take it?

YamwotIam — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:50:49 -0800

Good grief. First, tips on how to write, now this. Yann Martel, award-winning author of Life of Pi (previously), believes the Canada Council for the Arts is not getting a fair shake from the Canadian government. The solution? Send Prime Minister Harper a book to read. Every couple of weeks, mailed on a Monday. In case you were wondering, the first book on the list is Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych (SparkNotes here). The Prime Minister’s office has not yet responded. Meanwhile, President Bush already has his own reading list.

"Unfortunately the press gallery has taken the view they are going to be the opposition to the government."

EarBucket — Wed, 24 May 2006 17:52:30 -0800

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he'll no longer give news conferences for the national media, after a dispute led a number of journalists to walk away from an event when he refused to take their questions.

I'm betting Spock; maybe McCoy.

docgonzo — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:16:00 -0800

Trekkergate escalates! Canadian blogger J. Kelly Nestruck puts out the call for pics of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, closet trekkie. (I wonder if Harper has has an autographed photo of William Shatner?)

Stephen Harper doesn't care about aboriginal people

docgonzo — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:40:00 -0800

Arguing the ceremony is only for the families, newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has forbidden the media from attending today's arrival of the remains of four Canadian soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan. Mr. Harper has also declined to lower the flag on Parliament Hill to half-staff. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, retired soldier and former lobbyist for various defense contracting firms, says his government is returning to the tradition of honouring dead soldiers on November 11, Remembrance Day. Meanwhile, residents of the northern aboriginal community of Kashechawan, plagued by flooding and drinking water problems, are being evacuated, after government promises to repair a dike went unfulfilled. God Bless Canada.

Harvard Mice come home to roost

loquax — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:49:33 -0800

(CanCon Newsfilter): The vacant seat on the Supreme Court of Canada will be filled by Marshall Rothstein of the Federal Court of Appeal. Interesting enough, as he's the fellow that ruled that Harvard was entitled to patent a mouse (which was overturned by the SCC) and was involved in banning Ernst Zundel and David Irving from Canada. However there's a twist. For the first time in Canada, Stephen Harper's new Conservative government has decided that an all-party committee will question the nominee and provide recommendations to the PM (although the final decision rests with Harper, and the committee has no veto power).

Stephen Harper to become Canada's next PM

Robot Johnny — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:56:40 -0800

Harper wins Tory minority government. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will become Canada's next prime minister, as Canadians have elected a Tory minority government and ended a 12-year reign of Liberal rule.

Canadian Conservatives, in their own words

johnnydark — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 14:11:31 -0800

An election will soon be taking place in Canada and the party led by Stephen Harper may form a minority government. Might as well know what these Conservatives stand for.