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Why G20 Security Failed
The G20 security strategy has been spectacularly successful at cocooning the world’s leading politicians and staggeringly ineffective at protecting the property and peace of mind of Torontonians. And the one, inevitably, led to the other. |
G20 Protest Photos
Black clad protesters create havoc in downtown Toronto |
Toronto Protesters Turn Violent
Looks like simple vandalism. Ghandi, King and others certainly knew how to change the world without smashing anything except outdated ideas. |
G20 Country Profiles
Who is meeting in Toronto? A country by country overview |
G20 Spending Boondoggle is International News
A prime international marketing opportunity for Canada, or a $1 billion boondoggle? The world weighs in. Gee, Steve... did you think no one would notice?? |
G20 Empties Downtown Toronto
The arrival of the G20 summit this weekend, and the G8 just before it, would create a traffic nightmare of untold proportions thanks to all the security personnel and protesters that would descend. (or so thought the organizers)
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G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people
The province has secretly passed an unprecedented regulation that empowers police to arrest anyone near the G20 security zone who refuses to identify themselves or agree to a police search |
Canada shouldn't be smug about G8 Numbers
Country by country review of economic numbers |
2nd Arrest in Leadup to G20
The common-law wife of a computer security expert charged in a G20-related case has also been charged in the same investigation. |
Foreign governments have infiltrated Canadian politics, CSIS head tells CBC
“We’re in fact a bit worried in a couple of provinces that we have an indication that there are political figures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries,” Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told CBC
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Soros fearful of German Economic Policy
German’s budget savings policy risks destroying the European project and a collapse of the euro cannot be ruled out, billionaire investor George Soros said in a newspaper interview released on Wednesday. |
The world would love to be Canadian
More than half of people around the world say they would abandon their homelands and move to Canada if they could. |
Is the G8 Finished?
If the G8 can act cohesively on international security issues, summon a new level of credibility instead of making scattered and oft-ignored promises, and show it can help the world – such as advancing the fight against maternal and child deaths – it might earn a future. |
How will democracy fare in the G20 world order?
The club that shapes the world’s economy has grown to include many less-democratic countries that have, however, economic clout |
Key Issues at the G20 - Is Canadian Banking System the New Model?
Senior industry officials from less fortunate countries are beating a path to the Toronto headquarters of the big banks to discover the secret of how to build a financial system that doesn’t take foolish risks or leverage itself into oblivion.
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G20 Battle Lines have been Drawn
The White House on Friday released a letter that President Barack Obama sent to his fellow Group of 20 leaders. Mr. Obama’s priorities: strengthening the recovery, restoring public finances “over the medium term,” and nailing down new financial regulations. Oh, and a flexible exchange rate in China. |
Harper asks G20 to cut fiscal deficits in half by 2013
G20 countries should focus on restoring public finances, by reducing deficits and sovereign debt burdens, but must ensure efforts to do so not come at the expense of the still-fragile global economic recovery, Canadian government officials said in a briefing Friday in advance of next week’s summit in Toronto. |
How Canada made the G20 a Reality
The expanded group of leaders from Western and developing nations might never have existed, and certainly not in its current form, without a long, determined push from Paul Martin. |
G20 protesters: Toronto Protests and Security
Some are concerned with serious problems in Toronto. Some are concerned with serious problems abroad. A few appear primarily interested in picking fights with the cops. |
Is Canada a Parliamentary Democracy? Stay tuned.
Either Thursday or next week, House Speaker Peter Milliken will rule on whether Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is in contempt of Parliament. |
Privacy commissioner joins global group slamming Google
Does marketing trump "Do no Evil?" |
Volcanic ash spreads more travel misery across Europe
Millions of stranded travellers face further air chaos as the volcanic ash from Iceland that has closed most of Europe's airspace continues to spread. |
Guergis Affair makes Canadians look at Harper Governance
After months of turning a deaf ear to Ottawa happenings, the headline-making affair has made Canadians sit up and tune in to this and other issues. And some aren't liking what they are seeing, |
RCMP probe of Guergis centres around cocaine allegations: report
Helena Guergis is being investigated by the RCMP over allegations of cocaine use and consorting with prostitutes, CTV News reported Wednesday night. |
Harper, Guergis on different pages over ejection
Helena Guergis has no idea what she may have done that prompted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to kick her out of cabinet, suspend her from the Conservative caucus and call in the police, her lawyer said Wednesday. (So, she doesn't know why she resigned? That coke rumour is interesting). |
Guergis’s constituents turn on once popular former minister
Residents in the Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey, about two hours north of Toronto, say MP Helena Guergis’s recent resignation as a junior minister in Ottawa should’ve come soone |
Oil sands deal gives China crucial veto on exports
Sinopec's $4.6-billion plan to purchase stake in Syncrude gives Chinese state-controlled company a say in whether to export raw bitumen for processing |
Harper government slammed for its record on access to information
Canadians' access to federal government information risks "being totally obliterated" because of chronic delays in releasing the material, Canada's information watchdog said Tuesday in a harshly-worded report on the government's record. |
The race to define Canada's Northern Border
In the dark icy waters off Canada’s most northerly island coasts, a small yellow submarine called Discovery and a team of researchers in helicopters are busily building the case for drawing a new line, a line Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon calls the “last border of Canada.” |
Helena Guergis resigns, now faces RCMP probe
New allegations emerge that business associate of Rahim Jaffer bragged about links to Hells Angels |
Is Canada House Poor?
