The student strike and protest is now entering its fourth month, they have spawned more than 160 protests in 72 days in Montreal alone. The protests have now garnered international attention including coverage on CNN and Al Jazeera. In my (new found) opinion, the actions of the students are completely justified. This whole state of affairs revolves around the Quebec government’s rising debt…
Month: April 2012
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Versus Democracy
If anything good has come out of the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin, it has to be the unwanted exposure of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is not a lobby, nor is it a front group, it is a council made up of 2000 legislators and 300 corporations. The corporations sit on nine different task forces and vote with these legislators to approve “model” bills…
The Comment Tree – Canadian Budget Reaction, Summit of the Americas, Liberal Party of Canada
The Comment Tree is a weekly collection of posts and commentary from social and mainstream media sources – keeping up to date with the topics of interest in the current news cycle, international and domestic.
The Rise of the South
Hemispheric leaders gathered in Cartagena, Colombia this past weekend for the Summit of the Americas. From the onset, it seems one thing was made perfectly clear; the flock no longer fears the wolf. Decades of influence and meddling on the part of the United States left many Latin American countries as poor, failed states; a consequence of propping up puppet dictators across a continent…
Oasis juice gets slammed by the court of public opinion!
Though a simple copyright infringement case might not seem like the stuff of civil rights, a closer examination of the circumstances in Ms Deborah Kudzman’s legal struggle against the Lassonde Corporation (makers of Oasis fruit juice products) illustrates perfectly how access to justice in our system is definitely rigged in favour of the rich. The facts of this lawsuit may strike you as banal at first blush. Ms. Kudzman was served, back in 2005…
Welcome to The Comment Tree
Introducing The Comment Tree, a weekly collection of posts and commentary from social and mainstream media sources compiled by Tariq Jeeroburkhan – keeping up to date with the topics of interest in the current news cycle, international and domestic. This week: Random Thoughts, NDP Leadership, the 2012 Federal Budget and F-35 Fighter Jets…
The People vs. Justice
Back in 1803, the Supreme Court of the United States gave itself the power of judicial review. This ruling gives the Supreme Court the right to review the constitutionality of a law passed by Congress and declare it void if the judges feel the law violates the constitution. Judicial review is both celebrated and denounced by both Republicans and Democrats depending on which side of the fence the ruling finally lands. The Supreme Court has to interpret a document written over two hundred years ago and is subject to much interpretation…
CUTV journalist arrested live on the internet for doing his job (VIDEO)
This morning, CUTV (Concordia University Television) cameraman and programming director Laith Marouf was filming a student protest in Montreal when SPVM riot cops moved in. His footage was streaming out live on the web to approximately 5000 viewers. Despite repeated attempts to inform police that they, as journalists, were simply doing their job by filming the protest and police actions…
Craig Scott: The NDP’s brand new MP and public intellectual
As a New Democrat, nothing makes me prouder than to hear that the latest edition to the team blew his nearest rival (Gritty Grant Gordon) out of the water, in his resounding victory (nearly twice as many votes!) in Toronto-Danforth’s recent by-election. Jack’s spirit can rest easy knowing that his riding is still in good hands, and that his successor will continue his valuable work there. As a academic constitutional/human rights lawyer I couldn’t be more proud…
2012 Canadian Budget: A Nickel for my Thoughts
They say the first budget of a majority government is always the harshest; it’s a time when the government can do whatever it likes without the fear of answering to voters in an upcoming election. That being said, the first Majority Conservative budget in a generation could have been worse, but it could have been much better. The Conservatives plan to cut $5.2 billion over the next few years in an attempt to balance the budget before the next election. I have no qualms…