I never expected to say this, but for the first time during Stephen Harper’s reign, I’m happy he has a majority. You see, last week, while we were all focused on Harper’s undemocratic budget bill, the Conservatives were busy strengthening our democracy. Conservatives voted unanimously to repeal section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act with no help from the opposition, save one Liberal…
Tag: News
The Corporate Welfare State
Conservatives in North America identify Europe (Scandinavia in particular) with its high social safety net, health care systems and high tax rates as “welfare” states. […]
Quebec’s Tears of Entitlement – Canada’s Shame
As a student living in Ontario, I pay more for tuition than Quebec students. I don’t have any scholarships. I pay full price. If I was told I would be paying around $450+ more a year, I honestly wouldn’t care. I really fail to see why students in Quebec are taking this so difficultly. It makes me laugh, and ashamed, that I have to share a country with a province that comes across as having such a sense of entitlement
We are all Quebecers: Chilean students
The following is an open letter signed by 109 Chilean student leaders and academics: The undersigned Chilean academics and student leaders denounce before the national and international public opinion the persecution of the Quebec student movement in Canada, as expressed in Bill 78, enacted on Thursday May 19 by the Provincial Government of Premier Jean Charest. Bill 78, the “truncheon law”, is the most severe piece of legislation…
Love is the movement: it starts in Quebec, but it will not end here…
Our world is upside down, and somehow we have been convinced that walking on the ceiling is normal. But this unsustainable balance of power is a house of cards, a carefully maintained illusion which depends entirely on our subservience to it. If we walk away from our televisions, break the bonds of our isolation and talk to each other about our dreams, our desires, we realize we are neither alone, nor crazy
Amir Khadir arrested, our democracy under siege
Charest has got to go. Not in a few months, but now. He has taken a broadsword to the fabric of our democracy. He has arrested over 3000 peaceful demonstrators, more than during the October Crisis. He has ignored the will of the people, the very people whose consent he requires to govern
The city’s newest festival
Montreal’s newest festival has already begun. It runs every night, features music, athleticism and is very inclusive. It visits all neighbourhoods and in just its […]
Any excuse to party
That’s how the British tend to think of monarchy, myself included. Instead of thinking about how one person comes to be one of the wealthiest in the world by virtue of the hereditary ownership of roughly $600 million of land and other assets (still less than J.K. Rowling), we think, “Oh bollocks, should I swallow these cherry seeds or spit them out onto my plate in front of the Queen?” The fact is, the Queen – and the monarchy as a whole – just sort of exist in Britain. Especially since the recession, they’ve kept a low profile…
When Pride turns to Vanity: The case against Fierté Montreal
As the gayest week of summer slowly sashays our way, organizers of Montreal’s pride festivities may have more to worry about than how many thousands […]
Playing to the Suburbs: The Failure of the Quebec Student Movement
Imagine you’re a suburbanite. You live in Laval, Quebec or the West Island. Turn on your TVs, surf to Google News, read your newspapers, twist that dial to your favourite radio station; what do you hear, what are you reading? The protesters in Montreal have, again, done something bad. They broke a window, they woke up an old frail grandma, they threw some smoke bombs, or, maybe (oh the horror) they stopped traffic for an hour…