Canadians are funnelling more disposable income to homes at the expense of most anything that isn't housing related. The government is aiding and abetting this with policies designed to support housing, such as tax credits for renovations and mortgages backed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. |
Early Maps of Canada to be Auctioned
Two rare and important maps from Canada's early history are to be auctioned in the coming weeks at separate sales in Paris and London. |
Loonie approaches parity with US$
The Canadian dollar is approaching parity with the American dollar for the first time in almost two years, with many predicting it could reach the psychological number at any time. |
Canada on Afghan ‘peace mission’ post-2011
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dashed Washington’s dream of a closely allied future in Afghanistan, saying the only Canadians in the country past 2011 will be civilians working for peace. |
Refugee bill speeds decisions, deportations
Immigration Minister unveils legislation that would cut delay in hearing claims to 60 days and allow for quicker removal of bogus applicants |
Gaffe on detainees file exposes role of politics, ex-colonel says
An apparent slipup in the federal government’s censoring of Afghan detainee documents shows Ottawa is using its black marker to hide potentially embarrassing information, a military and information law expert says. |
Ann Coulter speech at U of O cancelled
Coulter said she has been speaking regularly at university campuses for a decade. While she has certainly been heckled, she said this is the first time a speaking engagement has had to be cancelled because of protesters. |
This has not been a good week for Jean Charest.
A raft of ongoing woe leaves Quebec’s Liberal government ‘completely paralyzed’ and its Premier taking a beating in the polls |
Ottawa's stimulus had little impact on recovery, Fraser Institute says
The Vancouver-based group, which is an advocate of free-market economic policies, released a report saying stimulus measures contributed just 0.2 per cent to GDP growth between the second quarter and third quarter of 2009. |
Ann Coulter attacks gays and Muslims; Tories attack medical doctor
The conservative provocateur mocked gay men last night, saying there are two things they can’t do – “get married to each other” (they can in Canada and some American states) and “throw a baseball without looking like a girl.” |
Tax officials find bonanza of offshore income
$600-million uncovered as the number of voluntary disclosures soar due to what one tax lawyer calls government scare tactics |
Canadian dollar surges on inflation report
The loonie, which had dipped earlier largely on weaker oil prices, shot higher to about 98.87 cents U.S. at around 7:30 a.m. ET after Statistics Canada's measure of consumer prices. |
They used to behead kings for what Harper is doing
Too often in politics, principle is the hapless victim of expediency. In the struggle to pry Afghanistan documents from Stephen Harper's grasp, principle never had a chance. |
A grim future for advanced economies?
The Great Recession of 2008-2009 was triggered by excessive debt accumulation and leverage on the part of households, financial institutions and even the corporate sector in many advanced economies. |
Former Harper aide says Jaffer should apologize
Most of Rahim Jaffer’s Conservative caucus colleagues dashed, squirmed, or told reporters to ask Ontario’s Crown why their former national caucus chair got a “break” – as the judge called it—from prosecution on drunk driving and cocaine possession charges. |
How long will it take for the Canadian dollar to hit parity?
