Archive for December 2011

Our seven-year itch .. Aboriginals, Europe, Harper style, MLSE, Monarchy, United left, Voter turnout

Dec 11th, 2011 | By | Category: In Brief

Strictly speaking, counterweights turned seven years old this past summer. Our very first full-length article, “John Ibbitson’s next Canada” (by Randall White) appeared on August 19, 2004. We very quietly marked our seventh birthday, as it were, with “Just what was PM Harper thinking .. how about ‘Canadian Navy, Air Force Name Change Divides NDP […]



“Pres Obama & Canadian PM to make statement any moment” .. is new Canada-US border deal worth it?

Dec 8th, 2011 | By | Category: In Brief

Susan Bonner on CBC TV, reporting from Washington, had just said that the new Canada-US border deal (aka US-Canada border deal ) just wasn’t on anyone’s radar in the USA. No one there was paying attention. So I was a little surprised when, flipping to my favourite US political TV channel, MSNBC, I saw the […]



Veena Malik “not some girl-next-door” .. but would John Baird and Jason Kenney want to keep her out of Canada anyway?

Dec 5th, 2011 | By | Category: In Brief

So … this just in from the Canadian Press: “Pakistani actress Veena Malik is suing a popular Indian men’s magazine for millions of dollars, accusing it of publishing photos she says were doctored to make her appear nude, her lawyer said Monday.” We here are interested, because we used two of these photos this past […]



Will Toronto Mayor Ford be watching NDP leadership debate (or is he still too busy with new photos of Veena Malik)?

Dec 3rd, 2011 | By | Category: In Brief

[UPDATE DECEMBER 4 : Initial impressions of first NDP/NPD leadership debate – SEE BELOW]. Tomorrow, Sunday 4 December 2011, at 2PM ET / 11AM PT, the nine (count em) contenders for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada / Nouveau Parti démocratique du Canada will be holding their first debate in Ottawa – […]



More cheers for Nathan Cullen’s NDP leadership bid .. the new republic in Canada may be closer than we think?

Dec 1st, 2011 | By | Category: In Brief

No one expects Nathan Cullen to win.  As a recent Barbara Yaffe column in the Vancouver Sun notes, he has been labelled “a long shot and an underdog in the [federal] NDP leadership race.”Â  And: “With nine candidates – nearly 10 per cent of the caucus” – vying “to replace Jack Layton, the Skeena-Bulkley Valley […]