The Canadian dollar pushed higher today amid projections it could soon reach parity again with its U.S. counterpart. |
Why the Canadian dollar is the flavour of the month
Graphs and numbers from the Globe and Mail |
Canadian anthem won't be changed
Conservatives have come to their sense and will not rewrite the anthem for political correctness. Ottawa Citizen opinion column |
Flaherty shifts right with "business-friendly" budget
Tough-minded document takes first steps toward a smaller government, while delivering $19 billion in the second phase of stimulus spending and declaring Canada ‘open for business |
Tories tilt Parliament to the right with Throne Speech
Stephen Harper’s government returned to Parliament with an aggressively conservative agenda designed to shape the national debate in the months before the next election. |
Creating jobs focus of today's throne speech
The federal government will unveil a new economic agenda for Canada aimed at getting the country's 1.5 million unemployed back to work, with billions of dollars in investments to spur creation of cutting-edge jobs in the knowledge-based economy. |
Google searches reveal signs of recovery
Last year, the world's most popular search engine saw a shift in the queries it was receiving. The hunt for coupons and discounts gradually gave way to searching for products, cars and travel. And the trend is continuing. |
Hugo Chàvez for premier of Alberta
As Albertans shoulder the weight of a new $4.5-billion budget deficit (not to mention the burden of equalization payments to the rest of Canada), despite the fact that they own the world’s largest oil reserve open to private investment, some might suggest that something is seriously amiss in the heartland. |
Budget won't include new spending or tax measures
Focus for 2010 will be on long-term reduction of deficit, which means measures such as the popular home renovation tax credit will not be making a return, government official says |
Premiers, U.S. governors tackle thorny cross-border issues
Seven Canadian premiers wrapped up a three-day visit to the U.S. capital Sunday, some of them heralding a new era in Canada-U.S. relations following their moment in the spotlight at an influential conference of American governors. |
Khadr's lawyers to file emergency motion
It was Ottawa's first response to the recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that found the Canadian government's participation in Khadr's U.S. detention violated his constitutional rights. The ruling did not order the Conservative government to repatriate Khadr. |
PM Attacks banker for urging Ottawa to cut deficit
Harper's economic strategy seems to be take credit for the success of ideas you oppose, and attack anyone with the courage to propose a different way. |
Harper Parliamentary Prorogue an embarrassment to Canada
The Economist editorial about the prorogue of Canadian Parliament says "Mr Harper’s move looks like naked self-interest". |
Cap-and-dividend: the jolt Harper needs?
Since the Harper government has essentially handed over most of Canada's climate-change policy to the United States, what happens there directly affects what will happen here. |
Feds' official building is a $10 million architectural portrait of public-sector cynicism
Harper finds a new way to embarrass Canada. Intentional or not, it sends a message to Canada and the rest of planet that either our central government doesn't give a damn, or that it doesn't know any better. |
Canadian Housing Starts up in January
Swells 5.8% to 186,300 in January, topping forecasts, as both multiple and single starts rise. |
Canada adds 43,000 jobs policy
The Canadian economy created a stronger-than-expected 43,000 jobs in January, led by part-time work, the fourth employment gain in six months. The country's jobless rate fell a notch to 8.3 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday. . |
Ottawa says it has deal on "Buy American" policy
The federal government is about to announce it has worked out a compromise with the United States designed to shield Canadian exporters from the protectionist Buy America measures that have become a major irritant in bilateral relations.. |
Liberal-NDP Coalition a Possibility - Poll Results
A Liberal-NDP coalition government is beginning to look like a possibility, given new seat projections from EKOS pollster Frank Graves. In his latest model, the Liberals would win 122 seats while the New Democrats would take 31.. |
G-7 Finance Ministers to get a taste of seal hunting
When finance ministers meet in Nunavut this week, they'll sit on sealskin chairs and be served seal meat – all part of a campaign to gain acceptance for Canada's seal hunt, and to avoid a European Union import ban. |
Canadians brace for U.S. protectionist budget
The year ahead could be littered with as many as 14 fresh pieces of Buy American legislation as Washington readies to crunch a budget built for hard times, a senior Canadian trade adviser warns. |
Stephen Harper makes Canada an International laughing stock
The respected Economist says "
Stephen Harper is counting on Canadians’ complacency as he rewrites the rules of his country’s politics to weaken legislative scrutiny" |
Majority condemn Harper move, poll finds
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was wrong to suspend Parliament for what many Canadians believe were selfish reasons, according to poll done for the Toronto Star. |
Der Führer suspends Parliament again
While it is within the power of the Prime Minister – with permission of the Governor-General – to wrap up a session of Parliament, the opposition said Harper is manipulating the rules to favour his own political needs at the expense of the rights of elected MPs. |
Harper becomes national embarrassment
Stephen Harper is centralizing power in the PMO on an unprecedented scale; defying Parliament (by refusing to comply with a Commons vote demanding the files on Afghan prisoner abuse); derailing public inquiries (by a parliamentary committee and the Military Police Complaints Commission); muzzling/firing civil servants; demonizing critics; and dragging the military into the line of partisan political fire.s |
Bombardier's delicate defence of a scorned aircraft
CEO Pierre Beaudoin talks about making airlines in an age where executives have been criticized for travelling in ‘extravagant' business jets |
Long delays on Pearson's busiest day
Travellers stewing in huge lineups at Pearson International Airport are warning others to arrive extra early as heightened security has triggered long waits and delayed flights on the airport's busiest day. |
After weeks of silence, Harper says it's the other guy's fault
Harper hides behind the troops to save his "reputation" |
Flaherty's deficit plan: Take an axe and cut deep
Flaherty says "I've done it before. I did it in Ontario.". (Yeah we all know how that worked out.) |
Parliamentary Democracy eh?
The Harper government has effectively suspended parliamentary hearings on allegations that Afghan detainees were transferred to torture – boycotting attempts by opposition MPs to continue a Commons probe of the matter. |
Right Honourable Stephen Harper Embarrasses Canada Again
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just rung in Parliament's holiday season by inviting its contempt. His refusal to release documents that would shed light on Canada's handling of Afghan detainees risks provoking a crisis the moment the House of Commons returns on Jan. 25. |
Provinces want the Canadian Governenmt to show Leadership on Global Warming
The environment ministers of Ontario and Quebec used a press conference to declare Canada's emission-reduction targets inadequate and wholly unambitious compared with the two provinces' own targets. |
Bank of Canada will keep rates down
Global economic outlook improves modestly, central bank says, but benchmark interest rate to remain at record low 0.25 per cent |
Conservatives Disagree with Conservatives on Global Warming ( No Surprise There)
64 per cent of respondents to a Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey said rich nations have a responsibility to commit to higher and harder targets than developing countries. |
Peter McKay skips the House of Commons
Yesterday, in the House opposition MPs came close to calling for Mr. MacKay’s resignation. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff charged that Mr. MacKay had misled the House and Canadians regarding the allegations. |
Chinese Premier scolds Harper over delayed China visit
With words at once blunt and pointed, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper Thursday, admonishing him for not visiting China earlier during his time as Canadian leader. |
Harper 'reaping what he has sown'
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae and NDP Leader Jack Layton have harsh words for Stephen Harper today in response to the unprecedented rebuke of the Prime Minister by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. |
Will web child-porn bill do more harm than good?
Bill C-58 shares similarities with several provincial laws, including one enacted last year in Ontario. Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law questions its value. |
Harper heads for Copenhagen after all
The news came as Mr. Harper leaves the uproar over Afghan torture allegations behind in Canada and departs departed for Trinidad and Tobago to attend the latest summit of Commonwealth leaders. |
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
What happened to the land of Lester Pearson? |
Climate-change debate dominates APEC forum
Harper says developing countries must be front-and-centre in global plan while critics say Canada's poor record has cost it credibility on world stage |
Mounties vs. tobacco runners along the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall
RCMP says the water highway between Akwesasne Mohawk territory and Cornwall is the main source of cheap, illegal cigarettes entering Canada. |
Diplomacy on the Cheap... Canada's image is at risk
As PM gears up for busy round of fall foreign visits, budget cuts leave envoys on the ground struggling to promote Canada's image |
Final 100,000 Vancouver 2010 Olympic tickets go on sale to high demand
Speed skating, followed by figure skating and hockey, were the hot tickets when the third and final phase of Vancouver 2010 ticket sales launched Saturday morning online and by phone |
Fewer Canadians collecting Employment Insurance
The number of people receiving regular employment insurance benefits fell for the second month in a row in August |
Internet set for domain name changes
The Internet is set to undergo one of the biggest changes in its four-decade history with the expected approval this week of international domain names — or addresses — that can be written in non-Latin script, an official said today. |
Federal deficit reaches $23.7B this year
The Finance department's monthly fiscal monitor shows Ottawa is now awash in red ink with a year-to-date deficit of $23.7 billion for the first five months of the fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to the end of next March. |
Ottawa dashes hope for climate treaty in Copenhagen
Canada will continue to insist that it should have a less aggressive target for emission reductions than Europe or Japan because of its faster-growing population and energy-intensive industrial structure, Mr. Prentice said in an interview Thursday. Note for younger readers: There was a time when Canada was a world leader. |
If the news is Canadian, Harper's not watching
Tell the truth... you already knew this, right?? PM Harper says he prefers to watch American news |
John Ralston Saul becomes first Canadian to head mighty PEN
Toronto author John Ralston Saul is vowing to shine a spotlight on disappearing languages in his new role as the president of International PEN, one of the world's oldest human rights organizations and a global champion of freedom of expression |
Karzai to accept vote ruling to avert chaos
President Hamid Karzai will accept final results due later Tuesday from Afghanistan's chaotic election, officials said after frantic Western lobbying to resolve two months of political paralysis. |
Is Canadian Dollar Overvalued?
The loonie's swift ascent has some sober-minded analysts taking a hard look at the fundamental backdrop, and concluding the high-flying currency's real worth is something well below its current level. |
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